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Show f!l X. ?CE . AS A rule we can usually check on this date just where the leaders belong and who should dominate the remainder of the campaign. It doesn't happen to work in that direction di-rection this passing year of 1940. When we have Max Baer and Tony Galento fighting to see which entry will be tossed in ': "y against Joe Louis, f.v? you get a general 5 idea of the heavy- f' - ' weight matter. n SSS. : Which means that f 1 ' main standout, al-t al-t ' tS?f most the only stand-v stand-v , t out in sport today. I - - - & This goes for aU L'VV. sports. I ':.&r3ptj A year ago the Grantland Rice Yankees were again running away with the American league pennant. But not this season. Back in April Bimelech was picked as another wonder horse. He still tops the three-year-olds, but he isn't any wonder horse. Two defeats, de-feats, including the Kentucky Derby, have cut into his laurel collection. With Challedon under repairs, with Kayak sick, there have been no top handicap horses. One wins, and then another. Again no standouts. stand-outs. Some three-year-old, maybe Bimelech, Bim-elech, will have to hurry to save the crop. The golfers have been in the same fix. Byron Nelson failed in his 1940 defense of the title as Lawson LitUe moved in. With the confidence developed de-veloped from this victory Little may set another smoking pace, such as he put through in the amateur division. divi-sion. But he is in a much tougher league now. Anyway, the ex-amateur star has a great chance to become be-come one of the outstanding figures of golf. He has a tough title to defend when you must beat off 1,100 challengers chal-lengers in place of one or two. This, in a way, is all the better for building up public interest. Yanks Now on Short End Take up the difference shown In the American league race. A year ago we had only the Yankees practically prac-tically losing the rest of the league. Now we have four ball clubs with a chance, and the Yankees have only an outside chance. Rated 1 to 3 when the season opened, they are far from being favorites with the race about half run. This has trebled interest in-terest in Cleveland, Detroit and Boston, Bos-ton, as well as other cities. A race, to the mob, is always more interesting than a runaway. Bill McKechnie's Reds represent the most consistent combination in baseball for 1939 'v and 1940. They X were leading the league a year ago, jp J and they are still L the team to beat k' t for 1940. sf " They have more opposition this f season than they faced last sum- yfslf s mer. But they are still the most con- j f sistent ball club BilJ McKechnie at the half-mile post They have the better pitching, pitch-ing, day in and day out, to call upon. Tennis Crop Blighted Amateur tennis had little left when Don Budge retired. With Wimbledon Wimble-don and the Davis Cup eliminated, tennis had to take one on the point of the chin. The game is still looking for some personality such as McLoughlin, Bill Johnston, Bill Tilden, Ellsworth Vines or Budge. There is no such party around at this writing. So far the crop is colorless. In baseball, the slump of DiMag-gio, DiMag-gio, Dickey and others has been offset by such pitching stars as Bob Feller and Buck Newsom. There is only a slight chance that any home-run hitter will reach the 50 mark. Feller has the best chance to pick up 30 victories and he may reach this highly desirable spot. Bob Feller might easily be baseball's base-ball's standout for the present year a star pitcher hooked up with a leading ball club. But when you sum up the list the one outstander the lone eagle in the sporting eyrie is still Joe Louis. He is champion of the champs. And this goes for all the sporting fields we know today, horse or man, or man or horse. Not only as a fighter but in the way he has conducted con-ducted himself, Louis is practically all alone. Only a big upheaval through the remainder of 1940 can change this rating or ranking. Buck ISetcsom Rides Again No one can say that Louis Norman ("Buck") Newsom hasn't seen his share of baseball scenery. In the last 12 years Buck has played with at least 12 different teams in six or seven leagues, and here he is today burning up the American with a varied assortment of wares. Buck was born in Hartsville, S. C, 32 years ago. He had to wander a long time to reach his pcik. His first and tallest upward lunge took place two years ago when he won 20 bail games for the Browns. |