Evening star., 1928-10-03
LONE ACE TOF|GHT
/ THREE-STAR STAFF
New York Winning Chance Is
Making Strong 0ffense
Its Best Defense.
BY JOHN b. KELLER.

come of the impending worlc
L series, these sharpS of base ball
but why? Probably for no Other
reason than that the Yankees were
sore!y crippled while staggering to theil
American League title and there is
fear that some of them may not be able
to hold body and limb together in the
clash with the National League pen
nant winner.
Really, there should be no walk-over
to the world crown by the Cards
They're good but on season perform
ance they don't put the Yanks in the
shade.
While the Yanks floundered and
Topped around the American League
during the last half of the season and
had a seemingly unbeatable lead so
reduced that they had to fight to the
last week of the race for victory. the
Cards didn't make any runaway of the
race in the senior major circuit. Don
overlook this Like the New Workers,
the ST. Louis aggregation had its
troubles with its pitchers and in the
waning days of the struggle had to
throw all its mound material INTO &C
ton to preserve a scant advantage.
What helped each team through the
irving stretch of September more than
anything else was its gameness. And
that each will carry into the series.
So considering the affair from all other
angles, too, picking winner would
seem a toss-up.
Hoyt Yank Slab Hope.
Pitching always has been held the
determining factor in world series.
The Cards seem to hold a decided ad-
vantage over the Yanks. With Alex
ander, Sherdel and Haines as starters
and Mitchell, a left-hand spitballer,
and Rhem in reserve, st. Louis un-
doubtedly possesses high class mound
c1tvS.
t1ainst this array, the Yanks can
snow only Hoyt and Pipgras as first
raterS, the rather doubtful johnson
snd the quite uncertain Zachary.
Each club has others, Of course, but
they are not so strong.
Yet with Hoyt the Yanks are not
so bad off. He's perhaps stronger
physically than any of the three st.
Louis stars and if pressed probably
could give the Yanks three mighty well
pitched games during the series, de-
spite the strain he has been under re-
Gently. If Hoyt pitches for the New
Workers in the series opener-and he
probably willard gets away with his
game, he's apt to come back twice
against the Cards with great chance
of hurting their cause.
It's asking too much OF one man to
assume world series pitching bur-
den for club, but it's been done be-
fore and the burden borne successfully.
The Yanks aren't so bad of on the
hill that the Cards may be rated much
higher because of a three-star pitching
staff.
Cards Better Back of Bat.
Back of the bat. the National
Leaguers undoubtedly have the best of
it. In Wilson the Cards possess a
high-class catcher and one BETTER
qualified physically to carry on than
Bengough, the only real receiver OF the
Yankees. But Bengough has been
known to make up with nerve" what
he lacks in strength and he ought to
help his club greatly. Whether Col
lins and Grabowski will be of much
use to the New Workers is questionable.
AS 10 the infields, it seems a stand
of. Bottomley, FriSch, Maranville and
High of the Cards do not loom as
stronger combination then Gehrig,
Durocher, Koenig and Dugan or Rob-
ertson of the Yanks defensively.
During the latter part of the Amer
ican League campaign Durocher and
Koenig performed hashily around the
middle sack, despite Koenig's sore
heels. Frisch and Maranville, of course,
starred around the keystone station for
the Cards, but neither is youngster
and neither has the speed of other
years. Bottomley and Gehrig appear
evenly matched at first base and Rob-
ertson, Yankee second-stringer, prob
ably is just as strong fielder as High
at third, while Dugan is somewhat Su-
perior to the st. Louis regular.
Cards Outer Defense Good.
The Cards may have an edge over the
Yanks in the outfield, now that Combs
is not to be in center for the New
Workers. The combination of Meusel,
burst and Ruth ought to give the st.
Louis Gordon, including Hafey, Douthit
and Harper or Holm, good scrap,
though Meusel. when he wants to, can
perform brilliantly in th2 garden,
burst is no slouch of an outf1elder-
and it is notable that substitutes forced
into world series when regulars are in
jured play super base ball-while Ruth,
even with his trick knee, is SO adept
at position play that he may be able
to offset the effects of his hurt
Summing up, both teams appear we'll
matched in defense back of the pitch
ing. In the box the Cards are supe-
rior numerically If not effectively, too.
At bat the Yanks seem to have an
edge over the National Leaguers. That
Yankee batting slump during the last
few weeks of the American League
campaign may be discounted Teams
do not usually carry such slumps into
world series.
Crippled Yanks Can Hit.
It's the pitching the Cards hope to
win with and the batting with which
the YankS hope to carry on TO their
second successive world title. And the
Yanks. even when crippled, can sock
that ball.