The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-11-06
LACK OF MATERIAL IN MAJOR LEAGUES VERY ACUTE NOW
Pitchers Are Badly Needed in Majors, While Others Stand
 Good Chance
Fly GEORGE CHADWICK Special Correspondent of The AEe-HeraId (Copyright, 1921. by The Age-Herald)


 New York, November 5.-'If there were 15o young and fairly promising ball players scattered around the United States, presume that every one of them could get a position with a major leags club," said Charles Ii. Ebbets. owner of the Brooklyn team, today, when he was asked about the outlook for next years players.
 Il think the New York American league club will make some changes in 1922. but I am only speaking in a general way" said Col. Till" Hus- ton of that club. We are always looking for good ball players. My motto is to have as good men in reserve as your regulars ana to have plenty being brought up in the primary schools. I wish we had had more in 1921"
 Could 100 young players find a chance this coming year if they were good?"
 "The surest thing you know. I venture they could find 1t in any year if they were good enough"
 Always an Opening
 There Is always an opening for a young ball player" said Barney Dreyfus of Pittsburg. But where are they? Where are the young ball players who will meet the ex- pectations of those who have been fed on major leage baseball for the last quarter of century. You tell me where they are and I'll go after then.'
 "The western teams can stand plenty of new talent in both leagues" said Garry Hermann. There has been so little new talent since the war that we cannot put the same well balanced teams in the game that we did before 1914"
 Tn what position Is baseball least prepared of all?" was asked of Will bert Robinson, the Brooklyn man. ager.
 Pitchers Needed
 everywhere" he replied, with a sweeping gesture of his hands. Then he proceeded to answer in detail. Tt is always the pitchers" he con tinued. There never is enough of them and there never will be. There never has been a time in the history of baseball, If you stop and look back, when you could say that every club in the major league had a well balanced lot of pitchers.
 Suppose that each club had only two pitchers. Will you tell me of a year when there were 16, two pitchers to each team, and each pair about as good as the others. Only 16, mind you. You cannot remem- Der such a year and neither can l. That is my specific reply. then. to your question. Always pitchers. Let 800 boys grow up together and how many will make good pitchers pro- viding you were training them espe- cially to be pitchers? You'd be lucky if you got six. I don't know how many pitchers I have caught and how many have tried in base ball days, but I can name the really good ones on the fingers of both hands.
 Hoyt Doing We'll
 "The National league hasn't a Mathewson today, but here is Kid Hoyt getting away from the Na- tional league right under the noses of everybody and pitching baseball nearer right than any kid of his years since before the war. If we lad Is more like him what do you suppose they would be worth to clubs that could get hold of them? Thirty thousand dollars a pitcher. But you wouldn't get all the clubs to pay that amount, because they haven't got il to pay"
 'Is there any way by which ball players can be transferred from one