Evening star., 1924-04-09

If its infield plays with the cndur
ance of which its players seem capa
BILE, the Giants will have the sort a
defense that has been their anchor
when the gale blew hardest in fha
recent past
The merits Of Groh and Kelly ar,
known. With them it IS only a mat
Ter or whether they can deliver as
IN the past. The speed and dash OF
t'risch are two factors always in evi
dence. The problem is whether Jack
son, At short. can take Bancroft'S 9
place. That is the greatest hurdle
the Giants face, with the exception
Of pitching.
Some ancient iconoclasts sha.k-
their heads and insist that Jack son
Will not come through. That is un
falr. Give every young player his,
chance. jackson came out of thu
Southern Association with some folks
insisting that he was not a good in
fielder and some insisting that he
was. He was given d job that pre-
cIouS few kids are asked to tackle
to take BanCroftS place in summer
with team that Lad a chance to win
4 pcnnant. He played so we'll that
he did his share toward winning il
40 ordinary player could do that II
ne Is TO be the man on whom destiny
is TO lay a heavy hand. at least lets
wait until the ceremony occurs.
The remainder Of the Giant team
are ready to 90 along and win an
other pennant-if there is satisfactory
pitching McGraw says he has a good
chance to win if nc gets the pitching
And he is not given to oVeroptimist:e
predictions.
Pirates Are COntenderS.
Pittsburgh has not got very far cas-
yet, but enough has been heard about
the team to figure that it will be in
the first division hunt. The Pirates
are expected to bob UP strong on the
intield. If they do, beware Of them
AS sure as their infield stops the
holes that have been leading out into
the safety zones beyond the Pirates
viii win five to ten games more than
they did in 1923. Figure how close
that may put them to the penuant
Cincinnati is undeniably strong iu
pitchers. Jakie Nav seems ready to
start at the beginning of the race. II
he can pitch some left-hand gameS
wei enough to win his first -four
starts. he viii help set the Reds on
in front. Donohue Will pitch The
opening game in Cincinnati. He won
il last year and hopes to do as well
again. RiXey. the veteran southpaw.
may start little late. because he in
jUred his knee in practice. and Ber
ton. former Giant sOuthpaw. must get
off a little more flesh before he viii
be ready for nine innings. Mays
seems to be in good trim. but he, toe.
is not lean enough. Sheehan must b.
4Stu Win uIlOll II tir - ~ - " XII
A bad start might have bad efeet
on him.
Cubs and Cards Next.
The Cubs and st. Louis are til,
little sisters who VIII he betweeH
the upper and neither millstones r.
they don't watch righ. smart. they
viii he beaten out by Boston. thc
most stylish second division team il
the league Just now. Bancroft may
not manage a winning team this year.
so far a s pennant getting is concern
ed, but he has produced better @Urir@
results. and that's a factor in hi
favor as Il manager. IF Doak shows
he can pitch as he did at his hes,
the Cardinals viii - = nette- bali
team However. there is nothing 10
lead one to figure them IN the chan
pionShip class.
The best guess seems to be that il
viii be three-corneref fight Dc
tween New York. Pittsburgh ana
Cincinnati. with the cubs AMI st
Louis peeking in the first division
window and Boston and Brooklyn
both struggling TO shove them aside.
Naturally, that leaves the Phillies 10
bring up the end but the Phfls az,
a good rear guard bunch and vii
fight pluckily with what they hav,
=-I,+