Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-09
PHHLIES RATED AS ONE OF THREE
BEST CLUBS TO BEAT OUT GIANTS'
FOR NATIONAL LEAGUE TITLE Fl ,Af
New York Looks Like Top-Heavy Favorite, buf
Locals, Boston and Brooklyn Are Not Out
of the Running Yet While
BY GRANTLAND RICE

AN WEDNESDAY Of the present or fiscai
~ week a new set of box scores Will ne
raised TO indicate the appearance OF an
other big league campaign.
BY this date The advance has been spreau
before YOU I'm layers several feet thick, yet
there Is always room for another observa-
tion or so before the door is shut ana tne
first blows are struck.
The Shift
lust n wear ago at this date we figured two
clubs as pennant favortes. They were the
Boston Red Sox and the Boston Braves
one came through and the other. after a
had start came within two or three games
of arriving In the borders of the promised
land. =,
For 1917 there will be brief shitt III
the dope The flag favorite in the National
League is bound to be New York You can't
get away from this pick unless you are
taking a flyer on the bare chance OF call
ing an upset.
The Giants are by no means certain
winners There is no such entry In this
rickety pastime.
But of the eight clubs they have all the
best of II when 1t comes to matter or
form. figures and advance guessing
Four Clubs
In the National League there are only
four clubs with chance. These all belong
to the East The West has stidded badly
ever since the old Cub machine went TO
seed seven years ago And the West has
no club i'm sight with a chance to finish
I, . 3 If there is I per cent of anything
in the April statistics IT is all New York
against Boston, Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
and only fine pitching will give any of
these clubs a first-class show.
Boston, Brooklyn and Philadelphia are
,,,1n taI fI,ran oh tIh
you will find. They finished under a pocket
handkerchief last October, and they Will
not be very far apart six months from
now. All three are well managed clubs,
and we happen TO know that at least one
of the three Is confident of nosing out the
Giants--not with any of that early April
fake confidence for publication, but a sin
that they lack pennant pitching and that
they won't win.
Another Scalp Litter
In the American League it is mostly a
matter of how far success has eaten in
the Boston Red SoX.
In the last two years they have won
two pennants and two worlds series.
Triumphs of this type are usually UNDER
mining in their effect There is no great
incentive in running after a street car that
you have already caught.
success ana faine are no longer lures Tor
the Red Soy. Victory Is now an old story.
1t may be the Red Sox have one more great
year left. They are great ball club at
their best, a better club than they. have
| been given credit for. They have the pitch
ing and the punch, the experience and the
grit to keep on going
But they are up against the keenest COM
petition this season any ball club has known
for a decade. For they have at least five
husky competitors around with war club
| in either mitt, looking only for a chance to
| swing
This American League jubilee should be
| a wonder this summer. Last season un-
| wonted injuries and accidents to New York
| and Cleveland players and a slow. groggy
start by st. Louis prevented a sx-cluh
| finish through the stretch.
OF the six teams with good chance. you
| can figure two out in advance through an
unusual amount of bad luck. But II would
| not be surprising to have all six still in the
| race around late July or early August.
Beyond Dope
This A. L. affair is race that no man
can dope. 1t is we'll beyond the vital and