The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-01-05

GESIWAkIkC RlOCnCI ESS0
well-informed student of the gan
Doctor Scanlan's suggestion has
been offered before by others, but
few have gone into it in such de
tail. as has the former Brooklyn
hurler. The idea is offered here
for what it is worth. Says the
medico:
LET there be. an all.star National
League team and an all-star Amer
lean League team selected in the
fall and let these two all-star rep
resentatives of the two big league
circuits battle it out for the world
championship. The players select
ed would be. the best and most
efficient at their various positions
The selecting committee might be
composed of one newspaperman
from each city on the circuit, some
thing after the manner in which
the valuable player trophies are
awarded at the present time.
''The series might be the same
length as. the present series.
Every big league city should
stage series games in turn. For
instance, one year the series
might be played in two Eastern
cities and two Western cities.
The following season the games
might be played in two other
Eastern cities and two other
Western cities, and so on until
every city has had its OppOEtu-
nifty to see a world series under
way.
THE advantages of this plan
are plain. Out in st. Louis the
fans have never seen world series
game except on the motion picture
screen Washington fans never
witnessed a baseball classic until
this last fall. and Cincinnati and
Cleveland have experienced the
thrills of one series apiece. Then,
too, teams representing the same
city repeatedly entering the series
cause merely apathetic interest
among the fans.
cit seems to me that the chief
advantage of two all-star teams In
stead of two pennant winners
playing for the championship is
that some star players who have
the misfortune to be playing with
weak teams would have a chance to
get into the big money. 1t took
Walter johnson almost twenty
years to get into a big series, al
though he was admittedly one of
the very greatest of all pitchers
for this length of time.
Rogers Hornsby, Of the st. Louis
Cardinals, is another example.
Hornsby is undoubtedly one of the
greatest batsmen Of all time. Still
he has been in the National League
Tor. almost ten years and has never
had a chance to shine in the classic.
1t may be that he never will play
II. world series unless he is even
tuallY traded to some stronger club.
Dizzy Vance is still another ex-
ample. Dizzy pitched wonderful
baseball last season and it was
through no fault of his that Brook
lyn did not win the pennant. He
surely deserved chance at a larger
portion of the series money.
with a, chance to get into the
world series, regardless of the high
or low stsuding of their respective
teams, the really good players in
each leageu would be on their
nlettle all through the regular sea-
son to definitely establish their
right to place on the alI-star
team"
Doctor Scanlan's, suggestion has
It's advantages and its disadvantages.
Chief among the latter is that If
the pennant-winning team were not
to be represented in the world Sc
ries, considerable interest would un-
doubtedly be detracted from the pen.
nant races themselves. In fact, It
might impress many of the fans
that the flag races were Just a sc.
ries of ball games, nothing more.
Then again, though the stars might
extend themselves in order to gain
place on the all-star teams, thu
great rank and file of diamond per-
formers. who must realize that they
have little or no, chance to bust into
the classic, would have no particC-
lar reason to strain themselves.
Another disadvantage is that a
team of stars who have never
played together as a team, would
haye considerable difficulty in beat
ing any major league second dI.
vision club in a short series. The
individual brilliance of an aiI.star
team would doubtless be superb.
but the team play would just as
doubtless be chiefly conspicuous by
its absence.
That some cities have a compare.
i've monopoly on the world series
Is unfortunate, but it does seem
unavoidable. ITO the victor belongs
the spoils." may seem a barbaric
sort OF motto. still it is hard to find
a better one where sports Of any
SORT are pOrparnad