The Washington times., 1932-07-20
AS NOT CLUB
THEY WERE
IN 1881
By


NEW YORK, July 20. - The
American League, as l see 1t, car
T4es more playing strength and
better balance today than it did
at this time last season. When /
say this am not forgetting that
, the Yankees stepped away to q
good lead early in the race and
have held the leadership since
the latter part of April. say It
is stronger only after compari-
son of the teams today with those
Of last July.
Six of the eight clubs strike
me as improved, with one re-
manning about the same. or per
hapS a trifle weaker. One other
team has gone back quite a bit.
The Athletics, as all agree, are
not the ball club that they were
in 1881. and the White Sox may
have dropped a little in playing
strength, but not great deal.
Two Exceptions
These are the two exceptions in
the general improvement of the
clubs. The AS have been handi
capped to a great extent by an
injury which kept Lefty Grove
out of action almost a month,
and Lefty has not been quite as
efficient when he has been able
to work. The other pitchers who
starred in the pennant-winning
drive last year are also somewhat
below the 1881 standard. FreitaS,
q newcomer, has been doing fairly
well.
think one reason for the fail
are of the AS can be traced to
that old trouble which affects
pennant winners after the thrill
OF winning begins to grow dull
] have been through It with two
championship clubs, each Of
which rang up three pennants be-
fore slipping back while some
other club rushed to the heights
After a certain amount of sue
cess it seems to be the rule that
q ball team cannot keep UP the
huStling pace, no matter how it
may try.
White SOx Impressive
AS for the White Sox, they look
more impressive on paper today
than they did year ago. but
they are not proving it in the
box scores. The winter trades
brought several good hitters 20
Chicago and it was batting which
the Sox badly needed. They
were the weakest hitting club IN
their league last year and next to
the weakest in the two major
leagues. Kress, Hodapp. Seeds
and Selp added batting strength,
ore at least should have added it
as the first three were good hit
ters with the st. Louis and Cleve-
land clubs. 1t is odd that all
have failed to hit we'll since join,
ing the White Sox. Selph has
batted we'll.
Now for the other clubs. Here
is the way they strike me:
YankeeS-Have been improved
in pitching by the addition of
Johnny Allen to the regular staff
and the deal which brought
Danny MacFayden from Boston.
Lazzeri is having one of his best
years, and Earle Combs is having
q much better season than in
1881. Sewell. too, is having
good year, and Dickey, has i'm
proved considerably since last
season.
Davis Helps Tigers
Tigers-The addition of Harry
Davis and the Improvement in
the play of Bill Rogell have made
q big difference in the defensive
strength of the club, as has the
return of Charley Gehringer to
his earlier form. Soluble has been
playing a strong game at third.
Hayworth is better catcher than
he was, and Walkers hitting has
been factor in the teams sue
cess. The addition of Webb also
has helped.
Senators - The pitching staff
has been improved by the ad-
dition of Monte Weaver and the
deal for Al Thomas. Judges
return has helped the team con.
Siderably while Reynolds has
added to the hitting strength.
Infield Stronger
Indians-Helped considerably in
infield strength by the acquisition
Of Cissell and the improvement in
Burnett'S playing. Hildebrand
and Russell have increased the
pitching strength, Vosmik is an
improved ball player and Ferrell
is better than he was a year ago.
BrownS-Levey. a .209 hitter
last season, has developed into
one of the best Stickers in the
league, and Burns, another weak
batsman last season. also has gone
we'll beyond the 800 mark. Pitch
ing is no better but the team has
improved more than any other in
our league from batting stand
point.
Red Sox-Jolley, Alexander. and
johnson add batting strength
which the team needed badly.
Not as strong in pitching as it
was year ago but more danger
Gus any afternoon because of i'm
T. L