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Show wmmm Helv.ised by Western Newspaper Union. ; '"THE current season's most un- pleasant task confronts us, so ir deference to tradition this depart : meat makes its annual baseball j selections. In order to prolong the j agony, today's soul-stirring outpour j ing will be devoted solely to the ' National league. j And that is as it should be. The : job is considerably easier in the senior c ircuit. The National league : contains Hie only first class club in baseball this season the St. Louis Cardinals. i All in all, the Western clubs are stronger this year. There is a very ( good chance that an Eastern team 1 will not be able to break into tin-first tin-first division. j Cardinals Strong ! Things wouldn't be so gloomy li j the strength in the Western clubi were evenly divided. Dut the Car I dinals are more menacing than they were a year ago. They haven't as i strong a club as the 19-13 offering, 1 but they haven't been hurt nearly ' as much as the seven other clubs in ; the league. Remember that the f Cards won by 18 lengths over the Reds, with Brooklyn 23"-4 games behind be-hind and the Pirates 25. ' Here is the way this department muddles things up: St. Louis Brooklyn Chicago New York Cincinnati Boston Pittsburgh Philadelphia The Cardinals have suffered but few important losses Outfielder Harry Walker, who may return with a medical discharge. Second Base- man Lou Klein, Infielder Jimmy Brown and Pitchers Al Brazle, Murry Dickson, Howard Krist and Ernie White. Manger Billy South worth still has Pitchers Harry Brechecn, Mori Cooper and Max Lanier. His World Series infield shows only one change, Emit Verban from Columbus having replaced re-placed Klein at second. sec-ond. The outfield presents three vet- erans Stan Musial, Johnny Hopp and ' y .. i ..'in.. Southworth Danny Litwniler. Walker Cooper, one of the best catchers in the game at the beginning begin-ning of the last season, is available. So are many other stars of the St. Louis cast. It's customary to pick the Cubs for second place. In fact, one gets in a disagreeable rut by naming the Cubs to place. Last year Mr. Wrigley's hired men wound up an inglorious fifth, 30 games out. But the present season finds the club fairly well equipped with experienced experi-enced pitchers. And good pitching can land the club in second place. (Somewhere we've heard thaj song before.) Mound Losses We string along with Cincinnati for third place largely because of Manager Bill McKeehnie. The Reds have been hard hit in their once-! once-! strong department the pitching ! staff. They have lost Johnny Vander Meer and Clyde Shoun. They will mourn the loss of Lon Frey at sec-', sec-', ond. Others including Eddie Miller ! and Gerald Walker are susceptible to the draft. But Master William McKeehnie is a sound, resourceful and reliable leader. He has a habit of successful operations. The rejection by the military service of First Baseman Frank McC'ormick has strengthened the Cincinnati club. McCormick is a long distance hitter who will make quite a difference in the final standings. stand-ings. The Pirates may prove to be a surprise club. Frank Frisch has a good infield with Babe Dahlgren replacing Elbie Fletcher at first base. Bob Elliott back at third, and Frank Gustine and Pete Coscarart I in between. The Dodgers' unhappy plight is made all the more evident by the report that Manager Leo Durocher is likely to play. The Giants are weak. They will do well to end up in sixth place and may be forced to get along without the services of Manager Mel Ott, who is 1-A. The Braves have a new bankroll to work with. Bob Coleman, the new manager, is widely known as a developer de-veloper of young players. But the present emphasis isn't on youth in the big leagues. We will not attempt to discuss the Philadelphia Story other than to remind re-mind you that the club is now known as the Blue Jays. Remember tha names don't mean a thing. SPORTS SHORTS C. Frank Mancuso, rookie catchei for the St. Louis Browns, was mak ing his fifth parachute jump when he suffered injuries which led to his honorable discharge from the army. Regulations call for five jumps from a plane to qualify as a jumper. C The Jim Corbett-Bob Fitzsimmons match at Carson City, March 17 1897. was the first fight to be filmed C Harry Stuhldreher will conduct a clinic for state high school football coaches at the University of Wiscon sin late in August. |