Evening star., 1925-05-24

AS l have frequently remarked, 1t is
the secondary or reserve strength OF
ball club that makes it a pennant
possibility. We have been fortunate
in having the right men for the emer-
geney, but | think we should be given
a little credit for judgment in that
matter. 1t was not altogether luck.
The success of the New York Club is
due to it's strength as a machine, not
to individuals as such.
Giants Well Crippled.
frankie Frisch has been kpocked
out by injuries on two occasions now,
and he is one of our strongest men
Heinie Groh has been knocked out al
most since the beginning of the sea.
son. Arthur Nehf has been unable to
take his regular turn on account of a
severe cold. Hughey McQuillan was
in bed for several days from the same
cause. Billy Southworth was laid up
for a week.
BY having Billy Terry as a secon
dary first baseman and Freddie Lind
strom as a utility infielder we have
been able to fill these gaps. Even
Terry is lame with a. charlie horse, but
when called on he went right through
George Kelly, one of the most Falua
BILE men in all base ball, can fill in for
anybody. while Terry plays first base
Certainly Lindstrom has seen that
third base iB not weakened while
Heinie Groh is trying to get his in
jury repaired.
Other clubs have had accidents. ]
know, but no more than the Giants
They have not been able to keep the
strength of their clubs up to the
average through lack of reserve
strength. The Giants are pretty vel
fortified against hard luck. That,
think. answers the question.
Coming out of Florida the wonder
full condition of the Giants and the
Nationals, as clubs. struck me forci
bly,. The pitchers We're in such good
shape that good start seemed cere,
tain for both teams. l so stated al
the time.
Pitchers i'm Form.
In fact, at the beginning of the
regular season our pitchers were ir
such smooth working shape, when
considered as a staff, that they were
able to carry the batters along. The
Giants are a hard-hitting outfit, but
three weeks ago none of the hitter,
was in his real stride. The moment
they struck the pace the whole ma
chine became balanced. The beauty
of the New York clug as machine is
that it is difficult to point out the
weak spots. - 1t is not necessary tC
point to the strong ones. The records
show other clubs with a. better batting
average. but we have had balance.
That is also true of the Washing
ton club. If you fans will disregard
the exceptional squirt OF the Athletics
and regard the Nationals on their ac
tual percentage of victories it will be
seen that they are playing Just abcu
as a championship club should. The
Athletics, | think, are considerably
ahead of their natural speed. II is
their leadership, however, that makes
fans forget how steadily the Nation
ais are playing. Stanley Harris alst
has his club well fortified HIS ex
perienced pitching staff is doing won
ders. The reserve strength is SC
smooth that the accidents AMI illness
are not noticed.
Fans need have no fear of a run
away race. We are fighting to pile
up just as big a lead now as possible
Experience has taught me that it vii
be needed later on in the season. AT
ter two or three very close finishes II
the fall our players also realize Ih2t
lead in May does not mean a cincf
in October.
Many Shifts Due.
In less than 10 days you will notice
ball clubs that seemed out of the race
have climbed right up to contendins
positions. In a very short while
expect to see teams like Pittsburgh
Detroit, the Yanks and the Brown.