The Washington herald., 1914-05-11
Archer Month Will See
Races Getting Close
Matty Says Clubs VIII Begin
to Settle Down to Real
Work Soon.
YOUNGSTERS START EARLY
By cHnIsrY MArHEwsoN.


Give the big league teams another
month. and they will swing into some-
thing like the order in the standing of
the clubs in which they should finish.
Now / am moi going to undertake to
name this order. but, by the first part
Of June, the various clubs win have
struck something like their normal
strides. and then We can tell some
thing.
Almost every year some clubs that
were reckoned before the beginning
Of the race to be weak teams get away
with jump, and their admirers begin
to mention winning pennant but If
team does not carry the class. it be-
Rfns to fade by June. There Is very
little strain to the race up until June,
$50 some clubs can hold up that Ions.
Afterward, every contest begins to be
q tough one, and IL is fight to keep
going at top speed
YounRster's Start.
II you will notice, it is generally the
team of youngsters that gets the early
season jump. for the younger players
come around into condition easier than
the veterans and can swing away
from the wire faster. Look what the
Reds did in 1919 in the first couple OF
months under O'Day. This fact makes
me more worried over the good start
of the Pirates, since it cannot be at
t-ibuted to youth. Nearly every player
on the club is a tried veteran, who
knows what the battle of a champion
shin race means, and who holds his
condition after he once gets it. There
fore. the chances of Pittsburgh keep
ing a pretty consistent pace, barring
inurjies, are good. Wagner, Konetchy,
Gibson and the rest don't crack under
ire
Baseball men consider the clash be-
tween the West and the East in both
leagues the first real test of the relative
strength of all the teams in race, and
this initial invasion will have been COM
pIeted in another month. 1t is for this
reason, also, that / believe the first part
of June will give very much more &c
curate line on the races in the two big
leagues.
Strength In East.
For the last few seasons, the bulk CT
the strength of both big leagues has lain
in the East, as is indicated by the fact
the worlds championship series have
been fought out by Eastern clubs for the
past three seasons. In 1910. it was West
versus East when the Cubs and the Atm
leties met. and previous to that. in 1893.
il was West versus West, as in baseball
geography Pittsburgh is considered to be
west. From 1895 until 1909, all the world 5
series took place in the West
One question which should be partially
answered by. the coming series between
East and west lis whether the Western
half of baseball is coming back into its
own again in either big league. Two wcs-
tern teams. one in each league. have
shown up particularly strong so far this
season, Pittsburgh in the National, and
Hetroit in the American. The Pirates, in
my opinion, have a better chance of
holding UP than the Tigers. since there
seems to be more stability 20 the CLUB
Jennings has several youngsters in his
lineup who may feel the strain OF the
race after the first couple of months.
However. he has some wonderful driving
power and balancing force in Cobb Craw
ford, Stanage and Moriarty.
The Tigers also lack secondary strength
and good pitchers. Dubuc is fellow who
will go in there and pitch any club in the
league to death any time, but Jennings
lacks consistent performers outside Of
the little French Canadian who was once
in the National with Cincinnati and then
went back to the minors. American
Leaguers tell me that he has the best
slow ball in the game today. He is
death to the Athletics. This hard hitting
Philadelphia club cannot seem to con-
meet with-his tantalizing slow one, and
he makes Frank Baker look like sucker
with it. But at that, Detroit will BE- up
against the real test when it swings East
shortly.