Show PENNANT BATTLERS IN NATIONAL LEAGUE dinv inv I 1 R ma a EN on saw V P am OY M aa PON 4 1 14 0 V 1 r 1 U 1 I 1 k t SIN k old and new faces in major circuit dy by brunic 0 the phillies in our opinion will not figure very largely it at all in the 1913 J pennant fight in tho the national league they won in 1915 not because they were wonderfully strong but because till all the other clubs were weak either normally or because of cason injuries tho the mighty arm of grover alexander was the real power that lifted the quakertown Quaker town outfit to the crest of baseball it Is unlikely that the wonderful alexander over ever can duplicate his work ot a year ago he may pitch better baseball in spots he may turn in a better average but it seems beyond the range of possibility that he ever again will ilse to tho the sublime heights in the critical moments as he did last acar the PhI lIles will take the held field in 1816 1916 without any noticeable changes in the lineup line up they acquired any youngsters who took look likely to blossom forth into big league flowers and as we view it the 1915 phillie outfit will not have a real chance against the greatly improved machines that ither aher cities will send bend into the battle braves look good the braves look lock about its as good as aa any club in the te tener er circuit the addition of ed Ho konetchy ought to im prova the batting and fielding power tho the braves have a few young pitchers who may be able abla to jump into the lineup regularly they have fair batting power great fielding strength a superfluity of pop pep and some real pitchers thelca theirs Is a machine hullt built compactly a machine with speed and endurance the giants are a problem they hove havo been strengthened greatly by tho the addition of several federal leaguers ind a dozen stars of lesser magnitude but have they been strengthened sufficiently it if mcgraw can grab off two or three real pitchers from that flock that lie he will take south with him the new yorkers ought to bo be back among tho the pennant battlers because their infield and out outfield flold are extremely powerful on paper the giants look better than th they have tor for many years dut but are they good enough to set act tho the pace from the start and hold it until the finish reds are dark horses those cincinnati reds will naka make the biggest noise that any rhineland club has made tor for many years year sor or we wa miss our guess buess charlie herzog the battling manager Is extremely confident that his club will be in the fight all ne aia way into the stretch and her bogs optimism Is shared by many of tho the do pesters the reds will have a great indeed with kollwitz on first esmond at second secand herzog at short and groh at third and havo have a fine outfield too behind the bat the reds are as strong as any other club in the league while their pitching strength Is increased nt at least 10 0 per cent by purchases of federal league and bush talent tho the pirates cannot bo be aured ared as a powerful club from this F luary viewpoint they never were in the fight in IW 1919 bat et the plan seems to io be to send practically the samo same crew into battle battla in 1916 unless some real major leaguers aro are found among tho the youngsters jimmy callahan may bo be able to put the club into the he fight but it seems doubtful the pirates must be rebuilt before tho the smoky city follis folks can lavo have their pennant dreams come true dodgers loom up those dodgers will bear wot botching ching tty put up a groat great c in n 1915 1916 and lost because they hit toward tho the tag fag end of tho the behson early in tho the year tho the pitchers wobbled and tho the batters knocked down nees later on when the hurlers were doing wonderful work the team slumped horribly at the bat A dozen games would have been won instead of lost had ono or another of the been able to deliver tho the timely wallop dut but it wall lacking this year declares wilbert robinson those dodgers are going to hit and hit hl consistently furthermore they hava bavo gained reserve strength through the acquisition of some good looking youngsters joe tinker insists that hes going to lead his cubs whales outfit to tho the crest of tho the national league he ought to the tha merging of the two clubs gave him the chance to choose rom over fifty real ball players tinkers big problem has been to decide which men to keep hep lies has allowed but 21 it if he makes the proper selection he sho chodl have bavo a combination that will bo be hard to be beat at cards dont figure t the cardinals seem doomed to the second division and a deep down place too they been strengthened a as have tho the clubs andal and although miller huggins has some good 1 pitchers and some fairly good fielders ho he lacks real batting power it looks like now york boston chi cago and brooklyn Dro oklyn to fight it out for first division honors with cincinnati and the Philadel phlas in tho the dark horse mass lass and pittsburgh and st louis to battle to a finish tor for the collar cellar place |