The Washington herald., 1921-04-11
By JACK NYE.

:
with the stage all set for the
opening battles in the major leagues
two days hence. now Is the time to
Indulge in that annual pastime OF
picking the winners. Everybody
INDUCES in this uncertain business
Of doping them out. It's like put
ting mind bets on a horse race. You
don't lose anything but your mind,
as 'Nicky" McDevitt, the local turf
enthusiast, is wont to remark.
'Nicky" has lost more mind bets
and less real coin than any man in
existence, but that's a. different
story.
Glancing over the interviews with
the various managers in the Sunday
papers, IL appears that all Of them
are expecting to win. Even Connie
Mack and Hugh Duffy see the usual
brilliant future for their teams at
this stage Of the game. II we didn't
know them better, we would almost
be persuaded to doubt their SINGER
fly.
Among the majority of dopesters
there is general unanimity of
opinion in regard to the leaders In
two races. Nine out of ten are pick
ing the much-improved Giants to
gather in the grapes in the National
League, while Cleveland and New
York have an equal share of boos-
tiers in the American.
Giants Have Class.
AS far as the Giants go, they look
like the stuff. This view is not
based on the fact that they tram
Piled on our own Griffmen in the
preseason series, but by reason of
the fact that they resemble one of
the regular ball teams that McGraw
has a habit of putting out.
Forced to choose between the In
dams and Yanks in Ban Iohnson's
circuit. the call goes to Speakers
men by the sleaderest CT margins.
The reason is Mr.. Speaker himself.
Outside Of Speaker there doesn't ap-
pear to be much difference.
Last season the Yanks pushed the
Tribe iercely until the very end.
despite the fact that the Cleveland
ers were conceded to have a faster
and brsinier machine. Higgins had
to buck up against gobs of hard
luck and Speaker didn't have any
trouble to speak of until the un-
fortunate loss of Chapman. Then
he was lucky enough to go and
pick up a bush Lacquer who flled
the bill passably we'll
This year the Yanks are better
team. The Tribe are Just about the
same, with no changes in the line
up. In the long grind. however. Joe
Seweu can hardly be expected to
perform with the eclat of the late
Ray Chapman. and a good short
fielder Is necessary to a winning
combination. Spoke still has the
edge in pitching with Baghy. Cove
leskie. Mails anil Caldwell as mis-
vets and. quite a few promising
youngsters. They will have a mar
gin on Shawkey, Mays. Quinn. Hoyt
and Harper, though Huegins' box
men have a lot of class.
Indians vs.. Ysnks.
The Indian outfield is better than
that of the Gothamites. despite Babe
Ruth. New York's infeld ought to
have d slight edge. especially at first
where Pipp is a better man than
Burns or Doc johnson, and at short.
where the veteran Feckinpaueh
should have a wide edge over Sewell.
At third honors are about even. At
second the call goes to the Indians.
behind the bat :ke advantage also
goes to the Indians because of Steve
O'Neill, who shares with Ray
Schalk the catching honors of the
league
In comparing managers. Speaker
has a wide call over Huggins. He
is one of the smartest leaders in
the business. wonderful outfielder
and has the ability to keep his
team working in harmony. He
gives the Tribe the balance of
power. but the said balance is moth
ing notable. 1t ought to be a great
fight between these two from start
to finish and il the Yanks get the
breaks of luck and the Indians suf-
fer any notable misfortunes, watch
for the New Workers to climb onto
the roof.
Nationals and Browns Rivals.
Conceding that the first and sec
ond places ought to be divided be-
tween these two clubs, II is worth
while focusing a little attention on
the probable battle for third and
fourth. Between Washington and