The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-04-12
BIG LEAGUERS ARE NOT SHOWING THE. FINISH OF CHAMPS
Coming Pennant Races Prom ise to Be Interesting, But
 Not Classics.
By JOHN B. FOSTER

By JOHN H. FOSTER
 1 New York, April 11.-Looking over
 the big league teams as they are set
 today for the opening of the season, it
 seems cleF that out of the training spring with the power, the smoothness
 of concentrated effort, the ability to get there" the coordination of bat
 tery strength, fielding ability and bat
 ting force that have characterized championship teams of the past. There are no Athletics like the Athletics of old, no Giants like the Giants of old. no Cubs like the Cubs of old no team, in | other words, that can sweep all be- fore 1t.
 SCATTERED FACTS
 The managers admit this in the mo- ments when they sit down and coldly analyze facts. The latter are like scat tered facts, to be avoided in the light one managers task is lack of pitchers, another's is lack of batters, a third 1 is the lack of the fielders who would provide one-third more double plays. Championship teams can always make double plays and pennants are not won | by teams that do not make them. Both l e'AS Dhuo anu tiS SSidHL5 LnetT great
 days Invited double plays in prefer ence to anything else. Let 'em hit I 'em." said Tinker and Evers and
 Chance Matty and McGinny pitched
 to the batters to make them hit the | ball with infielders like Devlin, Dah- len and Gilbert. The latter played sec ond base and assisted in making dou-
 Die plays at third base rare accom- plishment.
 l Cleveland a frna l. od ilr ba smoothest running piece of machinery in the 1921 pcnnant factory. Accidents at the last moment make it necessary for the Indians to star without Wambs- | ganns, the wizard of the unassisted triple play who smothered the last real rally of Brooklyn in the worlds series | of 1920. With shortstop still a freshman in organized baseball and a utility man for second base. Cleveland is not the high stopper that it might
 have been. If the. Yankees can get together and cooperate intelligently they have chance to jump away from Cleveland and make the champions come to them. Of the other clubs of the American league, there isn't one which has played as Consistent baseball as the Athletics, the tail-enders, which will give Connie Mack reason to believe he
 may shake a glad hand with Lady Bountiful next October.
 GIANTS TOO FAST
 The Giants have team of speed, but so much speed that it is like the upset. ting speed of a thoroughbred horse. It inflicts injury upon itself because it Is so intense. The Giants may race them selves out Two western managers
 think they will. The Brooklyns are slow pokes, but pack lot of endur- l ance. St. Louis will battle both in every game of heavy batting. Pitts
 burg will play as well in every game
 of high class fielding and Chicago with
 Evers and his rapid fire criticism as he
 urges his team will fight them and
 win when the breaks come.
 l St Louis in the American will be ef- fective against the opposing team which plays the cautious Lee Fohl sys- ! tenn. Ty Cobb and the Tigers win make 3 great deal of early noise and Washington is making too much early noise. For Washington. still lucky finesse. Washington often plays great ball until the last act. Then somebody sets off the red fire before ] little Eva has properly adjusted her skirts for her flight into the field. All in ail what has been said does not mean the pennant races will be unin- teresting. Quite the contrary.