The Washington herald., 1914-04-06
Pills Are Biggest Losers
By Invasion of FederalS
Matty Says with Veteran
HurIers, Doom Might Have
Won Pennant.
BOOSTS BOSTON BRAVES
By cIsRusrY MATHEwsoN.

ing near, Il is time to get a line on the
teams in the Ma: Al League as they
viii stack up in the coming race. The
turbulent events in baseball during the
winter have made many changes in clubs
that looked or their showing when the
season closed last fall as If they should
be up In the race this year. But trades,
injuries, and the Federal League raid
have practically dissolved the chances
OF some clubs in both the American
and National Leagues.
The Philadelphia Nationals have been
the biggest losers all around. Dooin's
team was q strong contender all the
way last season and, with little more
application TO duty and the training rules
on the part Of some Of the players, II
might have hustled the Giants right up
% the wire. The club hit well. and the
team was evenly balanced in both the
infield and out, but the weak spot was
the pitching star. Doom had to depend
largely on two twirlers for all his box
work, SeatoR and Alexander, and these
two stars could not stand the strain
of the constant going. But toward the
end Of the season. Doom grabbed Cam
nitz, in a trade with Pittsburgh, and the
addition made his stah look better for
rnlS SEASON. brennan also GnOhGo SUITE
flashes Of class that indicated he might
be q steady boxmsn for a southpaw
this season. Now, with CamnitZ, Seaton,
Alexander, and Brennan for the corner
stone Of staff, il seemed as if the
Phillies might make a good race out OF
the National League contention this year
until the Federals did the swoop on thI
club. OF course, Camnitz did not have
very good year in Pittsburgh last
a he fac
during his final season with them was
not an accurate indication of his ability
He had some trouble with the Pittsburgh
club last summer and was not altogeth-
er satisfied. Camnitz is a shrewd pitch
er and has many a good game left in
him yet. He would have been valuable
to Philadelphia this year.
No Veterans Left.
With Seaton, Camnitz, and Brennan
gone to he Federals, Doom has nothing
left of his pitching stan of veterans with
the exception of Alexander. Rixey ana
Chalmers, and neither of these latter
two showed any great amount Of class
last season. But the Philadelphia loss IN
the pitchers boz is not the most serious
one The infield has been torn to pieces
by the desertion of stars to the Federals.
Both Knabe and Doolan are great play
ers and of the type most valuable to
ball club, because they are aggressive
and always in the Sane fighting. When
a club has two players Of this caliber
taken out of 1t, there is a big hole &c
all. From pennant contenders. the Phil
lies have now declined until they are
little more than possibilities for the first
division. and they Will have to travel
hard with their shattered lineup TO
finish there
AT the present writing, the Pirates
strike me as being a fairly strong team.
but no better than last season. in fact
shade less effective. l do not see that
much strength was added by the dade
with St Louis because no speed was
brought to the team with the new men,
and speed is what Pittsburgh needs most.
Konetchy is a fine player and good
hitter, but he is not fast. Harmon Is no
better pitcher than Robinson, the twirler
that the Pirates turned over to ST. Louis
in the swap. In fact, Robinson won -609
per cent of his games last year for the
Pirates, while Harmon took only -276 per
cent of his games for the Cardinals. But
It must be taken into consideration that
Harmon was pitching for a losing club
with little ambition in it after the middle
OF the season, whereas Robinson had
much stronger team behind him. Harmon
viii make a good showing with the
Pirates, as he is an excellent pitcher.
Braves Contenders.
The teams which are going to be the
toughest for the Giants to beat, according
to my dope, are the Chicago, Boston,
and Brooklyn clubs. Now, I am not
coming out with the prediction that Bos-
ton viii be a championship winner or
anything like that, but I would go SO far
as to say that the Braves will be the
dark horses of the race, because know
the ability of George Stallings as a man
aeer, and realize how much pepper and
hustle he put into that buncn or dead
ones he took charge of last season. Now
he Is shaping his men more after the
fashion he likes. He has a very fair
pitching staff, although the loss of Per-
due Is going to hurt 1t some, unless
George has turned up a lot of recruits out
OF the bush league sod he has been cul-
tivating who will help him.
The question Of the Cubs success is
largely one Of managing. Can Hank
O'Day manage the team to get results?
The Cubs have been a hard proposition
TO lead ever since Chance relinquished
command, because the big fellow did his
bossing with his domineering personality.
he knew as much about the leading as
a club as Evers did, and this resulted
IN much discord. A few of the old guard
are left in Archer, Schultz, and Zim-
norman. and these players will not be
easy to manage, while Bresnahan and
ODay never did get along.
In my next article will take up the
Brooklyn club and its prospects under
IT'S new manager. and also have some
thing to say about the Giants
fCopyrigAt ia1l. by the Wheeler svndicate hnr }