Evening star., 1925-04-26

their best when the Babe is out of I
This is natural enough. While the
Yanks can and do get good pitching,
while they have a good defense and
strong attack, Ruth is the big noise
on the club. He is more than the
most dangerous man in the league at
bat. He is rafting good outfelder
and inspires others by his example.
We have nearly finished our second
series with the Yanks and they GER
tainly have felt the loss of Ruth when
playing against us. We will have
comfortable margin on the series in
Gotham and here whatever the result
of today's game. The Yankees now
have d big handicap to overcome. A
game won in the Spring is just as
good as one captured in the Fall.
Tanks Outlook Not Rosy
I understand the Babe will not get
In the game again for a couple of
weeks. Every day he is out of the
lineup means a further handicap for
Higgins. OF course the Yanks will
win games without the big fellow, but
they would win a lot more with him.
If he is on the shelf for a period
longer than is now expected, the
Yankees probably will have a hard
row to hoe to get in the running. They
are at. a disadvantage, early as it is,
and have a considerable handicap TO
overcome. The sooner the Babe gets
in uniform the better for them.
Huggins has two promising under
studies for his outfield in Paschal and
Combs. The former recruit broke in
with bang against us in the opening
game in New York. He did as much
as might have been expected of the
Babe himself that day. He is a very
likely looking prospect
Combs, from what / have seen of
him, seems likely to make good. He
was unfortunate last year in meeting
with an injury. He has fully recov-
cred and shows signs of developing
into a finished fielder. Whether he
will be able to hit we'll against left
handlers remains to be seen.
Shocker Defeated Twice.
Shocker opened the season against
us as if he was going to have a great
year. He was almost unhitable that
day. But he didn't fare so well when
used in a relief role later, nor when
he was pitted against Johnson in the
opening game here. However, he
should win. plenty of games.
The New York pitching staff is
otherwise much as it was last season.
Perhaps Shocker has strengthened
Higgins hurting corps somewhat.
But l don't think the New Workers
have as strong a pitching department
as Washington. Certainly the re-
turns to date would indicate this very
strongly.
Higgins is standing on his infield
OF 1924. 1t is a rafting good combi-
nation. If Scott's legs hold out the
Yanks will be well fortified in their
inner defense. If, on the other hand
the veteran has trouble with his
Iof- III,
have more troubles on his mind.
Morale of Yanks Suffer.
I don't think the morale of the
New Workers was helped any by the
two games we took from them in the
ninth inning. That five-run rally in
New York and the two-run drive we
put on here Thursday were enough
TO undermine the confidence of almost
any club.
These two garrison finishes go to
show that the world champions have
the fighting heart that all true
champions should possess. We came
long way from behind in New York
to bat out five runs and a victory
We flashed another nice finish to win
the second straight game of the first
home series.
Our pitchers have shown to uni
formly good advantage so far. They
should continue at their present pace
Walter Johnson was beaten by the
Athletics in his first start of the sea-
son. But it would have been a real
battle had we been able to do any
thing against Slim Harriss.
Barney Stages Comeback.
Barney came back in our big home
coming game and had the Yankees
eating out of his hand. That was
most encouraging. He is starting in
where he left off last season. So far
we have had fine pitching, a great
defense. d slashing attack and the
never-saydie spirit.
The home fans gave us wonder
full greeting when we opened the sea-
son here. We know every one in
Washington is pulling for us to win
again. The fans can be assured we
will be in there fighting every day to
land another pennant.