Evening star., 1925-06-14

y
/ am told there was no intention
on part of the manufacturers to
make the ball livelier. The fact re-
mains, however, that it is. This is
due. to the use of Australian wool
which winds more tightly around the
core. giving the ball additional
resiliency.
1t is interesting to note that as
the home runs increase the accidents
to players increase This. l think.
plainly indicates the cause.-the
lively ball.
All Clubs Fighting.
Since my return to the game after
quite a spell of illness one of the
first things to attract my interest is
in the absence of what we used to
call the tail-end spirit. That is
big step toward prosperity for the
owners and more enjoyment for fans.
By "tail-end" spirit, l mean will
ingnesS on the part of a club to stay
down and not bother about 1t. Play
ers used to often think that such
position was hopeless and would
show no fight. That is changed now.
The Cardinals. Braves, Phillies.
Cubs and other clubs who got away
to bad start are fighting right now
as If they were actually in reach of
slider themselves out of it. That
spirit is making interesting races in
both leagues. You can't make any
of these clubs believe that they are
not contenders. The new rule per-
mitting all clubs in the first division
TO share in the world series is help
ing to make red races in both
leagues
The way the players of the Cardi-
1 ,le- r.
under Collins, the Phillies under
Fletcher and the Braves under Ban
croft, in fact all of them, are hustling
to get in the first division reminds
me of a remark by Ned Hanlon to a
fan when our old Oriole Club was
going good.
"Mr. Hanion," the fan asked. who
is the captain of the Orioles?"
Why" Hanlon thought a minute,
why it looks to me like they are all
captains"
On the clubs I have referred to
every player acts like it is up to him
to win the pennant. They are all
captains. That Is the spirit that
makes great ball clubs and wins
pennants.
Likes White Sox Spirit.
From the way they have been
White Sox are pretty sure to be con-
tenders In the American League be-
fore this race is over. Collins has
been an inspiration to the young fell
| lows and the veterans like Faber and
! Schalk seem to be rejuvenated.
| A similar spirit seems TO pervade
the Reds. Despite the hard luck they
have had all season every man on
the club is playing as hard as he
knows how. That determination will
bring the Reds along. They will yet
be up in that first division ffghting
| for high berth.
1t looks as if the continued set
backs of the Tigers and the Yanks
had practically killed their chances
for pennant, but they will be in the
| first division. They have too much
| natural strength to be kept down
| even with such a bad start.
Babe Ruths return had an imme-
date effect on the spirit of the Yanks,
but their task of completely overcom-
! ing the big lead seems almost insur-
| mountable. The hot weather was hard
on all the players, but 1t was particu-
larly hard on Ruth. l can well un-
derstand how weak he feels. 1t is a
pity that he can't have a long rest
and build himself to his old power.
But he has that never-die base ball
spirit and wants to play. He gets in
there and works as hard as he can.
but the weakness begins to tell and
he has to get out.
The Braves. just as they were start.
ing to climb. had another bad break
when Bancroft was hurt just before
the start on the Western trip.
| Our club is now in Pittsburgh, and
we expect our toughest series of the
year. All along have said that the
| Pirates would be our hardest opposi-