Show Experts Give New York Slight Edge Over Tribe By JUDSON BAILEY NEW YORK April 10 AP To AP-To To the sports scribes who are accustomed to living out on a limb the American league pennant race looks n like a dead dead heat between the Cleve Cleveland and Indians and I the New York Yankees Seventy-nine Seventy of the 83 writers in major league cities who participated participated participated in the annual Associated Press up check-up tabbed one or the theother theother theother other of these teams to finish first Not even an expert could sum up the experts' experts conclusions any closer than that however Forty chose Cleveland to come out on top and 39 liked the Yankees Yankees Yankees Yan Yan- kees but on the basis of 8 points for first place 7 for second 6 for third etc New York wound up one point ahead to It would only be fair to the average fans around the country to point out that these same experts ex experts experts ex- ex when canvassed last spring voted 66 to 11 that the Yankees would win their fourth straight pennant and even these hardy dissenters could envisage nothing nothing nothing noth noth- ing worse than second for the Bronx Bombers This year all but eight writers conceded the Yankees at least would finish second and the others spotted them third One scribe perhaps with a longer memory than the others put the Indians down for fourth But otherwise everybody agreed they would land two one Of the four wishful thinkers who cast their first place glances I beyond this pair two picked Detroit Detroit Detroit De De- troit to repeat one went for the Chicago White Sox and the other singled out the St. St Louis Browns of all ll people Some of the boys might have felt a little more certain about a ticket for the Tigers if they could have known Hank Greenberg's Greenberg's Greenberg's Green- Green bergs berg's draft status but failing this Detroit was picked everywhere everywhere everywhere every every- where from first to sixth place The consensus was third The White Sox were considered for all stops between first and seventh except second and the Browns were rated from first to last except second and third The only club that wasn't named for four or more different positions was the Philadelphia Athletics which received votes only for the last three niches and ended in the cellar two points under the Washington Senators For the first time in years the Boston Red Sox not only were not mentioned for the pennant but were beaten out of a first di division division division di- di vision rating by the White Sox to Results of the poll including the number of votes for each team for each place and the total number number number num num- ber of points figured on an 8 7 2 1 basis i 1940 Club 1 2 3 4 5 6 6 7 8 Pis Fin New York 39 39 36 8 r 3rd Cleveland 40 40 34 8 1 1 2nd Detroit 2 12 44 20 4 4 1 1st Chicago 1 16 25 28 10 3 tie Boston 1 1 7 30 31 12 2 tie tic St. St Louis 1 6 19 45 7 5 Washington 1 1 7 34 40 Philadelphia 8 37 38 |