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Show CUBS STILL ! IN RUNNING Prophets Who Make Dire Predictions Forget For-get Nine Year Record Those baseball prophets wbo are' pipdlctinq dire things for Chicago's' Cubs, like fourth, fifth or ninth place lor thpm at the finish of the coming I pennant campaign, speak without in-tlmate in-tlmate knowledge of the tremendous gap between third and fourth places 1 in the National league, a wide fissure which has existed for so long that little short of a cataclysm can contract con-tract it 10 any considerable extent Speaking more concretely, the break Ing up and reorganization of the west 1 side team can produce a lot of the 1 terrible things that have been forecast fore-cast without necessarily causing the Cubs to finish loner than third place in the end of tho 101?, race They can slump :i lot before they will meet any of the occupants of lowr floors coming up unless marked improve- 1 ment is made in some of the five teams which for ears have been fixtures fix-tures around or below the .500 level In games won. I Proof of the foregoing statements are contained In the composite stand -I ing of the National league for the last nine years It shows that three clubs In that circuit have greatly outclass ed the other five during the entire period, and in that time two of the three winning teams have been almost al-most completely made over. This nine year interval is selected select-ed because the present style 154 game schedule has been used in both leagues since then and also because previous to 1004 the teams were subject sub-ject to sudden changes of extraordinary extraordi-nary nature on account of the baseball base-ball war which was waged bitterly up to the season of 1003 Since 1004 the Stability of the teams has been assured by the ability of the elub I owners lo retain their players from year to year and by their Inability to secure playing talent except by the slow process of building up from thn bottom In the nine years since peace has been firmly established there have been only three teams In the running) each season, and those three have 1 divided all the pennants. They are Chicago, New York and Ilttsburg. New York bagged the hunting in 1004, 1905, 1911 and 1912; Chicago In 1906, 1007, 1908 and 1910. and Pittsburg In 1900 I Durlug Uiat entire period those three teams have consistently won 80 per cent or more of their games j The other five teams have come nowhere no-where near showing such class. Not I one of them has a record of winning 50 per cent of Its games over the nine j year interval. alUnnm-h moanonally some one of them has copped half or better than half its games in one season. This means there have been two struggles going on In the National league every year One of them tus for the pennant with Chicago. New York and Pittsburg always fighting each other for It The other struggle strug-gle has been to gain ih only berth In the first division which It was possible pos-sible for any of the remaining live team3 to attain fourth place |