The Washington herald., 1917-04-08
Sixteen Leagues to Fight for
Honors From April Un-
til October.

SON
From April II until the Ides Of octo-
ber, sixteen major league clubs will fight
it out for the honor of competing in the
worlds series next fall, and while the
fan awaits the outcome of the first games
he pauses to ponder on the chances OF the
sixteen clubs.
The merry little dopesters have been
doping It out piece by piece. Every club
in the two majors has been picked to
pieces and pasted together again. Every
little dopester has his selections to offer
to baseball public. Here goes for one
more.
Take the National League FIRST. be-
cause this year the probable outcome
of the race in Gov. Tener's circuit Is
more substantial from a distance than
that in the American League.
Chances at the National Leaguers from
all angles favor the Giants as pennant
winners. They lNok like the most capable
all-around ball club in their league. and
John McGraw Is due for q comeback
The wonderful showing Of the Giants
last fall was hardly fash In the pan.
They were too consistent The club has
been remodeled and 1t stands out today
as club with a terrific punch. All
Of the exporting persons will tell you
that McGraw needs only consistent pitch
ing to beat all rivals to the wire. Five
players have made the Giants. They are
Zimmerman, Herzog. Holke, McCarty and
Middleton.
A second dive into the well-known dope
pot brings the Boston Braves to view as
McGraw's most dangerous rivals. A re-
vival of hitting among the Braves Will
make them hot contenders And George
Stallings believes he has the combination
set for a triumphal season. Johnny
Evers, If he plays regularly. Will be big
help.
The Phillies and Dodgers are a toss-up
for third place from this early angle. Pat
Moran will have the same club In the
field again this year with which he nm
ished second last fall. The Dodgers will
be strengthened by Laverne Fabrique at
short which was their weakest spot in
1915 And Fabrique's presence may wake
up the Dodger infeld in a surprising
manner Right now there is one shadow
over Brooklyn-the shadow of the axe
which slashed salaries. VIII the wounds
Inflicted In Dodger pocketbooks take
away their ambition to win another PEN
nant7 That's the question.
OF the four remaining teams, the Cubs
are the best bet. Fred Mitchell Is launch
ing upon his first year as pilot of the
Bruins. He has had a long training sea-
son in which to pick his team and he IS
reputed to be a good Judge OF players
But he cannot be expected to take a 1916
failure and make consistent winner OF
1t in one season.
The Reds must not be rated too cheaply
this year. Christy Mathewson deserves
consideration. He has a pretty fair look
ing ball club. His influence as mana ger
may lift the Rods from the rut, and they
do not look like tailenders by any means
This leaves the Cardinals and Pirates to
fight 1t out for seventh place. as the dope
stands now. and the Pirates and Car
dinals will probably do that very thing.
Four clubs stand out prominently in
the American League. They arc tho
White Sox, Red Sox. Tigers and Yam
KEGS.
They stood out prominently In 1915
and they monopolized the first Division.
That they will be the first four again this
year seems a certainty. but the order OF
their finish is a deep puzzle.
Sentiment favortng the White Sox is
stronger this year than It was in 1916
and the Chicagoans look as good as any
club can look on paper Chic Gandil's
return to the Sox may mean a pennant
and the Chicken may surprise the base
ball public by hitting the ball harder
than in the past two years. That his
fielding will be an asset is sure. Early
reports on the Sox indicate that Rowland
will get better pitching. If he does. pre-
pare for a wild Jubilee on the South
Side next october. The sox are a good
bet.
The Red sox are going to be in the race
from the start. But they are going to
miss Bill Carr1gan's influence unless we
have been dealt a guess from a cold
deck. Jack Barry is smart, snappy,
capable ball player. AS a manager he is
an experiment And then, too, the Bos-
tonese are due to slow down.
Give Hughie Jennings some regular
pitching and he will have that Tiger ag-
gregation mussing up somebody's plans.
The Tigers have the punch in both at
tack and fielding defense. but they must
have pitching.
And now for the Yankees. A glance at
Wild Bill Donovan's entry shows a we'll
balanced club in all departments, a club
that has class In hitting, fielding and
pitching. Ray Caldwell may be the sal
vation of the Yankees. He has announced
his determination to give the team the
best he has in him. II Caldwell doesn't
stub his toe and the jinx that kept Yankee
regulars in the hospital all of last season
can be evaded, Donovan's boys will have
something to say about who's who in Ban
Johnson's league.
Among the remaining clubs. Cleveland
and the Browns stand out as dark horses.
Lee Fohrs team ranks as a dangerous
opponent for all comers with first divi-
sion aspirations, and it appears that the
answer lies in Joe Wood, Guy Morton
and Iris Speaker. The Browns are 'Hn-
and-outers."
The silence of Connie Mack this spring
indicates that there is a storm brewing
in tail-end company. in which the tail
enders are liable to climb over the should
ers of somebody. And Washington is
the somebody. Clark Griffith will ex-
pertinent with his club. but Mack has his
team moulded. At any rate, the dope
book classes the Macks and the Grif1ths
as the weakest clubs in the league.
No one can foretell with any amount
Of certainty what will happen in a long
season. Injuries to players may wreck
the chances of any team at any time, but
we have set forth our little lunches here
and. like the rest of the prognosticators.
we will now sit back and watch the fates
L.