Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-05-17


playing pretty close to form. The
early winning surprises are Cleve-
land. the Athletics, the Reds and the
White Sox.
Big Job for Yankees.
The biggest losing upset, of course,
has been the Yanks. 1t seems al
most incredible that club with
their natural strength should get
away SO badly. They are up against
a hard proposition-at least seven
games behind where they should be.
To overcome that even when Ruth
returns is extremely difficult. No
body knows that better than myself.
The team misses Ruth outside of his
hitting because his absence gives
opposing pitchers more confidence
about putting runners on the bases.
With Ruth's bat there as constant
threat 1t was quite a different thing.
A few years ago the Giants had
an upset like that of the Yanks and
lost IL of the first 10 games. 1t
was three or four weeks before we
struck our natural gait. To illustrate
what that. early loss meant we had
two winning streaks later on in the
season that were extraordinary. We
won &c straight games in one squirt
and soon afterwafd had a string of
could never overcome that early loss
of IL games out of Is, and were
beaten out at the finish by Brooklyn
Games lost in the Spring count
just as heavily as they do in the
Fall, but players do not realize Ii at
the time. Neither do the fans. From
now on the Yanks must play at a
record pace to get back where they
belong. Detroit, another contender,
10, rcf oh
this is hard on both clubs. II will tend
to make the race much closer at the
finish.
Thinks AS Too Slow.
In my Judgment, the Athletics are
playing ahead of their speed. Every
body, think. is glad to see Connie
Mack develop another fighting
ball club. / certainly am, but the
machine isn't exactly right yet. The
one drawback to their chances of a
pennant this year Is lack of speed.
The AS are getting good pitching. and
the batters are cracking the ball hard,
but the machine as a whole is slow
and cumbersome. Very few slow
teams ever won championship.
The Reds, despite their failure to
get certain players that they wanted
and who were badly needed, have de-
veloped the fighting spirit and are
going right ahead. If Bressler con-
tinues to improve at first, Cincinnati
is bound to be a thorn in the side of
all teams throughout the season. Their
pitching is excellent; is carrying them
along In a smooth way.
The bright spots in the National
League are the Braves and the Phil
lies. Instead Of being clubs for the
Others to pick on, the worm has turned
and they are now causing every pitch
er in the league heart disease toward
the finish Of close games. Three-run
leads mean nothing to those fellows,
whether in front or behind.
The thing that counts most in a
pennant fight is what we base ball
people call the ninth-inning spirit. The
Giants have developed 1t early this
year, and the Phillies and Reds also
are confident up to the retirement of
the last man. Had you noticed how
Collins has developed that minimizing
fighting spirit in the White Sox?
Brooklyn also Is coming from behind
nearly every day or two.
Believes Griffs Steady.
If you will analyze the standing of
the clubs closely you should be struck
by the-pac of the Nationals and the
Giants. Both of those clubs are play
ing at tho gait that was, predicted for
them. To. win, Washington should
have a percentage of about $50, and
the Giants figure about the same. The
Giants are just a little ahead of that,
while the Nationals are almost exact
ly in their stride. They will probably
stick to that kind Of playing, while the
others go up and down. If they do,
nobody can beat them. With the
Yanks in hard luck this Spring, the
Nationals ought to be winners. The
steadiness Of their attack and defense
is to be the feature of the Spring
The steadiness of the Giant pitching is
another outstanding feature. Even