The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-13
MAJOR GOSSIP
BY WALTER sIARCHAND.

big town is now on First blood has
been drawn in the battle cf the big
league and for the next six months the
fight will rage fast and furlously until
the worlds championship is fought out
| between (?) and 90
OF course, these first few games prove
little. The leaders in May are rarely
the leaders in October
After looking over the teams in ac-
ton, however, it is permitted to size
| them up in regard to their pennant possi-
bilities.
In the National league the only club
| which seems to have any chance to beat
out the Giants are the Pirates, and their
chance l do not consider brilliant. Nc
Graw's team has lost none of its speed,
none of it's hitting ability 1t is at least
| 3S per cent stronger in the bcx. the way
things look with the first few games.
Pittsburg is stronger than it was early
last season, but it is relatively no nearer
the Giants.
! The Cubs will have hard fight with
| Cincinnati and Philadelphia for the other
! two places in the first division with no
certainty of doing better than fifth 1t
is true Charley Murphy is claiming the
| pennant, habit which he finds it hard
to break 80
Brooklyn looks like good bat for sixth
place with st. Louis and Boston, going
neck and neck for the cellar champion
ship.
In the American league the situation is
not clear. 1t would not surprise me
to see Boston and Philadelphia fighting
TO the last for the pennant, Washing
ton on form could finish third with Cleve-
land and Chicago and perhaps the Yam
KEGS under Chance battling pretty evenly
for the next three places. Detroit may
finish better than seventh but with Jen-
nings' weakness in the box, it is hard to
fight them higher in the race.
st. Louis ought to have no difficulty
in holding last place.
1t is well to say that this is an early
April forecast and subject to revision.
The man who really gets the best line
on a baseball player is the umpire. 1t
is his business to watch where every ball
goes and what each player does with 1t.
He has nothing to do but watch. That's
his job.
Asbig league arbitrator can tell you the
which is a pitchers most effective curve.
Many of them would be Invaluable as
scouts. 1t was an umpire, for instance.
who discovered Eppa Rixey Their opin-
ions concerning ball players are to be re-
spected.
When many of them, therefore, declare
that Wilson of Pittsburg is the best out
Iflelder in the National league we feel
that they must have good grounds for
this assertion. We are frank to admit
that he would never have picked Wilson
as the prize of the outer pasture.
Leon X. Ames, who has been camp
ing with the Giants SO long that he can
not even fake start of surprise at any
thing, had narrow escape from head
ache in Knoxville. The blaSe Ames just
missed being hit on the head by fly ball
out in centerfeld He was disguised as
an outfielder in the morning exhibition,
and his stunt was something immense as
he ran up on the bank back of his field
and yanked down couple Of long wal
lops. Along in the fifth inning the acci-
dent nearly happened. The bases were
full With one out when Murray po1ed "a
short fly to center The enthusiastic
Ames came tearing in and overran the
ball. AS 1t descended he made one last
despairing lunge to avoid being hit on
the head. The ball fell behind him and
rolled away, while two runners scored
Washington is looked upon by the Yam
kees as more or less of fly-by-nigh
sort of outfit that will be decidedly lucky
/ il it does anything like as well this year
as it did last. The Yankee dope may be
wrong; they may be and probably are,
just a bit prejudiced in their own favor.
But 1t is the way they look at things,
and, on that account, of something more
than passing interest.
The first division is looked upon as a
cinch, and Arthur Irwin has wagered sew
eral suits of clothes that the team fin
ishes one-two-three and beats out WASH
irgton. Jack Warhop will find himself
poorer by the price of seven boxes Of
regular cigars If the team falls to crash
into the leading quartet Chance claims
nothing, but insists that he has better
material than that with which he won
| third place in National league last sea-
son. and, for awhile, threatened to land
a pennant