New-York tribune., 1909-04-12
COMMENT ON SPORTS
NOW FOR PENN4NT RACE.
Nezrs and Fieacs on Current Topics,
amateur and Professional.

Nezrs and Vieacs on Current Topics,
amateur and Professional.
-rhere is 5ov in the heart OF fandom- Just why
the enthusiasts Of baseball should he called fals
have never been able to understand, but II IS not
difficult "a appreciate oT understand "hy unelF
hearts should be filed with joy, for the long race
Tor the American League pennant VIII oeslh 10
day in Washington and Philadelphia, Wmie on
Wednesday She Giants will be n home to all Ne"
York or al least that part Of il that is Interested
n seeing the team which failed by one game |"
win the National League pennant last year start
Of The long and What is hoped may ne a sue
cessful quest for that coveted piece Of ouh'hs-
The long closed season has dragged and dragged
but now that the end has come or. better yet 1he
beginning Of new season in the open has arrived
the sFi,-eYfns winds Of winter be forgotten
Under bright skies the Polo Grounds WIN ute
seating capacity doubled will be all too sFnaIl 70
accommodate the throng which will turn out 10
see the Giants and the superbas set the bah rolling
In rsis CITY on Wednesday. All signs point 10
baseball being more popular than ever before ana
one does not have to be 2 prophet TO make the pre-
dction that the season now At hand VIII oe Ihe
most prosperous in the history Of the sport
John 7 AI-Ciraw has expressed the opinion that
the Giants VIII he stronger than last year. even
without Bresnahan. one Of the greatest catcheIS
Of the dav and Nike DonIin. who was second Only
}
Those who know McGraw well are quite Wiling 10
accent his Judgment IN this respect even though
- first glance II may be hard 10 believe. II IleI @
IS any man who knows more baseball tha the ii''t
manager OF the Giants he has not made MS pres
e,oe fell There are some who may know quite as
-r,,,f f,,- for one do not believe there Is one
-r,a lznoyvs any more. more capaole oI
watching over and directing the fortunes OF
caannpionsh5p team One thing Is sure II lfle pen
nant does not float the Polo Grounds next year
II viii be for lack OF earnest elLoI' anu "
kinds Of hard work
# Ames IS the Ames Of the closing days Of last
season II Hyil1se plays the part he did year ago
II the mighty Matty. than whom no greater %
ever faced q batsrnan. is the wizard OF old ana Il
,5s-,7,,ar5 the costly one. and Raymond the
erraric. 1--we up to promise then the Giants VIII De
strong mighty strong. in the pitching boA' me
iUseld. made up Of Tenney, Doyle, bila"eII ai-O
Toevlin i 2 stone wall. while the new outheId Is
more than likely to make up in speed for wna' 1t
may lack in hard hitting. although Herzog . 1aFa
and Murray almost sure 10 make lhel[ iliai -
The latter respect also I am qulIe reaoy u Oe
ffere on the word Of McGraw. that scllel VIII prove
a second Bresnahan behind the bat, WhlIe olou-
grass is promising second string IL MoC'la"
seems ft to use Jack Myers The Indian. as 2 pltcI
hitter In this respect the last named Is sure 10
ne valuable Altogether Is hard 10 ind q nav
IN the makeup Of The team on the eve OF the long
struggle John T. Brush. the president OF the
club has done his part: Fred Knowles, the genial
secretary has lent helping hand, and now II re-
mains for NcGraw and his players TO bring the
TennanJ this city. Here's hoping
George StaUnes the new manager OF the 1an-
KEGS Is deserving Of the hearty sympathy OF all
lovers II the game in the loss Of Hal Chase. his
great first basenan at the very opening OF the
season. when he was anxious 10 make good be
ginning Chase viii be missed, sadly missed. in
al probability but Stallings. fortunately, is not
liS hani D
pontments. but the 70 fight harder than ever
10 overcome the handicap. The Yankees look
mighty well paper. and while il may be asking
too mu-h OF what : practically a reconstructed
team TO the American League pennant. il is
not without the bounds Of probability Winning or
losing Frank Farrell and MS manager, 20
say nothing of the itself. deserving Of
the loyal support Of the fans Last year. after
leading the race for six or eight weeks. the Yam
KEGS started down hill al 2 rate that landed them
near the bottom Of the ladder in short order. For
tine II MS hard understand the unfortunate
and unlocked slump. but later developed that
internal strife and loose training methods brought
bout the hapless condition. There need be no
fear Of recurrence these respects this year and
! for one viii be disappointed If the team is not
fighting along in the van most Of the way even if
il does not succeed in landing at the top
The Giants have been holding such forward
place in the National League that the Superbas
have had less consideration than usual on this
Of the bridge although the fans in Brooklyn, to
al appearances. are quite as loyal ever. and
this Is saying good deal. view the fact that
the team has proved sadly disappointing for sew
eral years Charley Ebbets ike all the other
owners in the major leagues, has been study
ing and trying strengthen his team and with
q little mora luck than has fallen the lot Of
the SUperbas in the last years it is quite
sonabie believe that they viii finish in the first
division this year New York, Chicago, PittsbUrg
and Philadelphia are generally picked by the crit
les divide the first four positions IN the National
League race. but 7 am rather looking FOR Brook
lnn 10 dsplsce Of them There few
any. teams better of in the way OF pitchers, and
much depends on the boxmen.
Half leaf is better than none. and those inter
ested in the sport of thoroughbred racing are
graduating themselves that half SON. least.
Is assured following the action Of the stewards Of
the Jockey Club allottins the dates from MAY
10 August 2S last week Under the conditions that
obtain. the various racing associations which sp-
piled for dates have done about all that could be
expected of them the audabIe effort 10 build up
the sport without organized betting. II
remains o be seen just how much support the
sociations viii get from racegoers- and this
pends the continuance Of racing through the fall
season As mas been pointed out in this column
before. fair test was possible last year fol-
lowing the passage OF the anti gambling Law, for
the simple reason that the methods of enforce
In