The Washington times., 1916-08-20

CINCINNATI ...................' WI
Dope on the National League race Is
running extremely close to the actual
playing of the games. OF the eight
clubs. six are almost in the exact po-
sition, with approximately the Same
averages. that they figured to be at this
stage of the pennapt race. / am refer
ring to my spring dope.
The extraordinary switches and
changes that have taken place in the
personnel Of the teams since the start
OF the season or at least since / doped
the teams In March has not vitality
altered the strength OF any clubs. and
am aston.shed to find the dope now
august 1W shows go few changes.
brooklyn and New York have made the
greatest gains; Brooklyn through the
development of new players and Now
soned veterans by trades and purchases.
Only three teams appear now to be
weaker than they were at the start Of
the season and these weaknesses are
not sufficient to change their total
playing strengths to any great extent
The two teams that are out OF line
are Cincinnati and Philadelphia. No
dope ca naccount for the wretched
failure Of the Reds to make good. They
have the playing strength, they had one
! managers In the business, they had the
best pitcher In the league, and a con-
sistent and punchy infield. Christy Ma
thewson. the new manager who has
Herzog: cannot be expected to rally the
team effectively now. He says the fall
ure OF the Reds thus far has been
psychological. Munsterberg. himself.
could not revive them. unless an cpl
demic carries off the swarm Of volun..
teer managers. directors and alleged
owners who yearly breed discomfort
| among the players and ruin the chances
| OF any manager making good. Herzog
was was pledged and promised q free hand.
was defied. his action criticised, and
his players upheld against him. He lost
! the battle, and he Ia lucky to escape
and the league can mourn q good team
| ruined.
Reds Figured Second.
The Reds figured this year to be SEC
| ond in strength in the league and to
have an excellent chance Of winning
! the pennant. that was on the dope. It
+, would seem that. instead Of seeking
new players, Cincinnati ought to send
else the National League ought to scout
| for new city In which to locate the
team: The situation 10 intolerable:
Philadelphia increased strength ID
| uuc 10 OHe tnluB-AiexaHOeT2 return 10
strength OF the team on seemingly au-
| thentic reports that Aexanders arm.
which went to the bad last fall. was
still In poor condition and that he would
number OF games. The report that
KILLERS arm also was failing to come
around into shape further reduced the
club strength. On paper. counting
as S an P S,Snars ,Ss
club Of the league-and. with Alex In
the condition he has been this season.
able to carry the big burden Of pitching
and allow the other twirlers to work
figures in the first division. u ha,
gained strength on pitching and pnsld
and lost In the outfield through era
vaths slump.
shown TSs only 81 s. ss'. 4or. sSs 1T
scoid and warn a bit. The Nationa
League has been in bad order fol
several years on account OF various
restore the league to public favor 4
Is for the good of the league, imam
cislly. that New York should have. I
strong team--but 1t 10 not for tn,
good Of baseball that trades and salei
team.
Fullerton's Warning.
Here IL tho warning: Unless tn,
major leagues pass q rule forbiddini
any trades. sales or interchanges o.
players during the season. or aftel
a stated period In the season, thu
people are not going to believe tn,
game Is square. Last year. Comis
key was violently assaiied for buy
Ing players who were thrown on TIN
open market. Comiskey. himself. ha
for ten years urged the American
League to adopt a rule forbiddins tn
selling or trading of players between
teams of the same league during tn
playing season. He knows and see
the danger and the distrust that 1
created by such exchanges-and tn
National League ought to realize tn
peril
Even with the added strength. tn
Giants are not really dangerous fac
tors In the pennant race. Their fata
weakness Is In pitchers and catcheri
and even the addition OF strong pitch
weakness.
Loss of Strength Slight.
BostOn's loss OF atrenuth In sIi0ht