The Washington times., 1936-03-13
RedSoxFar
From In
HeBqg
By KIRK MILLER
Times Sporta Editor

defense.
That is I am trying to save
my vocal chords q bit so that
I shan't be in too bad form to
Join in those Irish anthems
which will be sung by the
Friendly Sons Of st. Patrick
at their next Tuesday night
frolic at Mrs. Mayflower'S
Connecticut Avenue boarding
house.
So, instead Of answering indi.
vidually the many who have in.
quired during my town gadding
as to whether the Red Sox, with
their dazzling list Of stars, will
win the American League pen
nant, today I wish to make Q
blanket answer which I hope will
cover the situation and possibly
relieve so much verbal repetition
on my part.
Strike Up the Band
So, II the professor will oblige
with q few strains Of TAKE Me
Out to the Ball Came" I. should
like to depose, and say:
One Of the most difficult pieces
Of magic to perform in baseball
Is to buy a pennant. It has been
done o time or two In the long,
careening, crazy course Of or"
ganized baseball, but not often.
The rule in baseball is that the
best teams are developed. Thereby
you get team spirit. You get a
loyalty to cause. You get the
realization Of q hope, a dream, an
ambition fulfilled which in the
beginning seemed remote, but
which blossomed into a possibility
through persistent team work. A
handmade team, I believe, stays
at its peak longer than a hand
picked team produced by laying
money on the line.
Briefly, IL or IS brilliant ball
players, picked up here and there
at fancy figures, do not neces-
sarily constitute baseball ma
chine that will sweep through a
season with the same success as
q mediocre club that is fired with
q winning spirit.
Some Inspired Ball Clubs
I believe ! can cite two exam
pies Of fair bali teams cutting quite
a wide path through baSeball's S
pastures simply because they were
inspired ball clubs. Both Of the
examples are familiar to local
baseball enthusiasts.
The first case In point is the
Washington Club Of 1924.
The second Is the same club Of
1888.
Neither were great ball teams.
Both were inspired ball clubs,
and each was an example Of what
flaming leadership can do with a
collection Of fair athletes with a
Judge, a johnson, a Goslin, a Rice,
or a Cronin, a Bluege, a Sewell
and a Myer lending both brilliance
and Steadiness.
But from base to base and left
to right field neither Of Washing.
tons trio Of pennant winners
would blind you with class such
as Boston will do this year, and
that goes for the battery corps
on all three occasions. However,
as those seasons wore on, there
developed that coordination be-
tween the big names and the not
so.big names which brought about
q result that could not be matched
by clubs which had class written
all over their rosters.
Surprise Themselves
Those teams, in other words,
came from nowhere; they were
surprise teams. They even sur
prised themselves.
On the other hand, one Of the
best ball clubs with which Wash
ington has ever started season,
Walter Johnson's 1890 entry,
couldn't make the grade. Uncle
Clark Griffith thought sure he
had q winner that season; and
he knows better than anyone
what can happen to the bestlaid
baseball plans Of mice and men.
So, you see toward what am
leading.
am leading up to telling you
It is my conviction that that i'm
presSive personnel with which
Owner Tom Yawkey and General
Manager Eddie Collins have sur
rounded themselves at a terrific
outlay Of cash which practically
saw the Philadelphia Athletics
depleted, gutted If you please,
does not necessarily guarantee a
pennant for Boston.
Can't Guarantee Em
Indeed, baseball will be in a
bad way when pennantS can be
guaranteed in any manner. BoS-
ton has still got to prove it has
teamwork. It must have machine
which clicks and clicks regularly.
With all of its cast Of stars, vic
tory to it still depends on the
breaks, such as Harris got In
1924 and Cronin in 1888 with
fairish ball clubs.
The vital element Of baseball
luck and fortune, good and bad.
will always be an equation, in
Boston and elsewhere.
Foxx, Melillo, Dib Williams,
McNair, Cronin, Werber, Cramer,
Almada, Cooke, Manush, Grove,
MarcIrn. Welsh. OStermueller