The Washington herald., 1917-02-25
LOYALTY OF CHICAGO
FANS Still UNSHAKEN
Still Cling to the Hope that White Sox
Are Due to Cop"

New York, Feb. 2L-There Is no spot
on the baseball map where the loyalty
OF the fans runs more truly to form every
year than Chicago's great South Side
Mere mention OF the South Side of
Chicago brings the thought OF that grand
old Roman, Charles A Comiskey and his
battling White Sox. to the mind Of every
follower Of the game. It has often been
said there IL more Of genuine baseball
spirit and loyalty to the square foot In
the neighborhood and environs OF Com
tskey Park than anywhere else In the
whole swatting universe.
The season Of 1917 II not afar OF. and
with its coming comes also the "hunch"
that the South Side of the Windy City
win be heard from with great frequency
This year than for several seasons past.
Last year Comiskey's Pale Hose were
livery much In the running for premier
honors In the American League. They
finished second to the Boston Sox. and
good second. too. But the driving
enough to carry them over, and the
Windy City Sox had to be content with
finish that placed them two full games
behind Boston
But 1917 Is another season, and Comis-
Key has decided to give Clarence Row
land another chance to show the base
ealiing public that he has the goods. The
And in the meantime those terrible Bos-
tonese will be without the guiding hand
and the lighting influence of Bill Carri-
gan. That they will feel the loss Of Car
rfgan keenly Is the honest belief Of base
ball critics all over the country, and this
opinion Is given with due respect for Jack
Barry. who Is a grand ball player and
acknowledged to be one Of the smartest
men in the game
IL is only logic IN 6111ra the Pad Gov
the decline. They will have greater
pposition than ever before, and as the
earns Of the American League stack up
against them 1t appears that the White
sox, Yankees, Tigers, Browns and Cleve-
iand Indians are sure to crowd those Red
Hose for the first division berths.
A glance over the field fails to reveal
better looking team than Comiskey's
Rowland will start the training season
with an even stronger array of talent
than he had last year, and IL the White
Sox pitchers can avoid the hospital it
looks from this distance that the South
Siders will be off to a flying start
The seasoned vets Of the Sox-Collins,
Weaver. Schalk. Fournier, Felsh, jackson,
Leibold, Ness and Lapp-represent a world
Of driving and defensive power. The
pitchers for the most part are seasoned
men, and the youngsters who will be tried
out come from their respective leagues
with good records.
A peculiar feature of the Sox spring
trip will be the trying out of three new
first basemen. They are Bob Hasbrook,
from Muscatine; TheO Jourdan, from St
Joseph. in the Western League, and Frank
Henry. who comes from the Petersburg
club sJourdan bumped the ball for an
average of .Sl4 Henry hit "a. and Has
brook .272. JOurdan is the best fielder of
the trio. according to the figures.
Ross Eldred. from Seattle, will battle
Tor an outfield berth. In the lineup of
the Seattle club Eldred slapped the pill
for .SS2 average last year and fielded
s6S in 81 games.
Two new catchers - Gray, from
Wichita, and Jenkins. from Houston
both hit better than 300 IN 1915.
Swede Risberg can be counted upon
to show better form as a second base
man this year. and Bruno Haas, a util-
tty man. with Elwood Martin, Oakland
hurler. will complete the Rowland kin
dergarten, according to the latest list
of players sent out by the Old Roman
from Chicago.
With this array of rockies on hand,
IL appears that Rowland and Comisk ey
have prepared to meet emergencies in
the way of injuries to players. With
out the recruits, the White Sox look
strong enough to give a strictly first
class account of themselves and White
Sox fans are justified if they indulge
In sweet dreams of a pennant for the
South Side next fall