Show Sl waking 0 of sports vitt confident Confide nL bell and dlen alien will aid tribe by ROBE ROBERT wr mcshane ANC tte Heleas leased cd by western newspaper union P HOUGH the new york yankees grasp on tho the american league pennant seemingly Is as tight as over ever the remaining clubs of the circuit have by no means cone conceded C d c d them the 1910 1940 19 10 championship like old man alan river the yanks probably will keep right on rollin along managers 0 of the other seven teams in the junior circuit doubtlessly tire are making big medicine but most of it comes under tinder the head of wishful thinking the cleveland indians for instance as yet cried uncle manager 5 ian ager oscar vitt bashful in intimating that the tribe may trim tile lie yanks down to size of course tills ills Is lie best time to show conn fence about beating tho the yankees its almost impossible to get a black eye before tile battle gets under way hut but vitt whistling n g past a cemetery lie has a good team cam at least potentially i i double question mark alark much of the indians success or lack of it during the coming season will depend on two men johnny allen alien and beau bell both bot h of them played topnotch top notch ball in 1936 and 37 and were stamped with the mark of true greatness however during the past two seasons their work has suffered now the tribe Is count e o 0 1 I 1 1 1 PITCHER JOHNNY ALLEN shows club president alva bradley his throwing arm ing on allen alien and bell coming back a and nd they know that unless these former stars improve there much hope for the cleveland cause it that bell and allen alien are the two outstanding players on the indian roster their importance lies in the fact act that their services are necessary if cleveland Is to have a good year right now both unknown quantities maybe they cant come through and maybe they can you know what oscar vitt hopes in trading bruce campbell for beau bell manager vitt secured the iho services of a man who lilt above in 1936 and 37 lie ile slipped the next at year and was used as an extra outfielder in 1939 the former st louis slugger seems to be redeeming himself this year he has beer been clouting the ball as haril hare as any member of the team in spring batting batong practice and his hits have been the fierce line drives to right and right center that characterized him in hrs his great years johnny allen alien has been a 20 game winner only once in his major league career and only three times in the dozen years he has been pitching but he has set a phenomenal mark in tho the matter ot of winning percentage A great record lie has bas won games and lost 0 only 45 in eight years in the american league a record touched by very few pitchers in tile the history of baseball lefty grove Is the only active pitcher who Is a near rival of allen alien grove has a lifetime percentage of against johnnys this in spite of the fact that hat allens aliens percentage has suffered in the past two seasons while groves has been assisted an operation in december 1938 was too loo close to tile the 1933 1937 season to prove its value to allen alien another redskin upon whom andt an fans pin their hopes is lou boudreau a youngster who came up from buffalo last august and Is today regarded as the best shortstop the indians have had in a score of years E experienced sperl encee newspaper correspondents feel that boudreau is much more ore than a if flash ash in the pan they think lou will play an important part with the indians this year whether they end ena up where oscar vitt wants them to or close the in the second division vitt admits the club could use one more pitcher in fact the search for one has occupied a lot of his bis time lie knows he can count on bob ric feller ller and Is quite confident of 0 mcl ale harder but harry eisen slat islat all al and wills t audlin are arc his only starting hopes if allen alien comes back to be a consistent winner the indian pitching hafl will be in the best condition of t the past sever several al years vitt knows he comfortable feeling which comes hurler like feller on arom rom having a ais staff |