New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-04-28

Comment and Gossip
on Sports of the Day

fcing some batting strength. as Mckech-
ME is not rated among the good hitters in
baseball. Chase has hardly had a fair
trial. either. al second. i'm view OF the
fact that he was nursing wrenched
ankle throughout the greater part OF the
spring training season.
The Yankees have been playing better
than their standing in the league race
would indicate This is not said in the
way Of on excuse. as results must speak
for themselves. but simply TO suggest that
a bad start does not necessarily mean
bad finish Much experimenting may be
necessary before Frank Chance is salts
fed. but the time has not come To give up
hope for a first division club.
Those who control the dcstines Of rae
ing in this state decided wisely in my
opinion in making the range Of prices
elastic enough so that All who wish may
enjoy the invigorating sport In the Ola
days al Norris Park the main erands'aho
was divic,d OFF 10y a wire screen. ana TINS
plan will be followed at Belmont larN
and Jamaica rather than open what mas
come TO be called the free neld. IL
amounts to much the same thing with the
odium removed. as the field stands have
been held responsible for much of the
trouble which came upon racing. In
building afrosh the sport must he made
democratic. and its restriction to those
who can afford to pay s. or more for
DAYS sport would have had the opposite
tendency.
CAPTAIN Ketcham. Of the Yale football
eleven. may play end rush next fall NO
definite announcement has been made but
indications point that way from the
spring practice. He is so fast and aggres-
siye that Howard Jones seems disposed
to make the change. although In doins
so he would rob the eleven Of the best
centre rush last year and one of the best
in the history OF football. II this plan IS
carried ont il means that the head coach
is satisfied that MartIng who has been
an able substitute will nil ketcham
shoes in the centre Of the line.
The Harvard eleven can be congratu-
later in securing the services Of Percy
three years. Houghton has done much
fcr football at Cambridge in the last five
seasons.
The Williams College nine. which in my
ranking was placed at the top a year
ago played its first regular game on
Saturday and won it. No team perhaps
suffered so much from graduation. and
for that reason the outlook is not so
bright as was the case in 1912. The loss
Of such pitchers as George Davis. VINO
has had trial with the Yankees, and
Ayres Is sure 10 be seriously felt, while
the hard hitting Shons In centre field also
will be missed. There is plenty OF good
material on hand. but much depends upon
the pitchers. and these are largely an
unknown quantity. although Hodge and
Cutler both give promise Smith too.
could be counted on. but he is suffering
with a lame arm and may not be able
to do his part. The old men who are
back include Captain Lewis, who has no
equal as a college catcher: Ainslee at
second, Brown at short and Swain at
third. Prndle. the football player. who
scored the only touchdown against Har-
ward in 1902 is playing first base. while
the leading candidates for the outfed are
Statler a pigmy freshman. who is cover
ing centre field like a second Ty Cobb;
Tooland and Higinbothsm.
Columbia has one of the best mines seen
on Morningside Heights in several years.
and from now on should give a good &C
count OF itself. II met defeat at the
hands OF Harvard and Yale by the same
score to T. but did not suffer in COM
parison in either case. at least so | am
told by a good Judge who closely watched
both games on Saturday it fairly smoth-
cred Cornell.
The Yale team continues 10 bear out
the prediction / made concerning IT after
seeing the men In action against the
Giants. Five games were played last
week and five games were won, includ-
ing victories over Columbia and Pennsy-
vania. The pace has been pretty fast, but
from now on the games will not come so
often, which will obviate the chance Of
the players growing stale.
It begins 10 look as If Princeton would
for several years The crushing defeat
by Brown on Saturday was a clear indi-
cation that something is lacking.
Eayrs. the Brown freshman pitcher. is
n second Councilman, and. as pointed out
before in this column. he gives promise
of being one OF the stars Of the college
world. James. of Colby who held Har-
yard to one hit on Saturday, also must
be watched. year ago he pitched a no.
hit game against Bowdoin.
/ am in receipt Of six or eight letters in
sistng that the New York Yacht Club is
still trying hard TO discover some loop
hole by which IL can escape accepting Sir
Thomas Liptons latest challenge TO Il
race for the Americas Cup. These credu-
lous ones are led astray by the fact that
the question was turned over to com
mittee for final action. forgetting or over
looking that this procedure has been fol-
lowed in other years. IL would have been
more satisfying If the New York Yacht
Club had accepted the challenge forth
with, but the manner OF doing business
does not necessarily indicate that the
challenge Will be rejected-in fact, there
appears TO be no escape.
The dodo, or loaded. bowling ball has
been killed in this city and In the West.
but It still reigns upstate and elsewhere
in the East So many bowlers have come
TO full realization of its unfairness that
IT is only a question OF time when 1t will
he legislated off the alleys. II seems I'M
fortunate then that the National Bowling
Association did not kill IT once and for
all at the convention in Rochester instead
of temporizlng.
Now that Ty Cobb has returned within