Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-04-18

wen even against amateur pitching
!ast summer. He denies the ucreist
chl stories that his legs ar. bad nu;
."c' never were good. lie ie a Dlano-
Sc" 'aH player, SLOW at shifting his
ic-' ana HI effective third bas.rnul,
because of bulk TO use IN hIockiur
aSh!nEton is a slipping ball club,
sun strong. bat not improving much.
t,'r!'iith finally discovered that Gan
an, III spite OF one good year is MOI,
a winning first bascmAn and let him
Iso to Cleveland, where he is "A slight
IiHEpfoN"n"nt over Jay ktrkc Judge
/ Is a better man III great many ways
ana Wal! 1T better into the team when
ne gains experience. Grittith VIII not,
he strong a. second base. SO ,hai the
iirSt base wing OF tn. im:eld trenches
VIII he vulnerable to tho attacks OF
opponents.
! We have seen that Cleveland. haudi.
icnppcd by Il change OF owners late in
the game. is going about rebuilding
. the wreck OF the club I'm a mcthodicaI
manner The thinc Foil must do Is
TO get rid Of the old hapnn@ard care
less Lajoie manner of playing ball and
inject some essence %! hustle into the
bunch He made quite start AT do
I!nS that last fall. II was refresh inG
TO see the team trying. even when il
was being beaten.
Foil cannot cXpec; 10 get his team
Iup into tho hurry hurry OF the night
This scason--it is not good enough. He
has a great catcher one great pitcher.
n great shortstop, and the others are
leverage. II would be easy TO improve
1.-The outheld
F.! one thing VIC must consider in dop-
ting the Cleveland team. and that il
1.-THE excess OF competent ball player.
scattered among the other clubs and
the desire OF tho other club owners 10
HELP Cleveland. Thcy already have Sc
toured Howard. Gandil and DAILY. They
10. r..if cd - itflf
mot needed players over 10 tn" Indians
iup 10 the point where the Indians may
become Formidable antagonists; then
1.-THE help Will cease and the helping
Inland Viii begin 10 beat the Indians
ION the iaw-thnt is Tia. way in this
game You cannot figure any club Will
Inelp Cleveland enough 10 lift Ii above
seventh place. The chief strength or
the team lies in Morton, who with a
greater team. would he one Of the ma
| tionnl heroes. and who VIII win a lot
Iof games even for Tia" Cleveland club.
| Conditions surrounding the club ar"
healthier than they have been for
! long time
! As for Philadelphia, its case Is hope
I.ss-a noodle In a. den Of lions. II has
! so,nc s,rcncth left, it has gained over
last year and gained Iii Spring train
inc II has two pitchers who would
he stroug with other clubs. but it lacks
almost everything except Il catcher. a
! first hascman and an outhelder. We
c.pnc; this club 70 splurGc n bit early
I'm ,bo wear, then settle back to the in
| cvitabic.
The American league changes since
The middle Of February have been du"
! largely to switches of players rather
than TO development or loss OF strength
during the training season. These ]
had largely discounted before publish
ing the individual changes
Compared with my original dope,
there are Some remarkable changes.
Cleveland has gained 1873 points: Phil
adelphia, 20 points; New York. 126
points: Boston held It's own, losing
only points. and Detroit gained %,
and ST. Louis 96 points
ChicaCo's gains have been largely
Offset by losses in nthc" POSITIONS but
the development of Filler into n prom
iang spit ball pitcher and the strong
! showing OF Terry, the California uni
vcrsity lad, at short. and the clever
| work of McNIullin (Which | nrcdictcdi
bring them net gain OF GS points since
February. Detroit has gained little in
pitching, where 1t most needs strength.
Tho Yankees would show n huge gain
but for the bad distribution OF strength.
The gain In getting Baker does not
show much because Maiscl outtiEures
him as a third bascman, and MatscPS
full strength cannot he utilized any
where else nor can Baker play any
where else. Washington loses % points
on bad weather in spring training. hay
ing tho worst luck of any Of The clubs.
Tomorrow We'll finish the study of
the dope by reducing the strength OF
| tho clubs To tho number OF games each
! ought to win and lose.
! Copyright. 1915. by tho Wheeler Syn
| dictate, Inca