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Show WITH the bluebird chlrpinj1 again and the "red red robin now bob bob bobbin' around," baseball base-ball with all its future troubles is still In a far better way than it looked to be some weeks ago. Many teams have lost many good men, but they still have some Interesting Inter-esting talent left. The main point Is that we have, had too many gonfalonlo gallops In the last few sea-sons sea-sons where either Yankees or Cardl- f Aj nals were so far in v , I front by August that ( vJ nothing remained of t !U the races except a ."""V tj cloud of indigo dust vJjSJ! far down on the stretch. A This new season Otrvf' , there is a strong JcS possibility for two of J kJ the closest races in Grantland Rice many years, where almost anything can happen. We put this point up to Larry Mac-Phail Mac-Phail and the always astute colonel coyly confessed that such might easily be the case. "We no longer have the matter of picking one or possibly two teams from the two leagues and tagging them on top in April. For one example no manager knows today Just what ball players he will lose next week or next month. A Big Question Mark "What team could you pick on top In the American league at this point? Or the National league? And if you happened to have one or two favorites, how do you know how they'd look around the middle of May or the middle of June? "Take Detroit. The Tigers still have Trout and Ncwhouser. Two1 fine pitchers two big 1944 winners. But Wakefield Is gone and so Is Pinky Hlgglns, and who Is left to give these two pitchers any runs to work on? You know where the Tigers were last summer until Wakefield returned. "The Drowns look as good as any other baseball team, but this Is April not June or July. Even Joe McCarthy doesn't know how the Yankees will stack up two months from now. "But that isn't the Important ' point. The main Idea Is that each league might easily have five or six clubs well-bunched through the summerall sum-merall with a chance to win and that's what makes baseball. Naturally Natural-ly each home city likes to see its team with at least a chance somewhere some-where up with the bunch not 20 games or even more away. You saw what happened last fall when the Drowns, Tigers and Yankees were all bunched up. No one ever accused them of being great ball clubs. But still you couldn't get near their parks, with thousands turned away in St. Louis." Race Counts Most We have had a few ball players who could draw out the populace, no matter how far out their clubs were. Babe Ruth was the top party In this list. I recall one season when the Babe played in Boston and Philadelphia before overflow crowds, although Boston and Philadelphia, far out of the race, had been playing play-ing to fewer than a thousand morbid souls daily. In later years Bob Feller Fel-ler was a big attraction on the days he worked. So was Ted Williams. But in the main it has been the ball club that drew the crowds the ball club up in the race. I have always believed that a few seasons ago the Dodgers, playing In the Yatikee stadium, would have passed the 2.000,000 mark. I still rate Detroit and Brooklyn as the two best ball towns In the country, and that Isn't barring New York or Chicago. There was a time when Boston belonged In this preferred pre-ferred list. But when you get right down to the big check-up most of them need a team somewhere In the race. For some odd reason, although their ball players come from all over the map, from the unknown hamlets and the farms, from spots more than 2,000 miles away, hometown home-town pride is always concerned. This has always been a deep mys tery to me but there it is. For some years the National league had two or three teams neck and neck down the stretch such as the Cardinals and the Dodgers. When that was happening. Die Yankees usually had their race parked away on ice by lute July or early August. Then, last fall, the American league suddenly switched into a hot three-club finish as the Cardinals Cardi-nals were wrecking the National. litis all speaks for I lie complete honesty of baseball, which I believe today Is taken for granted by every known proof, hut It Is of no vast help lo nationwide Interest. I acrce with Larry Maci'hall that the 1U45 season may easily give us live or six clubs from each of the two big li.'iKues which might easily be under a blanket from time to tune during the coming months. It is my tip that baseball Is or Its way to one of the moM Interest lug seasons in many years unlrss It Is so badly riddled that it isn't given a chance. |
