Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-19

1t has nothing which even gives it a
chance to win many games. Its pitchers
are poor, its fielders cratic and, what
is more, it is not hitting as team
which expects to win should.
Chicago is another team which is prov
ing failure. Notwithstanding the fact
that the SoX have great pitching stan.
the twirlers seem to be weakening in the
face of wObbly support. and the team Is
losing consistently. There may. of course,
be a difference in this teams showing
as time goes on. for with the veteran
Sullivan, again in the game things VIII
work more smoothly. But notwithstand-
ing that fact it is hard to see why sea-
soned team like Washington with It's
pitchers going well should not be abe 10
beat out this aggregation
New York has always been a great
spring team. Even during the days OF
Griffith the Highlanders frequently got
off good, only to stop when the middle
of the campaign was reached. The team
has gone we'll to date. but it does not
appear to have the strength to stay SO
high IN the race. There is a good chance
for a decided slump there. Then there is
Cleveland. Impressive as this team looks
on paper, it is not a winner and its occa-
S onrl spurts are offset by its frequent
slumps.
! ~ ...e chances Of the Washington team
nnlSElng IN q very IeSpecIdDlc pOSillOii
this year are decidedly bright. and it
would only take the addition of two or
three real good young ball players to
make the team one to be figured as
pennant possibility, so evenly are the
teams in the American League matched
today, barring one or two.
Take for granted that Jeffries will re-
gain his old form and 1t looks as if he
ought to be 3 to 1 favorite over John
figured tho records of the two
men. But the hope of Johnson's firmest
admirers is that Jeffries will not come
back. 1t is on this theory that they give
the colored fighter a chance to beat the
theory only. If the fight had taken place
five years ago. allowing that johnson
had accomplished all that he has to
date, no one would figure him to have
look in. There is no comparison in the
records of the two men. Jeff:ies beat the
greatest heavyweights the ring can boast
of. He not only beat them once but
twice, and not once during those many
hard fights was he in distress or put
down. Not so with Johnson. He has
not fought any high-class men in his
own class. His reputation dates back
from the time he beat Tommy Burns,
when he knocked out Stanley ketchell, a
middleweight. At that it took him four
teen rounds to finish Burns and twelve
to settle ketchell and the little Ketchell
put him down in the final round with a
blow on the neck, which, If it had land
ed on the point of the jaw. would have
ended the fight
How long does any one suppose either
ketchell or Burns would have lasted with
Jeffries when he was coming up the
championship ladder?
Now. as for Jeffries coming back. why
shouldn't he, seeing that he has never been
gone? Other fighters when they retired
1affri6C w han az
best because there was no one to fight
He lived a life of ease for four years. not
one of dissipation. as was generally sup
posed. He is but thirty-five and, unlike
any fighter who ever tried to regain his
form after u retirement. he has gone
through the most careful course of train
ing extending over a year. There is no
reason why such u man should not be able
to get himself i'm perfect physical condi-
ton. and if he does there is no reason
why he should not defeat johnson as he
has all others who have faced him in the
ring
Johnson is undoubtedly the best fighter
before the public today, barring Jeffries,
and he cannot be figured until he has
shown that he is himself. There is no
other man aside from Jeffries who could
beat Johnson.
At least none that has shown himself
tc date. But in Jeffries Johnson does not
meet a mediocre proposition. but the
GREATEST us IleT lfe game has ever AHo"i.
beyond doubt When Jeffries aspired to
the championship his path was barred
by a quartet of fighters any one of whom
would stand a chance to beat Johnson
quickly. There was FitZSimmcns. Cor
bett. Sharkey and Rubin, four heavy
weights who were real lighters. yet they
failed to stop jeff. who proved himself
a most remarkable man in every respect
He was SO much stronger, had so much
more vitality than any of his rivals that
he relied on these to win for him be-
fore he acquired the scientific knowledge
of the game which he possessed when he
retired.
The hardest blow that has been struck
the American League In recent years is
the failure of the ST. Louis club and the
sudden and unexpected awakening of the
Cardinals, the Browns rivals in the
Mound city. 1t is easy to figure what
the conditions are in st. Louis today
with the American League team losing