New Britain herald., 1925-01-20
 
INGRAM PLANNING
 SEASONS BATTLE
Will Stand Pat On.MajOr Part Of
 His Lineup
py The Associated Press.

By The Associated Press.
 New York, Jan. 20,-The New
 York Giants, storm centers Of base ball, are building formidably for the Il925 campaign, pennant struggle
 that promises to put the morale of the National league champions to
 one of the severest tests of their embattied career.
 John McGraw, gray-haired chief
 tain of the club, knows that his
 team faces a strenuous fight and realizes. perhaps more keenly than
 any other, the handicaps it Will en-
 counter as an outgrowth of the 1924
 bribery scandal.
 But McGraw's confidence in his
 outfit is none the less keen as he
 maps out his 1925 plan of attack.
 The veteran leader set new modern
 record last year when he won his
 fourth straight pennant and he
 hopes to make it five straight this year, thus setting a mark for all time.
 Back in the early days of the game, Boston and St. Louis clubs each won four straight pennants. the former in the National Associa- ton and the latter in the old Ameri- can Association few years later. These have never been cclipsed but McGraw has the best chance any pilot has had in the annals of either the American or National leagues.
 McGraw will stand pat on the major part of his lineup. He has made no radical changes and con- templates none in the array that won the 1924 flag but is concentrating a good share of his efforts on bolster- ing the battery departments. where the clubs outstanding weaknesses have been for several seasons. 10 this end, the Giants already have collected q corps of 19 pitchers for spring training at Sarasota. Fla, in addition to new backstopping talent, needed to replac or aid Hank Gowdy and Frank Snyder, the veterans who did the bulk of work last year.
 McGraw has a half dozen pitch ing veterans upon whom he counts heavily for 1925-Art Nehf, Hugh McQuillan, Bill Ryan. Claude Jon nard, Jack Bentley and Virgil Barnes, Among a dozen or more others, some of whom had trials last year. he hopes to obtain regu- lar talent from such good prospects as Baldwin, obtained from Newark; Wisner, Rochester product; Wayland Dean, Louisville recruit who de- clined after an impressive start a year ago: and Joe Bradshaw, former Toledo and Louisville pitcher. Two stars from college ranks, Hugh Ma geyncy of Notre Dame and Jim of Holy Cross, are also on the list, besides Jack Scott, 1922 world series hero, who has been recalled from Toledo
 Outside of the batteries, the only major shift in the team as it left the field in the last world series game will be the return of Heinie Groh 10 third base in place of Freddy Lindstrom, schoolboy whose play was a sensation in the cham battle with Washington.
 McGraw regards Lindstrom as one of the greatest finds of recent years but believes he needs further cx- perience before being able to replace iroh, providing the latter is in con- 1ition,
 McGraw has not yet decided to employ again the re- versible infeld and outfeld ar he used in the closing part of the 1924 season. Under that system, he used George Kelly, regular first sacker, in center field, Bill Terry on the initial sack and Hack Wilson in left field, in place ot Irish Meusel, when facing right handed pitching. Against south paws, Kelly came in to first, Will son shifted to center and Meusel patrollcd left. Jackson and Frisch in the intield and Young in right field were fixtures.
 The Giants have another seasoned 2uttielder in Billy Southworth, while McGraw has high hopes of a number of recruits, especially Ralph Fraser, who batted 400 in ho Canadian league last year. Trump, obtained from Portsmouth, Va, and Walker, another Virginia eague product from Rocky Mount \' C., also arc looked upon with favor by McGraw.