New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-08-09
There Is Sill Hope for
Pennant, but 1t Is a
Slim One,
MUST TRAVEL SOME
TO CATCH ROBINS
Grantland Rice Looks Over the
Infallible Dope and Tells
Just Why,
By GRANIY.AND RICE

Old Yurhey FulleItca tells tho story
Of an aadls-pated farstso VINO s3~at
five years IN Agurtng 0zs i>s's'-Ss"
possible plays IN baseball.
tn, mex. day be went % tho gains
md saw tive new ones hs hra newer
thought about
In n. same way yvz Crn prove
number Of new things bT ag1TeS- on |
Won don't always collect when the ena
IS over.
Yet Agurss h.re thsa- li-4le NOOK N
m, corner Of ths x,nn. ard By reach
,nr In for . hsndtnn eae can eAXe
,.aok II ;uss whxs shou New YORK na'
Of catching Sr~sSiyn In those seven
wrass thzs Ing or lie ahead
Each cizh 10 far h.s played ~
r.mes. TAsxsboss each club has "
r.mes left Hare b che sit1~tson'
Rrooktyn--.--.--wsA 81 Lsss -
Nv -Wsa - Lost ~
Suppose In the next 50 games Brook
Ivn wins IS and loses rs. which she
ought to DO with those Western clubs
70 feed CT II that case her hnai
ranking would be-won. 80; lost, o.
To tie this marx tho Giants would
bsys 70 win IS and lose but 10, a
rough assignment, but not an I'M
possible one with the present ball elso
That since its first defeat By the heGs
has won 10 Of the last IL games. II
BROOKLYN should win 40 out OF on Ne"
York would need 90 out Of 6O ior
draw. Brooklyn can merely break even
the rest of the year and then force tne
Giants 10 win al and lose Dut AZ 70
heat her out So there is very little
corfort left In figures for those who
nav happen 10 yearn for another
Giant triumph.
The One Chance
Under ordinary conditions the Giants
would be declared out of 1t beyond
any further debate.
But there is this one jumbled med
lev Of a chance left-this has been one
Of those freak campaigns repiete with
astounding incidents. And the Giants,
with Herzog and Sallee added, and with
Ferdy Schupp lifted from the mummy
case. are by no means the same ball
club that first gave the Robins that
unwieldy margin. As revised they
look 10 be the best ball club IN the
circuit, and their sole chance now
rests upon their ability TO win big
majority Of the % games they still
have left with Brooklyn, Boston and
Philadelphia.
II is more than probable that when
Brooklyn, Boston and Philadelphia
begin hacking away at one another
there will be little advance made by
any one Of the three. They nave
fought fairly evenly through the year
among themselves and their present
ranking shows no vast difference IN
PLAYING strength.
But while the leading trio is at
deadlock in their own scrimmaglng,
the Giants must beat all three de-
cisively, both at home and abroad, TO
carry even an outside chance 70 hnlsn
first.
With the club which McGraw had up
TO late July there would be no further
debate over the matter. With the cluD
he has now there is one of those
freak chances, with better show OF
developing in freak year.
OIt HOW mum NON4N ~
back in May
First That the Giants, after losing
l3 out of Is, would bag IL straight
2. or, how much would you have
wagered in July that the Browns, in
seventh place, would win If straight?
Baseball is still baseball, and the
club that hustles TO the finish has Its
chance. though it looks as faint and
far away as starlight upon hazy fields
As for Chances.
In the meanwhile. unless the Mack
men begin to squirt with astounding
suddenness. their chance Of beating
out the White Sox is practically NIX
II not overly slim and somewhat prune
shaped.
The Mackmen still have a chance
under these conditions-if Comics
amazing machine can win 90 out Of its
next 81 games. while the White Sox
are losing as Of their 20 games, the
Athletics would lead their rivals by
IL games in October. The main
drawback 70 this seems to be that II
the Athletics should win their next
IS games their standing would still
be under 800. Tough luck.