Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1940-04-25

Dodgers fine catcher, can't keep
his fingers away from foul tips.
New York in fifth place
Much better than last year.
Hubbell and Schumacher may
make pitching comebacks.
Rookie Witek, at second makes
infield much sounder than last
year. Danning, behind the plate,
gives Giants both defensive and
offensive strength. Rookie Ruck-
er in outfield looks good.
Chicago in sixth place-The
Cubs look hopeless. No pitching
outside of Lee and Passeau. Ter
rible hole at short. Rookie Dali
essandro may give Cubs only
fair outfield. Veterans Hartnett
and Todd must do the catching.
Boston in seventh place-Only
lack of hitting power will keep
Bees in second division. Great
defensive infield and outfield,
good pitchers in Tobin, Fette,
and Posedel. Lopez will more
than fill catching duties.
Philadelphia in eighth place
Better than last year, but that
is all you can say. Four ex-
cellent players in pitchers, Hig-
be and Mulchay, infielder May,
outfielder Arnovich. Prothro
needs more than just four play
ers to make his Phils move up
ward.
American League
Boston in first place-Better
hitting team than Yankees for
last two years. Only pitching
and perhaps a leaky defense
have kept Red Sox from giving
the Yanks much tougher time
of walking away with the Amer
ican League pennant the last
two years. Rookie pitchers But
land, Hash, Harris, Rich all look
good. Galehouse, Grove, Babgy,
Wilson, Ostermueller will give
the Bosowx good pitching. Out
standing hitters in Williams,
Foxx, Cronin, Tabor, and possib-
ly young Dom DiMaggio. Jim
Tabor will be more sure of him
self at third this year and the
infield will be more steady.
Cleveland in second place =
This will be Bob Feller's and Al
Milnar's pitching year. Great
infield will be composed of Bou-
dreau, Mack, Keltmer, Trosky.
Good outfield headed by Heath.
Hemsley will make a splendid
record as catcher this season.
Indians have spirit which will
carry them far.
New York in third place =
Lady Luck will desert the champs
this year. Bad breaks will con-
fuse the Yankees. The Yanks
have gone four straight years
without injury to a key player.
Terrific power here, good pitch
ing, good catching, good field
ing. Good rockies in Breuer and
Refs. Russo may win 20 games.
Without Lady Luck smiling on
them the Yanks will finish third.
Detroit in fourth place-Tig-
ers have plenty of power in
Greenberg, York, Higgins, Geh-
ringer. They have a good catch
er in Tebetts. Pitching will be
spotty. If Gehringer suffers so
much from his sore back that he
can't play regularly the Tigers
may slide backwards. The switch
of Greenberg to outfield and
York to first base helped the
Tigers no end.
Chicago in fifth place-Just
about the same as last year.
Manager Jimmy Dykes can pull
wonders with his players. Addi-
tion of Solters and Wright may
help Sox. fresh should be bet
ter catcher this year. Lyons,
Lee, Rigney, Brown must deliv-
er to keep the Chisox out of
sixth place.
st. Louis in sixth place-Sur-
prise team of majors. Strong
outfield in Judnich, Gallagher,
Hoag. Alan Strange will turn
in a nice season at short for the
Brownies. Catcher Susce from
the Pirates may develop pitch
ing staff from Harris, Cox, Ken
nedy, Mills, Kramer, Whitehead,
that will bring the Browns from
the American League cellar for
keeps. Browns have powerful
hitters.
Philadelphia in seventh place
- Same team that finished
seventh in 1889. Benny Mccoy
has plugged bad hole at second.
AS have nice catchers in Hayes
and Brucker. Pitching staff re-
mains the same as does the out
field. Connie Mack may fall in
cellar if he is not careful.
Washington in eighth place