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Show SOX CLUBS STAND AS" American Champs Have Confidence and Suffer Little Through War. NEW YORK, Mnr.-h 30. The tvro Sox teams white and re.i sill staiC out as the strongest combinations in the American league. As the season of 191$ draws near and the bugs start speculating on the chances cf the various clubs in the pennant race, the new world's champs and their bitter rival? in Boston demand de-mand a ma.iorit.v ot attention. Other teams iu the Ban Johnsonian circuit have been strengthened in various va-rious ways. Some have lost strength that cannot be regained. But tho met remains that the White 8ox, bolstered with the confidence that comes to a winning team and standing pat on the roster that, won the American league pennant last year and then forged its way to the world's title, are bound to figure again this year. And those Boston Sox, bolstered by an influx of players of the highest caliber to take the place of tho stars who have entered the service of Uncle Sam, must, be figured on practically the same basis. The recent news that the White Sox are reasonably sure of keeping Urban Faber means "much to Chicago. With a line-up intact Clarence Rowland has little or nothing to worry about and if the pitchers come through particularly Kddie Cicotte as they did last year, it will take a mighty sweet ball club to bent them out. The writer isn't picking Chicago to win the pennant, in this article. It isn 't quite time to pick anybody. But from this distance the pennant looks like a tough argument between the Sox teams. ' e .Miller Huggins. crafty, capable and resourceful, may bring tho Yanks up a few notches. But he is new to the league and to his ball club, and that is an argument against the Yanks, though they may surprise everyone. The rehabilitated re-habilitated Browns are another question mark who may plav dark horse, while the Senators and Athletics can pretty safely be relegated to the second division divis-ion right now. The strongest rivals of the two Sox clubs lie in Cleveland and Detroit. The Indians have, been hard hit, and Detroit, is still a weak sister in pitching talent, though it retains slugging ability. So the line of reasoning points more strongly toward the Sox and Sox. and it ought to be quite a Soxed up race. |