The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-04-27
BY TOMMY CLARK.


things that have been taking up the
valuabl time OF the general public Will
have TO he thrown into the ash heap
More important subjects are 10 he settled
and discussed They are as follows
What teams will capture the Dennanl
in Che National and American leagues
Can Fred Clarke and the Pittsburg Pi-
other worlds championship or are Frank
Chance and his Cubs strong enough To
win another neg" WIN johnny McGraW
win out this year. or will Clarke Griffith
and his band OF Cincinnati KIDS cop the
much coveted eonfalon" Are Hugh len
nines and the Detroit Tigers going to
equal Comiskey's record and make 1t
four straight? Can Connie Mack spring
another surprise. or viii tho Boston REQ
Sox walk off With the banner
In sizing up the four leading ding teams ,sa, IN IN
Pittsburg Pirates are every bit as
foreseen happens they will cop again.
The Cubs are not as strong S,,a rs they he
hoen reinststed, And another thing is
That this great baseball machine is not
running as smoothly as it did a few
yosrs ago, McGraw has been working
hard trying to whip together a pannant
combination FOR the last two years and
has oorralled several crack Youngsters
that he hopes win hl up the weak spots
on the team. Clarke Griffith and his
great band of youngsters will be I'm The
hunt all season. Taken all in all, the
fight for the banner should be good
one.
or course advance dope often goes
wrong. The team which looks strongest
on paper may not loom up prominently
ut all when tho real battles arc being
lies last season. for instance. Nearly
every student OF the game thought Billy
Murray's charges would finish hlSh Up
IL tho first division and that they would
he lighting for the pennant all the way,
with splendid chances of landing the
plum. But as matters turned out. the
tenders after the Fourth OF July.
Those who profess not TO take serious
Is the Pirates chances are pointing our
that the Pittsburg team is built up
10 pieces almost anv time. II is need
less 10 say that the three veterans re-
ierred 10 are Manager Fred Clarke. Hans
Wagner and Tommy Leach, all Of whom
have been on the Pittsburs team Tor
the last ten years, II Is true that these
men are all veterans and that sooner
"r later they must pass from the scene
of diamond activities. Blu, the prophets
are going a step too Tar when they dc
clare that this season may see the last
of these PLAYERS. They evidently forget
getting in 1909. that Wagner was the
leading batsnlan for the seventh time
during bis career. and that Clarke not
only bit we'll and scored lot Of runs,
in the older organisation.
There is no denying the fact that
Clarke. Leach and Wagner form the
buiwark OF the Pirates strength, 1t is
4 fact. however. that every team de-
pends more one or two men than on
all the others combined And ii is also
a fact that dependence on veterans is
more warrantable than on youngsters. !
There are scores OF cases on record where
young players have broken into fast com |
pany under most suspicious circum-
single season and then quickly dropped |
into oblivion,
OF course there is no contention as 10 |
the uCnt OF Wagner. Clarke and Leach !
TO he csIled stars Taken individually !
they are three OF the grandesr ball play |
ers that ever donned uniforms. Taken |
they form "A trio which has
no equal in the game today. Their |
abilities. considered from any angle, |
stamp them as indispensable 10 ,he Pitts |
burg team. and " all three were 10 dis
same time 1t would be blow 10 the
team from which Il would re-
quire years To recover.
Wagner looks good for Two or three
more wears at snortstop, When he has !
s,owed UP so that he is not considered
speedy enough fer that position any
longer II is more than likely that he will !
take to first base. where he will not |
ne required 10 cover so much ground. |
bur where he will be tower OF strength !
10 the team.
instead OF UeleT1nrallnS. as some claim, /
fans who have seen Tommy Leacn IN !
action year after year are OF the opinion !,
that the little wonder Is better today /
ihan for many years: The move from the /
iafield TO the outneld helped Tommy and |
IL is z fact that last year he did not |
suffer al all from the complaint which |
slowed him up at times In past years |
Leach is a wonderful little baseball |
ma chine.
As for Clarke his 1.ors last season
speaks for itself and refutes the as
sertion that he is going back. He was
rated MANY years ago as the best left |
fielder in the business. and there l. 40
reason to rate him lower than that n,
the present time Although he has been I
the same enthusiasm which marked h; |
work when a youpgster. He ranks with !
1he greatest i'll history without even CON
sjdering his managerial ability.
each, even aside from them the Pitts
hung team In 1910 will shape up as |
we'll as any other real old players on
The team except Phillppi and Lever |
who are not likely 10 be used TO any |
great extent. Pittsburg VIII have three |
comparatively young innelders in Miller |
Byrne and either Sharpe Or Flynn Byrne
will start The season with the team |
whereas i'll 1909 he did not break in !
with the Pirates until late in the sum |
iner and had only short time In which |
10 acoustom himself 10 the Pirates style |
of play. !
Clarke is up against the same prob
lem he faced last spring. that of choos-
Ing q first baseman. But Il is not likely |
that the Pirates will he any worse off |
in that position than they were in j
even though neither of the resent candi-
dates comes quite up 10 expectations.
In is true that thar Clarke must choose
between Flynn and Sharpe, out both
Iusn look good: and II may be only
question OF picking the better one.
Clarke is not worrying about first base
He evidently figures that II the Pirates