Omaha daily bee., 1920-03-18
BY JAMES CRUSINBERRY.

odh 3hitoiio, LN-Ndo, NhaiSl 49,
With strong pitching staff, bril-
liant set of outhelders, a high-class
bunch of catchers, and an abundance
OF enthusiasm, John ]. McGraw,
manager of the Giants. expects to
give every club in the National
league battle for the pennant this
Fseason regardless of the fact that
his once sturdy inheld has been
wrecked.
After a few glimpses at the squad
of 40 ball players in the San An
tonic camp, one feels inclined to
think McGraw Knows what he is
talking about, for he has a horde
of young and live youngsters from
which it would seem possible to
pick two or three good enough to
fill i'll the vacant spots in the i'll
field.
Doyle Slowing Up?
The retirement" of Hal Chase
and Heine Zimmerman broke up the
once stonewall of the inner circle.
Their places have to be filled. Also,
there is doubt that Larry Doyle will
regain his old time speed at second
base. In that case it would require
the finding of three new men to go
along with Art Fletcher, who is
| back ON the shortstop job with all
his accustomed vim.
Assuming that Doyle has at least
another year of major league stuff
i'll him. McGraw will have to fill two
important holes, one at first and one
at third He found one fellow last
fall i'll Frank Frisch, the Fordhanl
college boy. 1t looks as if he will
make the Polp grounds fans forget
about Heine Zim before the season
is month old.
Kelly First Base Candidate.
| That would leave first base as the
only unprotected spot OH the Giants
and indications are that it will be
satisfactorily taken care of by big
George Kelly, nephew of of the ia
nous Bill Lange. The only other
candidate for the job is one Johnny
Horie, New York semi-pro who
lives on Avenue A aud talks as if
that fact is important.
But one can't tell definitely until
July I just what kind of a team Nc
Graw will have. 1t may be that be-
fore that time he will have Milton
Stock on third and Fred Ludcrus
on first. McGraw is ready with a
] big bank roll to buy the former from
tie Cardinals and the latter from the
Phi!lies whenever those clubs feel
like selling or get so badly pushed
for money that they have to sell
something.
Satisfied With Pitchers.
"If I can get the infield fixed UP,
the Giants will be in that fight"
,were the first words of the New
York boss when asked how he felt
about the coming race. "I've got
| five great pitchers whose combined
strength is greater than that OF any
five on any other team That's
something worth while. for strong
pitching staff can carry team
along"
1t was needless to ask him who
the five were. He referred to Jess
Rarnes. RUDE Benton. Art Nehf,
Fred Toney and Phil Douglas.
my Outfield is fine" he con-
tinued, az have three great men in
Burns. Kauff and Young. and a
coming star in young Arnold Staatz
have great catching staff. that is
sure, three veterans, any one cap.
able of going in and taking care OF
game.
Z Counts on Using Doyle.
"The inheld problem is the only
one to solve. Fletcher will be on
short as usual. 1t looks like Kelly
will come through on the first base
Job. I'm not a bit scared about
young Frisch. He showed maj jor
league stuff last year when playing
at second or third. If Doyle can
get into condition the inheld will
be pretty safe. | am going to give
Larry all the time he wants to get
ready. I would hate to have too
many youngsters on the inheld.
| ut may turn out that / can make
a trade or buy an inhelder, but it
looks doubtful. During the winter
l offered enough money for players
to buy an ordinary ball club, but
nothing was accomplished. If the
other fellows won't sell. we will have
to battle 'eln with what we have"
Youngsters Are Numerous.
Besides Frisch and Staatz, who
seem certain to become regular big
leaguers, McGFaw has a great as
sortment of youngsters for both out
| field and in6eld positions, as we'll
as lot of likely looking young
pitchers.
| Among the latter is Jess Winters,
who was with the team last season
and seems about ready to step in as
a regular if any of the FIVE big fel-
lows falter. There is another ster-
ling right handler in Sterling Stryker.
He has been up and back two or
three times, served in the war, and
now is fit for the big league. Jim
Carton, = southpaw. last year with
Tulsa. is showing some speed. and
so is Sid Ross, another southpaw,
who madeIa record last year in the
Texas league.
A. p = q