Evening star., 1922-04-09


clubs will fight it out to determine W
Washington's pennant chances
generally regarded as never better
since the acquisition of Peckinpaugh
gave it the best infield in the
league still are not good enough
to dope it for the title with the call
Der of its hurlers stu proeieman,,ca;,, an,, ;s
lIoeridge alone of the staff really Is
ready Johnson. in whom principal
dependence must be placed, VIII pc
tardy getting into shape, due to NJ
ness in his family, as well as siege
of the grip he was threatened with
Zachary is far from right yet. Erick-
son has not entirely recovered from
a blow on the wrist of his pitchlnS
arm and Courtney has shown<Iittie
indication of mastering his fatal iaui'
of wildness.
AS for the recruit fingers. only
Brilliant, Gleason and Francis nave
shown enough to warrant belns start
ed in a championship game anu
none of them has demonstrated ne
can go the route. Philips, one oi
those depended upon to bolster the
staff. suffered from cold through.
out his stay at Tampa and has not
fully regained his strength: ooo-
ward and Miller are on the shell tenn
porarily at least, the latter with
sore arm: McGrew lacks polish, ana
Turk and keifer started work SO
late that the extent OF their doHi'S
still is undetermined.
Griffx Handicapped at start.
Conceding that a good start is half
the race, the Nationals are further
Handicapped by the fact that the
slugeing expected from Goslin must
he foregone. that youngsters total
lack of fielding prowess having MADE
it practically certain that Smlth VIII
open the season in right field. Then,
reserve strength in the receiving de-
partment is impaired by the illness
of Torres, and. to top it all OF, some
of the regulars are exceedingly pack-
ward in their stick work, notably
Harris, Peck and Shanks. the latter
usually, d clubbing demon in the
spring.
If harmony was assured In the
ranks of the Yankees they could oe
picked as sure-fire repeaters, despite
the fact that their principal punch
will be missing for the first six weeks
of the campaign. But, even with
Ruth and Meusel set down until May
an edge on the rest of the field, due
to the quantity and quality of their
fingers. Pitching properly is regard
ed as by far the most important asset
of any championship contender; ana
the Yankees have in Mays. Hoyt,
Jones. Bush and Shawkey alone prob
ably the greatest staff any club ever
boasted Even with dissension ram
pant and discipline practically ,un-
known, it is hard to conceive how
team with such a galaxy of sharp
shooters can be stopped.
If Dave Danforth. for whom Bobby
Quinn gave up eight players and
bundle of cash, can get away with
his much disputed balk motion. he
will give Shocker, Davis, Vansilder
and Bayne just the assistance needed
to make st. Louis as tough a foe as
any club could be called on to face.
Ill
Tobin and SEVERED showing the way.
they present an attack second to
none. and have speed with it. in
which regard the Yankees, Indians
and Tigers are lacking.
Indians Are Problematical.
Cleveland may be able to hang
around near the pinnacle for another
strength McInnis will add to first
base. but Stuffy. like the other
Tribesmen. is going. not coming. and
one or more of them are liable to
has shown signs of it. reports from
the south being that his legs are
troubling him. The veteran Larry
Gardner is slowly slipping. Coveleskie
has passed the top of his effectiveness
and Bagby is well beyond the peak.
while Mails and Sothoron are too
erratic to be relied on. In addition
Steve O'Neill is reported to be dis
satisfied with his berth.
Despite slowness and questionable
pitching, the Red Sox this year are
such a hefty hitting crew that they
rate at the top of the second division
ahead of the Tigers. who have been
hard hit by injuries and have an ap-
Without Dick Kerr to help Urban Fa-
Der, the White Sox may be expected
to give the Athletics all the help
they need to get out of the cellar they
have occupied for seven years.
This May He Cards Year.
With a club intact so far as the
seven regular positions are concerned,
and with slab corps regarded Al
even stronger. close observers Of af-
fairs in the National League on every
hand agree that the Cardinals are the
team to head off the Giants, if it can
threatening to grab pennant for
several seasons now and there are
many critics who believe that "this
is the year" They argue that while
the Giants have been strengthened
by the addition of Groh to the first line
weakened by the loss of Burns, a
first-class fychaser in every respect
and one of the best lead-off men the
game ever produced. They also cite
sagging, with Douglas a bad actor,
Barnes noticeably slipping, Nehf so
fragile he must be given plenty of
rest and Toney near the end of his
string. The latter last week was sent
to Nashville to see if home in
fluences" could help him to get in
condition.
Pittsburgh. because of the uncertainty
of its !nf1eld. which has not yet been
definitely decided upon, and the balk-
mess of Schmidt. its one real catcher,
is not regarded seriously as pennant
prospect. but due to its fine list of
fingers is conceded a berth in the
first division, possibly ahead of the
Braves, who are better balanced as a
whole, but cannot boast of the quality
of hurling possessed by the Corsairs.
Brooklyn Is doped to lead the second
hsison. hishao h OF. poss,oy ;, GIMP ahis a, notSn
while the Reds, with Roush missing
and Pacific Coast League infield. are
s. ranked in sixth place. 1t looks as II
the Phillies will be able successfully
to resist the efforts of the Cubs to
rout them out of last place.