Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-02-10
PILLS CHANCE IN NATIONAL
RACE AS GOOD AS ANY TEAM
No Favorites Stand Out as Clubs Get Ready
for Big Scramble Close Competition
Should Be Feature
By GRANTLAND RICE

Hope springs eternal in the baseball
breast But hope has sprung higher in
the baseball breast of the National
I League this season than 1t ever sprang
before. We mean by this that more ball
clubs in that circuit actually believe they
| have a chance to win the pennant than
any other passing winter has ever known.
Not the Old Bunk
You know the old spring bunk OF the
game-"the team that beats us out" etc.
There is none of that bunk this season.
Boston, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, New
/ York, Chicago and Pittsburgh feel pretty
sure they have n good inside chance to
win, while Cincinnati and St. Louis are
looking for irst-division finishes. Some
one, as usual, is due for jolt. But pick
ing the order of the october parade is an
other matter.
! For the first time in many campaigns
! there will be no distinct favorite. Giants
and Reds finished under the heap last
I fall-yet Giants and Reds today look to
be as stoutly constructed as any other
two rivals.
The Philly Outlook
The pcnnant winner of one year is gem
orally picked to repeat-upon the theory
that it is the best looking club until
some rival proves different Few this
late winter are picking the Phils to main
tain their perch on top. They have
their chance with the iield-but 1t isn't
any better chance than Braves, Dodgers
and others have.
on form 1916 should present the Big
Scramble. which should mean pyramded
interest through the summer.
The Masterpiece
Homer tcaS a lucky bard,
FetO lOith lTr. Burns could cope:
Bro0ning mopped up good and hard
wan hiS Pippd Passes dope;
Shakespeare had a bale Of goods,
Most Of tUhich tCere Superfne;
Almost any thing Of Hoods
Is classic IN its line:
Yet I'd take my chance tUith fame,
Calmly let IL 90 at that,
With chance to toItte my name
Under "CaSey at the Bat"
Dante Rt a classic rope,
So did Dryden, Keats and Gray;
Shelley, Milton, Moore and pope,
All Uere leaders in their day;
Southey had a subtle touch,
Coleridge tUds a thinning bard;
Virgil holds an endless clutch
on the busy tOorLd's regard;
Yet tUithin this high broiU fog
t0ouId leGve these stranded fiat,
With the right TO slip my cog
Under Casey at the Bat"
Ty Cobb's Rival
"Ty Cobb" said George Stalllngs a day
or two ago, will have one rival this sea-
son. Just one. No, am not referring to
Speaker or Collins or Jackson or Kauff |
am referring to Lee Magee, of the Yam
KEGS"
"Magee," continued stallings, will be
the closest thing to Cobb there Is in the
game. In the first place. he looks like Ty
lis about the same build. In the second
place, he is almost as fast and shifty-not
only with his feet, but with his brain
Like Cobb, he is fine hustler, and like
type.
More About Magee
There is another thing about Magee
that hasn't been commented upon. Magee
is a made-over left-hand batsman. That
is, he started out as a right-hand hitter
and then switched over. 1t has taken him
some time to get accustomed TO this
change. But II you will notice he has
been getting better and better. Last year
he looked to have found himself. He
should bat better this year than he ever
did before. If he doesn't bat around $3.50
or better l will be very much surprised
| told Ty the last time l saw him that he
had real rival this season, and believe
the years records will show that l am
right"
Among those who hope that Colonel
Stallings is not wrong are Colonel j. Rup-
pert, Captain T. l.. Huston and Smiling
William Donovan.
Maxims of the 18th Hole
My son. it is better to bite thy nails or