Evening star., 1933-03-10
pilot SEES GR|FFs
|. CLUB TO BEL|CKED
Believes Own Outfit Well
Equipped-HoIds Record
Against Rivals.
By Stan Correspondent Of The Star.


CT. PETERSBURG, Fla, March
10.-Joe Mccarthy, broad
~ shouldered, square = jawed,
fiashing-eyed leader Of the
New York Yankees, Is confidently
looking forward to another Amer
lean League pennant for the hired
athletes Of Col. Jacob Rupert,
and he makes no bones about it.
without exactly assuming the role Of
the forecaster-no major league man
ager likes to occupy such q position
the Yankee pilot calmly appraises the
material he has, agrees or disagrees
with popular conceptions of the teams
worth, department for department, and
conservatlvely proceeds to point out the
basis for a confidence which none can
deny is substantially supported by the
record.
The club won LOT games last season
and any club that can do that one year
can be safely expected to approach that
record the following season, if it does
not equal it," said Manager Mccarthy.
The other clubs have taken on some
new talent. but whether this will
strengthen the teams involved remains
to be seen.
You can't say in the Spring what
Will happen in the Summer or through
the crucial days of the Fall. Anything
can happen. It is of record that clubs
have made offseason trades which
were hailed on all sides as of incalcul-
able value from the standpoint of
strengthening team. Yet. some of
these trades never showed in the
strength Of the club at all for the sim
hat ,lor
shipped right on to other clubs. Clark
Griffith obtained Reynolds. and the
move was hailed. Yet Griff traded
Reynolds at the end of a single season.
so OF what value was he to the team?
'1T'HE same theory applies to a clubs
i playing. You may have the
strongest outfit In base ball for
the beginning Of the season. only to
have 1t collapse or be adversely affected
by circumstances beyond your control
You never can tell. For that reason
1t Is foolhardy to undertake to predict
what will happen.
What can happen Is different
thing. We won the pennant and the
series last year, and with the same club
we expect to repeat this year. Wash
ington may be the club we will have
to beat-and I think when the test
comes We viii b found fully equipped.
Il think Ruth will confound those
pesstmtsts who are beginning now to
regard him as through The Babe will
be all right, because, with the care he
why he shouldn't be. Pennock ana
Sewell. too, will surprise those who are
beginning to regard their ages as fore
casts Of approaching decline You don't
begin to get good In base ball until yor
are 30. and then you have q numbe,
Of years Of good playing in your system
'Pennock Is not through. He Is fal
from 1t. He's . good man yet. H,
pitches . good ball game and Is fine or
relief pitching. He had little chancs
Last year, but II he had had the chance
he would have won q. lot more bal
games. Allen can't be any worse thar
he was last year, when he had great
season. And you can expect Gomez
Running and Pipgras to pitch good bali
this year.
t'VITE may add 70 our pitching. but
w since we can only carry 1e
pitchers, I cannot say Just nov
what the additions will be- But Bren-
nan expect to improve and Van Alta
Is prospect that must not be over
looked. Brennan was the outstanding
pitcher In . double A league last year.
winning 26 games, while Van Alta, with
. taN-end club, was the outstanding
man in his circuit with % victories.
That's good pitching viewed from any
angle. Brown Is another who will i'm
prove, but about the future of these
fellows nothing can be said yet.
With Ruth in the outfield there viii
be Combs and Chapman. Gehrig Lag
1eri, Sewell, Crosetti and Larry make up
an infeld of established ability. Larry
is . good ball player. He's a kid yet,
but had the misfortune to fall off in
his batting last year. something that
Is liable to happen to any player. He
will get to hitting this year, have no
doubt
I'm the infield and in the outfield, as
well as In our pitching staff. We have
enough reserves to meet any ordinary
contingency. So that. taken all in all,
we have q championship team ready for
championship season. And I expect
we viii repeat"
CTomorrow-The Brooklyn Dodgers)