Show I Ig I g peak u ol 01 I I u la gS I By ROBERT McSHANE I IS S Ro eo 00 od ed d by Wo We W Om em No Ner N popo pop Un Unon U on S A ALTHOUGH i ALTHOUGH Cleveland the collapse of the Indians came as asmore asmore asmore more of a shock to the baseball bythe world the poor showing made by the New York Giants was no less It is true that lat big things were expected e of the Indians Spring es- es es estimates were more than generous A good share of ol experts handed banded them the 19 1911 II American league pennant others predicted a tough battle batlle wIth the Yankees for first place In lit any C event Cent ent they were to finish 1 12 2 Such of ot course wasn t the case With the Giants m in the National c For four tour seasons they have been fading from the pennant fight No one expected them to win WID the nag flag this year but according to precedent they should have played theIr w way ay out of the second division Both teams disappointed their t tot fol followers lowers The Indians failure to live up to expectations e was a wallop felt clear through the American league And instead of climbing out of ot the second division the Giants are in deeper than ever Last Flag in m 37 The Giants won their last pennant m 1937 In 1938 they finished third The next year they were sere ere fifth fth and andIn andin In 1940 they were sixth with no im improvement improvement improvement provement th s year Not since they won von their first pennant m 1904 had they finished two years m a row m in inthe the second division This year they made it three straight among the also rans The Giants have had unhappy sea seasons seasons seasons sons before this thus In 1915 they fin finIshed finished fished at the tail end of the league But m in 1916 they jumped lumped to fourth place and the next year they won the pennant A few years later later later- in they 1926 1926 they slipped to the second dIvIsIOn but the next year they were third and the next second At Atthe Atthe Atthe the close of the 1932 season they were tied bed for tor sixth place But m in 1933 they came back to wm win the pen pennant pennant pennant nant During those same years Cleve Cleve- Cleveland Cleveland Cleveland land won the American league pen pennant pennant pennant nant only once ill once in 1920 The Indians were hungry for victory in ill 1941 but it just lust wasn warn t their year Hopes run high in m the springtime and on paper Cleveland was as the favorite What happened to the Indians was exact act exactly exactly ly Iy the same thing that happened to the too GIants Giants too many players faIled to play the kind of baseball they were expected to play Indian Nosedive Again Agam Cleveland s case is the themore themore themore more striking Jeff Heath was as the only member of the team who hIt hItas hitas hitas as well as he is capable of hitting Bob Feller was the only pitcher to match his best performance Hal Trosky Roy Weatherly andAl and andAI andAl Al AI didn t play ball the way they are capable of playing as shown by previous seasons Had Trosky hit rot around and contrib contributed contributed his looked for 30 home runs had pitched he Jie kind of ball he pitched m in 1940 and had Weatherly erl erly turned in m his usual fin shed lob Job tnt the Indians would have made a of it right down to clos ng day They didn t play that kind of ball balland and the results are shown all too clearly in the records book The sad state of the Is somewhat similar Mel lel Ott long longa a power at the plate seemed to have passed his IDS peak season before last Harry Danning whose bat did plenty of ot damage in 1940 ended up a bit below the ZoO 20 mark Pitcher PItch PItcher Pitcher er Carl Hubbell who once account account- accounted accounted accounted ed for 20 victories or more each year now has to be content with half that number I Certainly these are sad days at attle atthe atthe the t Polo Grounds The mighty have fast fallen tast and far ar It s difficult to believe that the Giants were once the biggest thing in baseball WIth John McGraw at the he helm they t won 10 pennants over a span of 21 years Under Terry they won three t Na- Na National Na National bonal league championships in five campaigns But the past four sea seasons seasons seasons sons have been dismal The Giants of the Polo Grounds have bave been shorn of ot their locks Rebuilding Process Both clubs will attempt to rebuIld thIS winter There will be trades sales and purchases It is doubtful If either club w 11 ll be content to bu build d from the bottom step by step and finally move toward the top of the league during the course of several years The process takes too long Instead everything possible willbe will willbe be done to lo bolster the two teams the 1942 wars ars Cleveland le has bas mirages They want seen too many to feel the silk of a rent reil pennant and they don t want to walt wait years for lor the opportunity SPORT SHORTS Georgetown George Gcorge Georgetown fl Q CI Xavier university spotted town college one touchdown mare m a re recent recent cent football game in Cincinnati college of Win CI C C Southwestern football fold han ham has a game 12 schedule Most college teams play only eight games ft q Yale w will l play the same e a teams team th s fall tall that it dIdin didin did didIn In 1940 1840 t changed CI II The Yankees haven the r type of ba baseball ur err form m in more than 20 years |