The Washington times., 1938-03-01
Giants May Repeat If
'Ouestion Marks Deliver
Burden
Again Rests
On HubbeII
BY PAT ROBINSON

(HereWith is the StTth OF
J series of articles By Internd.
tiondl NeWS SerUice staff cores.
pondentS, preUietUing tOhdt the
National League clubs probably
tDiH do in the 1888 penndnt
r1ce.j
NEW YORK, March bill
Terry already has picked his
Giants to win another National
League pennant.
Should Terry's forecast come
true. it will be sad commentary
on the strength of the National
League, for Terry-who has no il
lusions about his own team or any
other-must realize his team
would be lucky to finish in the
first division if they were in the
American League.
Terry is going to stand pat on
the team that won for him. There
fore, in predicting the Giants will
repeat, he must believe the Cubs,
Cardinals and Pirates have added
no strongth, for if they had, any
one of chem might come down in
front.
QUESTION MARK
Let's give the Giants the once
over. In the outfield we find
Joe Moore, Hank Leiber and Jim
Ripple. Moore and Ripple can be
depended on to field we'll and hit
over 800 but Leiber still is a big
question mark.
Terry has said repeatedly that
he hopes to go to town behind
Leiber but so far the big blond has
been only promise and rarely a
threat. If Leiber lived UP to Ter
rvs expectations, he could easily
add Is per cent to the Giants
punch. If he fails, the Giants
may fail with him, for they have
only Wally Berger for a replace.
ment and he's been washed up
for some time.
There is nothing the matter
with the infield. Mccarthy,
Whitehead, Bartell and OFT can
give a pretty fair imitation Of a
stone wall. Bartell and White
head should do as well as last
year when they hit, respectively,
.306 and .285, and OFT should en-
nance his .294 which is far below
his normal speed. Mccarthy hit
.275 which is practically nothing
for a first baseman but he may
improve a little on that.
SMART MOVE
Terry made a ten-strike when
he shifted OFT to third base where
he quickly proved himself the TOP
man in the league. He should be
better than ever this time.
banning has supplanted Man
cuso behind the plate, and, catch
ing every day, may add some
power to the offense. How vel
he will handle the pitchers over
a seasons play remains to be seen
but rating him off past pertor
mances, he should de all right.
Unless Terry makes a late trade
for Schumacher. the starting
pitchers will be Schumacher, Mel
ton, Hubbell and Gumbert. Cas-
tleman underwent a spinal opera
tion and won't be ready until
June, if then.
HUI ubbell must repeat or the
Giants are sunk. For the sake Of
argument, let's concede him an
other % victories and Melton the
20 he had last year. But Schu
macher and Gumbert, off thell
work last season, hardly figure az
pennant winning pitchers
MAY MAKE GRADE
Behind these we have Baker
who should one day be a grea1
pitcher; Lohrman and Vanden
berg, both up from Baltimore. Ont
of these may be ready to make
the grade. =,
All of this indicates the Giants
offer several question marks. VIII
OFT, Leiber. Mccarthy and Dan
ming improve their hitting? Car
Hubbell come through again? Cal
Cast1eman come back? Will on
of the rookie pitchers COM
: through?
If they can, Terry's forecas
may come true. The writer hes1
tates to disagree with the omnis
: cient Mr.. Terry, but he does no
believe the Giants can repeat.