The Washington herald., 1914-03-25
collins in FEAR
OF THE RED SOX
Picks Athletics to Grab Flag,
but Thinks Boston Is
Dangerous.
DEPENDS ON PITCHERS
by EDDIE COLLINS.

At this time of the year. just before
the opening of the season. II is a gen.
eral custom of all those engaged in
writing baseball dope to venture a pre-
diction on the outcome of the pennant
races Of the two major leagues Pos-
| sibly, to be more exact. l should have
| said three, as long as the Federals seem
to be so active among us) Consequent
ly propose to ep In line and speak a
few words II prophecy myself, only I
will confine my prognostications to their
proper limits, namely, the American
League. o.
For me to name any other prospec-
tive pennant winner than the Athletics
would sound strange and unbecoming.
In fact, IL / was not of that opinion. I
certainly would not admit II. But as
long as / am. my conscience Is quite
clear when 1 say that I think our club
will again be returned the winner. With
the team intact, and several of the young
er members. notably Schang, Bush.
Shawkey. and Eddie Murphy. benefited
by last years experience / see no rea-
son why We should not maintain our
1913 form and again lead home the field.
However. / deem II more fitting for some
one else to criticize the Athletics as IL
is usually much easier to overlook your
own faults than other peoples; so I
will try to analyze each of our seven
opponents, taking them up in the order
of their Importance as contenders for
the American League championship, as /
view them.
Clubs in Action.
Assuming that the tales which en-
anate from the various training camps
are always Of a boosting nature. ] have
based my predictions on how the clubs /
shaped up the last time l saw them. !
more than by what have heard said |
or read about them this spring.
The Boston Red SoN i look to give us
the hardest run for our money this
year Every since this team won the |
pennant and the worlds series in 1872 and
then failed to repeat in 1913, vast ma |
jority OF fans and writers have been ac-
customed to say. "Oh. that bunch played |
above their speed But /. for one. do
not believe they did. II they had made a
sensational gallop to victory in the last
few weeks of the campaign, or could /
show a long string of consecutive wins
which put them up in the running then
would be apt to agree with the general
opinion, but under the circumstances
cannot. Any team that asserted itself
so early in the season as the Red SoX
did in l9l2-the fore part of June, II my
memory serves me right-and played as
consistent ball all through the season
serves more lasting praise than they have
received.
When one stops to consider the re-
organization in management. and the in
juries to players resulting in temporary
retirement from the game, that this club
experienced last season. / say II did well
to finish in the first division. Take Joe"
Woods case alone; think what the loss
Of a clubs star pitcher for a p"riod of
rea roopths Can Won DiCturP |
without Johnson. the Ath.
etics without either Bender or Plank, or
the Giants minus Mathewson? Would
they have done any better than Boston
did without Smoky Joe. ] will answer
for you-hardly.
The other Red Sox pitchers naturally
felt the loss of Wood. and their work
fell off to a corresponding degree. For
4 time the whole team was under
spell Of Decentralization, but they finally
,ame out OF II. and on the windup was ,
playing a bsng-up game of ball. Stahrs i
dismissal hurt, because II left a big hole /
n the infeld; however, once Clyde En- /
yle got his bearings, he filled the place I
Tery acceptably. Ia
To me, the position of the Red Sox {
ooks to be entirely up to the pitchers. :
am sure that the outfield could not be !
improved upon. In spite of the fact that {
Is not lnc TeCOSnlZeOI I
,est third baseman in the league. you
would have to look long and wide to OBJ
ain better one. Furthermore, Heine
Wagner last year experienced one of his \
'est seasons at short-although he was
Unfortunate in being injured frequently-I :
md still they say he is all in. Well =
ortiied behind the bat, II is simply a I, 6
question with the Red Sox of, will the
wirlers producer" =
Up to Pitchers. n
A busted thumb seems a trife, an in
ignificant thing to put a club down and :
ut, but stop to consider whose thumb
vas busted, and what he had done and
seems little more plausible, doesn't
[? With the return to form of Joe" n
Wood. ably supported by Hugh Bedient, v
10 slouch of a pitcher himself, and Ray v
'ollins, the hardest one of the bunch for Il
ne to hit, the Red Sox will surely bear
:
OF the younger lot of Boston pitchers, f
Lefty Leonard looks awfulhy good to I
ne He needed experience and he GER u
ainly had the opportunity to get a world a
II last year. and look for him to as y
ert himself. Mosely, a splitter, seems a -
ard worker, and will bear watching. So r.
I'LL roster, who was handicapped, / un- iii
erstand, by bad knee last yesr III
In closing, 1 would say, watch the Red iii
OK You can bet that Connie" Mack iii
nd this team will. Any club that could m
reak even on the season series with us III
st year demands recognition. iii
alz