Evening star., 1918-04-14
NATIONAL LEAGUE.
Continued from rYrs. Pare /,

ais this season. The new strength of
the club appears to be in the acquisition
of Grover Cleveland Alexander, the
pitching star, and his battery mate.
Catcher Killefer. who were purchased
from the Philadelphia club for $4,000.
and George Tyler, a southpaw, obtained
from Boston in trade involving Larry
Doyle. Whether Alexander will be call
ed in the next draft just now Is a
mooted question.
Experts rate Mitchells pitching staff
as one of the strongest in the league.
In addition to Alexander. the Chicago
pilot has Vaughn, Douglas, Tyler, Carter
and Hendrix as box performers. The
recruit pitchers are Harry Weaver and
James Walkers, leaders, respectively,
in the Eastern and Southern leagues.
Mitchell is enthusiastic about both.
The infield will be chiefly composed
of youngsters.
Boston.
Manager George Stallings seems de-
termined to have on hand a good line
Of left-handed pitchers. Arthur Nehf
Is still with the team. Hugh Canavan
Of the Worcester club of the Eastern
League and Bunny" Hearne of the
Toronto club of the International
League have been obtained by STALL
ings. All three are good southpaws.
The Braves were handicapped from
the start by two hold-outs. Rudolph
and Konetchey having failed to sign
their contracts with their teammates.
The ranks of the team have been fur
ther depleted by the loss Of three star
players-Hank Gowdy. rabbit" Ma
ranville and Arthur Rico-who entered
the service. The Braves obtained two
good, catchers this year when Henry
Wilson was purchased from Chicago
Nd Tnh1 f1n ooh hjv,Y ON
club. Johnny" Murray, who made a
name for himself in the box in inter-
scholastic games and. later, at George
town University, has Joined the pitch
has shown up well in practice games
at Miami. Massey and Wickland. both
from the Indianapolis club of the
American Association. are other new
members of the Braves squad.
Brooklyn.
Not even the most optimistic Brook
lyn fan contends that the Brooklyn
Superbas are likely to be a formidable
element in the National League race
Of 1918. Any berth in the first divi-
sion would be considered satisfactory
for the Superbas.
Brooklyn sustained a heavy loss
through the Army draft when Leon
cadore, one of the most promising
right t-handers in the league. and Sher-
rod Smith. a brilliant left-hander.
went to the colors. as did John Miljus,
a young but likely Highlander. Sew
eral men who were counted upon to
try for infield positions were also call
ed to arms, and when Manager Will
bert Robinson assembled his squad at
Hot Springs, Ark, he had practically
nothing new except in pitchers. Ollie
O'Mara, recalled from Atlanta to play
second. was not exactly new. as he
was with the Superbas from 1914 to
1915, inclusive. Charles W. (Chuck)
Ward, obtained from Pittsburgh, re-
ported. but went to war before the
training season was over.
What strength the team has will
be in the pitching
Jake Daubert. who shows no signs
of recovering from his batting slump
of last year, will be at first base. Napo-
leon Lajoie was bought from Toronto
to play second. but refused to sign.
and Ollie O'Mara is on second now.
with Ivan Olson at short and Frank
O'Rourke on. third, both members of
the 1917 team. James Harle Johnston
is in Zack Wheat's left field berth,
Henry H. (HD Myers is in his old
position in center and David James
Hickman is in right. These are all
veterans, but their batting averages
of 27o, .26S and .219, respectively. do
not make them a strong offensive COM
bination.