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Show SPORTL1GHT- aire; Giants, Yanks, Dodgers; '52 Teams 't By GRANTLAND RICE WITH the passing of another world series it might be time to ask this question what about the two pennant races next year? What has 1952 to offer? In the National League there are only two clubs who should again stand out. They are the Giants and Dodgers. And the Giants will have to duck another eleven-game eleven-game losing streak or sinking spell. The other six clubs are from 16 to 33 games away from the top. That's a killing margin to wipe out in one season. Or two seasons. From the Cardinals on down all six are packed with weak spots. The Cardinals looked better than the rest. The Phillies were over 20 games away year. The Cardinals look to have! some promise with young pitchers , hanging around to help. :" I can't see much hope for the Pi-i'. rates, Cubs, Reds and Braves. Spahn is no longer a kid. It takes'"1' quite an imagination to figure clubs 'j from 18 to 25 games off the pace ; ' closing this heavy gap within a year or two. , The prospect for a close race in , the National League is poor. This ' league has too many second-division clubs. Too few first-division teams. You don't rebuild second-division teams into pennant winners over- pa, night. There are too few majoriW; league ballplayers around to plug:; up too many open gaps. iOTL Battle of the Boroughs The Battle of the Boroughs, mean-:;itii lng New York and Brooklyn, was:.. the past season's greatest feature."'. Th old game has never seen more dramatic openings, looking as lar back as early August. On August II, Leo Dnrocher'g ' ',. harassed and almost hopeless ;:" young men were 13H games 3iI back of the Dodgers. That's an -dt old story. But in the next 59 days the Giants won 37 out of ;-:S1 their last 44 games for the in-credible in-credible percentage of .841. This ! was far beyond the pace the Boston Braves of 1914 set. If these Braves were the Miracle Team, the Giants are the Double., . Miracle Team. ' This stretch of the Giants, led by-:i t the hustling Leo Durocher and sup-"5lls ported by his entire squad, will"je never be forgotten. It stands alone'.j against a team rated in August a."ts one of the greatest in National League history. What about the Dodgers? Theyplo; had been front runners most of theton year. Suddenly on Saturday, Septembers a 29, they were in second place. Th!;ki Giants had won the afternoon game.tmj The Dodgers were now the pursuers. -jn They moved up even again. '3 On Sunday, September 30, the;'s Dodgers were in second place for-in an hour or so. The Dodgers were:p, trailing 6 to 1, then 8 to 5. Only brilliant defensive play by Pafko j0, and Robinson saved their weary'j hides. c u The Dodger infield is the best in baseball, with something to spare. Campanella is a standout. But even'y all this didn't offset somewhat rag- ged pitching. Dodger pitching wasn't bad, but neither was it spectacular or brilliant. a The Giants were extra good since : their springtime crash. They had O: good pitching and good power, a ti There isn't much you can say fora the rest of the National League, in spite of the Cardinal's late splurge Without a great pennant team, tl 5 1 National League is still close to th ij best in the American. Granted Rk f r 0 m J.950' can t all be charged to Curt Simmons, although part of it can. Robin Roberts had another big season, so the entire answer certainly wasn't pitching. The Cardinals finished a trifle stronger than the others, but their play against the Dodgers was entirely too sour to have them rank close to Chuck Dressen's squad. I can't see much hope for the Reds, Cubs and Pirates. They have so many wide-open gaps that filling half of them would be a big job. The American League would have been far better if it hadn't been for the near collapse of the Tigers and White Sox. The White Sox looked like pennant contenders up through June. Then not even Paul Richards could keep them aloft any longer. The Tigers simply didn't have it. Art Houtteman's loss didn't help anyway, but there were other flaws that Red Rolfe couldn't cure. You can be sure that Cleveland Cleve-land will start the 1952 race with the best pitching staff. The Yankees will be next. The Red Sox cause looks almost hopeless. hope-less. An old team got much older old-er down the stretch. It will be even older next season. There are few young fellows on the club coming along. And what will the Red Sox use for pitchers? pitch-ers? The White Sox will improve. They can be dangerous. The Athletics, who played better than .500 ball the last five weeks will be much tougher. tough-er. Jimmy Dykes turned in a fine job. The race should be again between the Yankees and Indians. I can't see the Tigers in there seriously menacing the leaders. The National League race should be another Giant-Dodger battle. The Dodgers have too many good minor leaguers to be too far away. The Giants will be just as good next |