The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-02
CHICAGO CUBS
 PLAY HERE TODAY Bresnahan Will Pit Regu- lars Against the Barons.
 Knisely to Play
By 0. c. REICHOW


 Last year the Cubs were unable to play in Birmingham. owing to inclem- ent weather conditions, but this spring Manager Bresnahan hopes that he will have the chance to show the fans the club with which he expects to make a bitter fight for the National league championship. This is his first venture as leader of the Cubs and he is de- termined to emulate Frank Chance when he had his wonderful pennant winning aggregation. Bresnahan has succeeded in molding together much better club than Hank ODay had last summer and thinks the local fans will agree that he has first class squad when they see 1t in action.
 Bresnahan will not play his substi- tutes here, but will have on the field exactly the same players he will have on the diamond in the opening game April 12 against St. Louis in Chicago. He has decided on his batting order, and when the club departed from Tam pa he declared that he would not de- viate from the regular lne-up and that contains such stars as Heinie Zimmer- man, Frank Schulte, Vic Safer Jimmy Archer Larry Cheney and Jim Vaughn
 In addition to these stars Pete Knisely, once one of Birmingham heaviest hitters, will be seen in uni form and to please the fans Manager Bresnahan will probably play him in one of the outfield positions. Knisely has made good with the club and will be retained along with the list of 21 players the National league allows each of its clubs to carry. Knisely has been going like a whirlwind this spring.
 Manager Bresnahan will present a well conditioned set of athletes. He had them in Tampa one solid month and no bunch of players ever drudged hard CT than they did for him and this de- spite unfavorable weather conditions He is taking his players northward in excellent condition. The men have been hitting remarkably and their speed has been increased twofold over what 1t was in 1914. Bresnahan has added strength to the infeld with acquisition of Polly McLarry from Louisville and Bob Fisher from Toronto. They have shown satisfactorily in both hitting and fielding.
 It was thought that Bresnahan would have some difficulty in finding a man to take Tommy Leach's place, but that has not been the case. Bresnahan se- lected Cy Williams to supplant the veteran and everything the youngster has done has been encouraging. It is a certainty he will hit harder and more consistently than did Leach and with a little more practice will cover more ground because he is faster. Williams has shown himself to be a slugger and he will give Heinie Zimmerman and Vic Safer a run for the long distance clouting honors.
 The Cub catching department is the strongest in the National league with Archer and Bresnahan sharing the work. Archer's throwing has been per- feet and while in Jacksonville in series against the Athletics he earned the praise from Connie Mack of being the greatest receiver in the game today. Bresnahan has been throwing just as good, and what is more, has been hit ting the ball terrifically.
 Two new pitchers have been added to the Cub staff. They are Karl Ad- ans from Indianapolis and Pete Stand- ridge from San Francisco of the Pacific Coast league. They are two promis- ing youngsters and Bresnahan expects to use them as regulars with Cheney, Vaughn. Lavender, Pierce and Humph ries. Both. are right-handers with a wonderful assortment of curves and an abundance of common sense.
 The batting order Good, right field; Fisher, shortstop; Schulte, left field; Zimmerman, third base; Safer, first base; Williams left field Archer and Bresnahan. catchers; McLarry, second base; Cheney, Vaughn, Pierce. Laven- der, Humphries, Adams, Mcconnell. Za- bel, pitchers.