The Washington times., 1931-05-20
PUTS MACKS
SECOND AND
T|GERS3D
BY BABE RUTH

NAG1 v G1A@EAAN~e &N@SSS ~@@S
last article I named the teams
in the National League as I
figure they should finish in this
pennant race. Now we come to
the American League and I
believe my selections here will
also furnish some surprises. After
I finished doping them out 1
compared the order with that at
the close of the 1880 race, and
not one of the eight clubs in my
1881 ranking held the same spot
as it did last fall. Here are
my predictions on the American
League finish:
2-P6iiadeiphis lBostOn
3-Detroit T-st. Louis
4-Washingt0n eChiCagO
I pick the Yankees to win the
pennant, and not because it is
the club I am with. I sincerely
believe we have enough strength
to win and that with an even
break in the luck Of the game,
we will finish on top. We are
stronger in every department, and
the team showed its real ability
by getting away well, in spite Of
injuries and sickness. We have
the best hitting club in the
league, our pitching is better
than last season, Jimmy Reese
has made the infield better on
defense, and the gang is talking
pennant.
AS Due for Trouble
In don't expect the AS to have
any such season as they had in
1929 and 1880, when they won
MOI, than a hundred games each
year. Pennant winners have a
habit o. losing their stuff after a
certain amount of success. I will
agree that Mack has quite a ball
club, and that Grove, Earnshaw,
Cochrane, Simmons and Foxx are
ball team in themselves, not to
mention several other high-class
players. But I still believe they
have gone over the peak which all
pennant winners reach at one
time or another.
Picking the Detroit Tigers for
third place does not agree with
most of the spring selections.
/ saw several groupings which
had the Tigers down in the sec
on division, and some which
had Washington winning the
pennant.
I figure that Bucky Harris has
a young team that is coming
along, and that Walter Johnson's
team is quite sure to fall back
this season. A big part Of the
Senator's success last year was
their ability to beat the Yankees
consistently, but look for no
such result this year. Both De-
troit and Washington have some
good young pitchers coming along.
I believe the Tigers are about to
step out ahead of Senators and
Indians, two clubs which finished
ahead of Harris team last fall.
RANKS INDIANS tl1Cn
This drops Cleveland into the
second division which may seem
odd in view Of the fact that the
Indians were out In front during
the early weeks of the pennant
race. But I can't figure them
any higher. They were fourth
last year and do not think they
will beat uot any Of the three
clubs which finished above them.
At the same time I believe Detroit
has improved enough to pass the
Indians. That puts Cleveland in
fifth place.
Strong pitching and more
hitting than they had last year
are the reasons / pick the BOS-
ton Red SOx to beat out both
the Browns and the White SOx.
The Browns lack q real punch
and they are going through the
process of reorganization. They
lack the pitching strength of
the Red SOx and they don't hit
much better.
The White Sox have better hit
ting, but their pitching right now
makes them look bad. Thomas
has been having all sorts of trou-
BILE, and Lyons has a bad arm.
Take these two pitchers out and
Bush will have to depend too
much on young pitching. That is
why I figure the White Sox will
finish behind the Red sox and
the Browns.
I look for the best race in years
in the American League, with five
clubs in the thick of it for a
while, and finally a settling down
to q twoteam finish, with the
Yankees taking the honors.
Copyright. 1891. by the Christy