Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-03-22

roRT PIERCE, Ca, March %.
.h,etics held their last prelim-
nD ~ nractice yesterday afternoon. To-
,hs exhibition schedule starts and
~ ~, hattie for positions will COM
" The regulars are here to meet n
r'no' .,.red by the McNichop boys, of
s.nsaephia, while the Yanigans are over
i gainesville. -. ,,
.v,,nin two weeks Manager Mack will
..hother the youngsters he mas
~ nSs'a I'm 10 mold into another wondertul
pNnss.,i machine are good enough to I'LL
tassni asni some Of them may be slow
ins ..slrr their true ability, but all who
y ~ l,tely to develop into stars VIII at
~, show the earmarks before the team
'.,urns 10 philadelphia.
~. In years has there been as much
'ss.t centred in training camp as
s.inr shown in the work of the Mack
- IN the south this spring. The entire
e.sshall world Is interested In Mack and
" fiture. The wizard manager declares
IA no will construct another team as
-.,t as the famous machine broken up
lut year
psseball men are almost unanimous In
~ opinion that the Athletics from 1910
4 1914 was the greatest ball team of all
tme The claim has been made that Mack
~. benefted by circumstances and was
iucky in picking up wonderful array of
s,rro nlayers at virtually no expense.
,,,ct declares that he will repeat his re.
~srhable achievement and will soon have
+. team greater than the one he broke up.
ronnie has gathered some excellent ma
~. ta Y.AN IN N eylt tNs
,,.ted, The foundation of his old machine
va Its wonderful pitching staff, The
nifty of the pitchers to hold the op-
,osng teams to low scores gave the
rnunssters confidence when they had first
ks.n welded into a smooth-working ma
AIne. After that the natural ability and
rsss asserted itself and with increasing
eonddence the team became invincible.
Mack is paying particular attention to
tls pItchng staff now. While he has
scked up three or four youngsters whom
<, believes will be stars within a year,
Il d the pitching problem which is caus-
Inr him the most concern. Fourteen
Youngsters were taken South. Eight of
them appear to be destined for stardom.
but as Is generally the case, a few will
mrely fall by the wayside.
Mack is now worrying moro or less
through the first stages and come along
strongly as the season wears on. Person.
Ally, we believe that three of the new men
are going TO develop into pitchers who
WI rank with the stars OF the old ma
chine, II they have the fighting spirit.
Lack Of ginger and fighting spirit Is the
only thing wrong with the work of the
Nackmen In training to date. The men
m the other positions must get more pep
per and be more enthusiastic If they ex-
psct the young pitchers to get the con-
fdence needed so badly.
TO date we have seen no Collins. Many
BASEBALL men declare that Mack never will
have another Collins. He may not de-
yelop player of Collins value for all
arcund efficiency. but II he can find one
With Collins brain and fighting spirit his
york will be made much easier.
Two or three days is a short time to
tudge q ballplayer's calibre, but IL first
Impressions amount. to much, Mack has
strsngthened more than his pitching staff
ne inheld is likely to be a trihe weak
during the coming season and 1t Is prob
able that at least n phenom must be dis
nvered before the inner works is strong
snough to even compare with the old
uachne, but present indications point to