The Washington herald., 1920-04-11
By DAMON RUNYoN.


New York, April Io.-This is our
story of the probable contenders in
the coming big league pennant races:
AMERICAN LEAGUE.
Nezo York,
ClepeLand,
Detroit.
y NATIONAL LEAGUE:
Nezp York,
Cincinnati, -
Brooklyn.
That's our story and we'll stick
to It.
Do not get us wrong, however.
We are not electing them in the above
order. We are merely nominating
those who will, in our opinion, figure
most prominently in the convention
of this Presidential year of 1920. We
have placed the New York candidates
first in the list as matter of courtesy.
They may not finish m that exalted
position. but it is our idea that they
will both be among the first three
until the final ballot.
Cry of @Piay Ball,
Lest someone get the notion that
we are mumbling about politics. let
us explain that we refer to the i'm
pending baseball season. 1t opens
Wednesday. vi, cowboy! Wednes-
day! This coming Wednesday.
We have put the cart before the
horse. The above is the cart. Now,
for the horse. We should have ar
rived at predictions only after a
column or SO of persif1age as fol-
lows:
Another year kas rolled around |;
another year with its attendant joys
and sorrows and what not. Another
year has trudged into the misty
used-to-be. Eftsoons the old poy-
Gus cry of play ball" will ring out
Ger the lanl. And so forth.
New Faces on Clubs.
play ball." what they cry is Tess
CO." So less go. Presently we shall
hear the good old crack of the bat
meeting the ball, when it meets it.,
and the echoing roar from the teem-
baseball season will be under way,
vi. cowboy!
Here in New York alone the SEN
sational Chase, who rose to fame on
the island of Manhattan as the
greatest first baseman the game has
ever seen, has gone from the Giants.
Zimmerman. one of the few native
born to play on a big town club. is
among the missing.
Such comparatively new names as
Statz. and Kelley and Frisch now
figure in the lineup of the club led
by the man who has brought six
pennants to New York. On the Yam
KEGS, In place Of. Baker and Pratt,
and Bodie, and the other familiars
of other years are MeuseI, and Ward
and Gleich.
Gotham Clubs Ready.
Both the New York clubs come
cut of their training camps in ap-
parently excellent condition. The
Yanks have met with misfortunes
that have reduced the strength that
made them potentially one-two con-
tenders all the way, and the great
young player. Ross Young. is out
Of the Giant line as a result Of ILL
ness. but even so they both have
enough left to keep them in the run
ming in their respective leagues.
Chick Fewster. who promised to
be cne of the best infielderS that
baseball has seen in years. is prob
ably lost to the Yanks for the rest
Of the season as a result of being
hit on the head by pitched ball
in n practice game. Frank Baker
says he will not return. His wife
died during the winter and he has
the care of two young children.
Cleveland is the general pick OF
the experts for the pennant in the
American League. Cleveland is un-
deniably very strong, but we doubt
If its pitching will compare with
that of the Yanks. We figure that
Detroit. too. will fall short of New
York in pitching. 1t must be re-
membered, however. that pitching
staff can go to pieces in mighty
short order. and the Ganks proved
it last season.
Nationals Improved.
Clark Griffith has improved his
Washington club. but il is not a
club that is apt to make many runs.
st. Louis, under the rugged Jimmy