Evening star., 1916-07-31
WINNER IS HARD TO PICK
Red Sox Now Leading American
League, With White Sox
Very Close Up.

NEW YORK, July 31.-With more
than half the championship season be-
hind them and with less than half the
number of games comprising the race
for the pennants ahead of them, the
teams of the American and National
leagues are still battling away They
have less than ten weeks in which to
decide which clubs viii figure in the
world series. and with the road to the
leadership badly clogged in both
leagues the ultimate winner is a good
deal of a toss-up. To flick the coming
champs is to call largely upon your
sentiments. The pace being maintained
by the leaders and the kind of ball
| being played by some of those teams
| further back in the race are almost sure
to lead to an upset of more or less
| importance. The crowding of the paths
| is so hard that even the teams leading
in their respective leagues cannot fall
ter for hardly a day without droppins
down the ladder again. The Yanks
| first place in "a grand tilt with the
Cleveland Indians The champion Red
Sox have forged to the front. With
the Braves looking dangerous. we are
confronted with Boston menace
The crippled Yankees have at last
| been displaced in the American League
| race. 1t took some time to XIII on
| Cleveland Ten weeks ago the Indians
| We're up in front with a half game on
| Washington and the Nationals had a
| substantial gain over the Yankees, who
| were some distance ahead of the Red
Sox. In the National League the last
| ten weeks brought about few changes
1 he a
| period the real race only started. When
the Indians started to drop they were
pushed along by both Chicago and Bos-
| ton, and they were preceded in the
downward flight by Washington, which
| team blew just as soon as the other
! teams got going. Once the White SoX
| got in trim they stepped over Detroit,
| the Tigers being handicapped with a
weak pitching plant. Then the World
| Champion Red SoX got Strengthened out
| and they began to move up when Cleve-
land and Washington started their
descent. And the Red Sox have kept
on going until they have found the
| top. With the Yankees in third place
| there will be less heard about the
world series being staged at either END
of the Brooklyn bridge.
| The next ten weeks of play in the Amer
| lean League race will be a battle royal
| between the Red and White Sox. Unless
the Yankees can get Baker. Maisel and a
few more of their crippled players back
| into the game again they will find trouble
! in stepping with the SoX. The present in
dications are that Boston and Chicago will
dominate the balance of the race. Both
| teams have come up from behind and
! being composed of seasoned timber, they
will oc hard to beat down in a flying fin
| ish. 1t will be a battle between them
selves and in that the White Sox would
! have the better of the finish with a long
| stay at home during September. The
White Sox travelled along last week. win
ming seven of the nine games played. Il
was only the Yankees miserable fall dowr
in all but two of eight games that allowed
Boston to shoot to the top, as the Rec
| SoX only won four out of games. The
Yanks and Red Sox are. however in the
enemy's country. which gives them the
short end of the argument. The f1ashS
| squirt OF the Browns, who went through
| the week winning nine games without q
| defeat, assisted the White Sox in theil
upward flight, for four of the nine vic
| tories were taken from the Yankees De
troit took advantage of Washington.
weakened condition to take four straight
| games. These are just few of the hap.
penings that have put the west very mucf
| into the American League race The ter
| remaining weeks will be full of promise
| for the Red and White Sox and hope fol
| the Indians and Yankees.