The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-04-12
Chicks, Pelicans and BaronS Are Picked
 10 Take Lead

Atlanta. Ga, April 11.-Generally favorable weather conditions are ex- pected to accompany the opening of the twenty-first season of the South ern association of baseball clubs ir Dixie tomorrow.
 Memphis. pennant winner in 1921 will open the season at Little Rock; Atlanta plays at Chattanooga; New Orleans at Mobile, and Nashville at Birmingham.
 President John D. Martin has as- signed his staff of umpires as fol- lows:
 Brennan and Jorda at Little Rock Guthrie and Pfenninger at Mobile; Johnston and Lewis at Birmingham, and Williams and Tandy at Chatta- nooga.
 Two New Managers
 Opening day marks the debut of two new managers in the Southern associations Eddie Mcdonald at Chat tanooga and Bert Neipoff at Mobile Doyle at Nashville held the reins of authority a short time at the end of last season and the other five re- tain their places from last year
 Although Charley Frank is man. ager of the Atlanta Crackers, he will be unable to attend to his duties for some time and Roy Ellam, the field captain, will be in complete charge of team until Franks condition per mlts his return to the bench.
 Southern baseball writers appar- ently agree that all the teams in the circuit have been strengthened by the winter trades, but indifferent weather has retarded spring practice work with several of them and there is nc unanimity as to how the vari- ous entries will line up in the race for the 1922 pennant.
 Barons Picked
 Memphis, retaining almost a dozen of its champion players of last year; New Orleans with a strong pitching staff, and Birmingham with what appears to be a hard hitting aggre- @gation, all have been chosen by ex- pert observers to jump into the lead fin the pennant race. Mobile also has been picked by some for a first di- vision berth. Atlanta, with a mum ber of seasoned players on its roster but lacking somewhat In young blood, is conceded py many to out rank the Little Rock, Chattanooga and Nashville clubs.
 Nashville is said by some ob- servers to have picked up consider able strength since last season, while Chattanooga is looked on as an un- certainty, but with better lineup than that of last year. Manager Elberfeld of Little Rock is expected to have a hard time filling the gap left by the trading off of Harper and Jonnard, his two main springs of last season.
 The Memphis lineup this year in- cludes a majority of the 1921 pennant winners, High and Hungling being the principal stars missing. McLarry, McMillan and Yockey, the fast infleid trio, and six of last years pitchers again appear on the roster
 Have Good HurIers
 With an infusion of young blood and one of the best hurling aggrega- ;tions in the league, Birmingham is looked upon to be among the leaders from the start. Despite the loss of Bernsen. Traynor, Morrison and Gooch, Manager Molesworth is said to be well pleased with the players he will send in to start the season.
 New Orleans, another of the teams that has shown up strong in prac- tice. despite it's losses to ShreYe- port of the Texas league, is credited with a strong pitching staff and a a heavy hitting outfield. Cotton Knaupp will be back at second but a new man, Henry. will play first in place of Leslie, who went to the majors.
 Of the four teams picked by many snort writers for first division, Mo- bile has had room for more im- movement as the team proved dis appointment last season and some of it's packers claim it Is SO per cent stronger this year. On paper the team looks strong, for its outfielders have proved to be heavy hitters and it's pitchers and infielders have . shown up well.