Show has known over sev BASEBALL enty five spring starts but in all al that time dr abner Double days discovery has never before known the tangled knot that belongs to the national league race of 1947 As a starter the national league still has a 3 to 5 shot trailing the pack by many mg jg lengths with corn j BJ on the cobb and jy g watermelon j u s t j around the corner R 0 n y eight N national at lonal k j league managers jac tw IE are reeling around isi with the look that fH BF i follows the arrival bl of a blunt inspru ri w m mant e nt at the base of 36 the brain they altlan alce cant find pitchers who can protect a 5 or 6 run lead they find a flock of normally hitters swinging savagely at a clip often lucky to get a foul it is nothing to see pitchers hand out 4 or 5 passes in one inning forcing over important runs star pitchers are far behind the 50 50 mark struggling desperately to last three innings no one seemed to know whether the first division teams had slipped or the second division teams had moved far up there was no way to tell them apart except to keep wondering how the tall end cardinals stayed where they were as long as they were allowed to carry bats to the plate anybody s race now we have made a careful check ot of the long list of games played in recent weeks and from this roundup it Is impossible to locate a sure first division team or to name a team that cant win the pennant by breaking just a trifle better than even of course this bizarre state of affairs cant last much longer one or two teams are pretty sure to stumble over the lost element of consistency and move on forward but no one can tell you who these teams will be the once ridiculed giants suddenly rushed in with the best offense in either league backed up by greatly improved pitching picked by many as repeating tai lenders they have been the best allaround all around team in baseball through the last few weeks mel ott Is due a number of rousing cheers for the late stand Ms his hired men have made against some rasping luck where the ball they have been playing most of may could easily win the national league flag tigers and red sox have made the american beag league ve race the more consistent scramble with the he indians crowding in the red sox are far from their stampeding form of list season the tigers are now favored as the best team in the circuit cu it certainly the team backed up with the best pitching which Is a pretty vital matter joe gordon as one could figure in advance has been one of the main factors in Clev elands challenge once more the gordon that ranked high among the best it should be tigers or red sox in the american league and you can do your own nominating in the now bewildered rival circuit cards should come back no one expects the cardinals to keep fluttering around the cellar and the swamps for any extended length of time but their earlier crash up has left the national league race wide open any pretty fair ball club could step out and win this pennant against so much ragged and jittery opposition no flag winner has much to beat unless dyers young men suddenly throw aside their winding sheets and play the ball they should have played fro from the opening pitch on copy paper they are still the class of the league in every department of play but you yon dont win pennants on copy paper this 1947 national league pennant race may not be the fanciest joust on record but it should make up in the way of action and upsets what it lacks in class and form giant power has been a spring surprise so has improved giant pitching here seems to be a pennant that almost any team can win any team willing to hustle and work a little As the old philosopher dizzy dean puts it there are a lot of good ballplayers around but no good ball teams what looked to be a one club stampede has now turned into a four or five v lub club scramble meaning cubs braves cardinals giants and dodgers with such teams as the phillies reds and pirates still dreaming of the hour more than power the great majority link babe bab e ruth u t h s name with the word power they think of a pound giant hammering out more than home runs with a ball much less lively than the one in use today too many forget that the babe also had an allaround all around skill a matter of touch and timing often approaching the delicate side that certainly matched his power I 1 |