The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-04-11
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CHICAGO cCUBs")


 Chicago.-With the return of Johnny
 Evers as manager of the Chicago Nationals. new fighting spirit IS expected to be instilled into the players spirit that was totally lacking last sea son, in the Judgment of critics. The coming season will be the second time
 Evers has been in command of the club For years he was member of the team, covering second base with the fa- | nous 'Tinker-to-Evers-t to- Chance" com bination.
 T don't know where we'll finish" is ! the way Evers himself sums up the com ing season, but 1 do know this bal club is going to fight
 The Cubs have added little new ma terial of worth and have lost one man,
 Davy Robertson. who was suspended be- cause of failure to report. Whether his retirement is a loss or gain cannot be determined until the season is we'll ad- vanced.
 Manager Evers regards his pitching l staff as one of the best in the league, with Alexander. Tyler and Vaughn form ing the backbone of the department. He expects this trio to win at least v ] games. Virgil Cheeves, 20-year- old | right-hander from Texas, and Oscar | Fuhr left-hander from Omaha, are | promising candidates The remainder of the staff consists of Abe Bailey and Speed" Martin, hold-overs, and several recruits. The infield presents a new first base- | man to fill the gap caused by the re- l lease of Fred Merkle. Turner Barber, | who played the position for a time last 1 season, and a trio of youngsters-Ray l Grimes, Tom Whalen and Alfred Young are fighting for the berth, with the 1 chances favoring Grimes or Barber.
 Grimes is a twin brother of the Grimes | with the Giants. He batted .3S9 in the | Eastern league last season
 | Zeb Terry, who ran second in fielding ! last season, will again be at second ! base, while Charley IIollocher will oper- ate a short. Hollocher submitted to an
 operation last season, but has come back stronger than ever. Charles Deal is | looked upon as the regular third base | man.
 Hoke Warner, who had a trial with l Pittsburg, and Johnny Kelleher, man.
 ager of the St. Joseph, Mo-, club last
 season, will likely be retained as utility 1 nfelders.
 | There will be no change behind the bat. l Killefer will do the bulk of the catch
 ing, with Bob O'Farrell second string
 man and Tom Day operating chiefly as
 pinch hitter.
 | In the outfield, Evers has a great ar ray of talent. Max Flack will be in right field as usual, with Maisel, pur- chased from Portland, as the choice for l left Twombly and F'riberg are candi- dates for center. although neither is re-
 garded as finished fielder. Barber may 1 draw the assignment later
 | The fiery personality of Evers is ex- | pected to add several points to tho I Cubs percentage standing. From the first day of the spring training trip the | pla vers hayey hustled,
 | PHILADELPHIA ("PHILLIES') Philadelphia.--The personnel of the
 Philadelphia National league baseball club will be virtually the same this sea son as last, but if the veteran pitchers
 perform, up to expectations, the club l should finish better than last year. Such | is the opinion of sporting writers whe
 have been sizing up the team in It's practice games at Gainesville, Fla, anc on it's more recent transforming tour northward.
 | Meadows, Ring. Hubbell.. Smith ant 1 Causey, all right-handers, are the mer upon whom Manager Donovan must re- l ty to a great extent to pull the club ou' 1 of last place. The best of this quinte are Meadows and Ring. Walter Belts l a Delaware boy who won place as re- serve pitcher last year, has also received much praise from the sporting experts for his preseason showing.
 But altogether the seasons crop or re-