Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1922-04-22
MAJOR LEAGUE
STARTS A BIT
OUT OF FOCUS
Some Clubs Too High, Others
Too Low-Early Shake
ups Due.
CHICAGO CUBS SURPRISE
BY DAVID j. WALSH.

NEW YORK, April April 22.-Execpt
that game In the hand is obviously
worth two in the neck, the major league
pennant races. up to and including this
frozen date, mean nothing more than a
jostling, haphazard, gO-nSyou please
start Of a Marathon Some critics ap-
parently regard them as sprint, and
working on this promise have notified
one and all that certain teams are not
what they seemed.
With some noteworthy exceptions the
present status of the pennant races are
somewhat cut of focus with the relative
strength Of the cOntending clubs But
water and second division ball clubs in
evftably viii seek their level.
There Is. for example, the Chicago Cubs,
now running strongly in second place
behind the Giants. Some of our best
young men picked the Cubs to finish
last. and although that is giving the Kill
lefer entry slightly the worst of it is a
corrugated clnch that the Cubs will not
finish second. The club lacks consistent
pitching and right now some of the young
bloods In the lineup are playing above
the collective head, as young bloods will
In the spring.
Going to the other extreme, we find
the Detroit Tigers and the Washington
Senators looking very g0ofy down around
last place in the American League Nei-
Their will stay there when normally sets
In with the permission Of Mr.. Harding.
The Tigers have too much hitting to
NIL that ignoble role the Senators are
too good a ball club to finish worse
than fourth and the Philadelphia Ath-
letics are entirely too inconsistent to al
low either Tigers or Senators to do any
thing foolish.
The Athletics are the surprise Of the
season to date. Before the opening Of
the season Connie Mack declared his
club to be the worst that ever appeared
in an American League pennant race
which la g+A ant
and make Mr.. Mack look funnier than
usual That kind of business is seldom
permanent however.
The Tigers. of course. will not strike
their stride until Cobb gets into the
game, and the Senators must await the
coming of more kindly weather before
they can hope to get any kind of pitch
ing from their aging and none too re
liable staff. Young Tom Phillips has
turned In a pair of fine performances
against the Yankees to date, and If he
can carry on with Johnson and Mogridg6
later this Washington club will climb
right up 1.-THE ladder like an agitated
steeplejack
And If one team climbs another must
fall. For the latter role, we nominate the
Athletics and the Chicago White Sox,
with the Athletics falling farther and
harder
The National League standing looks
bit more natural with the Giants, almost
champions have played wonderful bali
for the first ten days of the season and
VIII continue TO do SO as long as their
pitching stands up. We are betting that
1t will not, particularly when the double
header epidemic spreads through the
lea que
As for the rest, the Cardinals and Pr
rates are reasonably close to the pace,
the Phillies closer than they deserve and
the Braves and Dodgers not close enough.
TIME viii arrange all that however