The Washington times., 1932-05-18
ADMITS
I CUBS ARE
STRONG
BY BABE RUTH


that the two clubs which picked
to battle for the pennant in the
National League have been having
Q tough time trying to get out Of
the second division. refer to the
Cardinals and the Giants. In each
case I believe it merely indicates
that the team ran into an early
slump, for you know there Is no
reason why any team can't have
one of these in April or May as
well as in midsummer or in Sep
tember.
I still believe they will be the
clubs which will do most Of the
fighting, though I must confess
that have a far higher opinion
Of the Cubs than had when the
clubs were getting ready to open
the season. The way Hornsby has
had those boys stepping, With Guy
Ter and English out of so many
games, and Grimes unable to do
- any pitching during the first
month of the season, Is a tip-off
that better days are ahead for the
Cubs. But still want tn see them
carry the winning habit over a
longer streach of games before I
will be convinced that they are
better than the Cardinals or the
Giants.
Still Likes Giants :
I have not weakened even
slightly on my estimate of the
Giants, but I will say that the
Cardinals do not impress me now
as they did before the season
opened. OF course the loss of
Pepper Martin has had a lot to
do with keeping the Cards down,
because no team can spare a
player of his ability without feel
ing the loss. But when I rated
the Cards as the class of the
National League I didn't have
the slightest idea that they would
let Chick Hafey get away. I
know he was holding out at the
time but most Of the holdouts
are brought into the fold sooner
or later.
Now I have my doubts about
the ability of the Cards to re.
peat. I am still stringing along
with my first prediction, as I
never have made it a practice to
revise the list afte- it was once
made UP. Like all other dope
sters I have to take my chances
on the luck in the game, the
good or bad breaks which team
might get, the trades and the
accidents, or the unexpected per-
formance of some young player
who might develop into a star
and account for several victories.
Cards Miss Grimes
But it is apparent to every
body, I think, that the Cardinals
of 1882 are not going to walk
away with the pennant as the
Cardinals of 1881 did. They will
miss Grimes and they will miss
Hafey. make no mistake about
that. I know that Burleigh
Grimes is well along in years
but think what such pitcher
means if he is available to toss
into a tight game which is get
ting away from some young
pitcher.
Now about the Giants. They
were called the best conditioned
Giants which McGraw ever sent
away in a pennant chase. Per
haps they were. But things began
to break badly and at one stage
they were in last place. Bill
Terry has been playing up to
his usual standard and Hughey
Critz has been hitting far be-
yond his previous form. But the
other players have been going
badly at the same times Illness
has held Jackson back, while
OFT and Lindstrom seemed un.
able to hit their real stride.
Koenecke, the new outfielder, ap-
parently was trying too hard to
live up to all the nice notices
that had been written about him,
and his work has suffered.
Too Good A Club
But McGraw has too good a
ball club to stay down in the
second division. Terry, Jacks.Gl,
Lindstrom, OFT, Vergez, Walker,
Hubbell, Fitzsimmons, Hogan and
the rest of them carry too much
class, as a group, to lose games
as they have been losing this
spring.
believe now, in spite of the
poor getaway of McGraw'S men,
that the Giants have a better
chance to win the pennant than
I thought when the season
opened. The chief reason is that
the Cardinals are not as good a
team as I had believed they
would be. It strikes me that the
Giants are having their slump
while some other teams are play
ing a little over their heads, as
ball players express it. Don't be
surprised any day to see the
Giants step out and keep on
stepping until they get to the top.
It is a tough thing for a team
to start on a long trip while in a
slump, as the Giants had to do
this spring. 1t takes so much
longer to shake it off. A few vic
tories will make up the amount
Of ground they have lost, and