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Show LOSS OF MEN WEAKENS TEAM The 1913 Cubs Pitchers- Cheney. Reulbach, IRirhic. Lavender. Powell, leifield, Pierce Toney Humphries. Smith, j Somners Painter, Sutcliffe. Total. 13 j Catchers Bresnahan. Archer, Needham, Cotter, Hecknger. Total 5 . Infielders: Saier, tevcrs. Zimmer-I man. Cortiden Tlridwell. Knisly, McDonald, Mc-Donald, Phalen Berghammer. Total 9.1 Outfielders Schutle. Mitchell, Bhocward, Clymer, Miller, Good. Leach Total T. (By Sid C. Keener.) The National league pennant trust McGraw, Clarke and Chance has I been punctured with the exit of the famous Peerless Leader And with Chance absent the Chicago Cubs probably Will ride down the pennant ladder for 1918. Admitting that Johnny Eers was and is a great ballplayer in every branch of the pastime batting, fielding field-ing and quick thinking still It Is difficult to see where he can have much success with the array of talent on his 6lde. There are two big cavities which Evers cannot fill Chance s managerial mana-gerial ability and Joe Tinker at short. As a player Chance will not be miss- : ed as much as Tinker, because the P L. has not been very active as a ' first baseman the past two summers. But in managing the Cubs Chance ha! the knack of having the plavers fight to the last ditch, install that spirit whir-h means pennants at the finish, and we belieo this will be lacking with the 1911 Cubs Evers Is a 'crab " fussed with the plavers when he was a mere volunteer, han-dlea han-dlea them all with the same rein, and ! there are mini athb-r-s who n...-( tb-pat tb-pat on the back Instead of a stern call. Short a Wtak Spot. And, again, no team can hope to lose a Joe Tinker and be just as strong in the infield with "Red" Crr-ridon Crr-ridon or ai Brldwell in t h . position Shiirtstop probably is more Import mt that first base. That's why the Cubs, Pirates, Athletics. Red Sox and other t-ams have been pennant winners With heady players in this position. In the month o Harch, before the games are started, one would pick the Cubs to be a bom fide pennant contender That a because the names of Sheckard. Ieaeh Leifield Bresnahan, Bres-nahan, Reulbach, Mitchell and a few more are on the list. But Sheckard, Leach, Leifield, Bresnahan and Reulbach are not the s me stars they were when their te:uns were champions Reulbach is 0 mystery completely Some das Ed I ean pitch better than Mattv, Wood' or Walsh. Manv other days not as I good as Crover Lowdermllk. Bill iBtilley, l orrest More or Dode CrlBS And Sheckard. Leach ind l eifield ! will be excess baggage if Fers la i trying bmid up with a team of young phenoms II the infield had Tinker at short, the cubs would bo better fortified,! because Joe would round out a nifty Infield Vic Baler Isn't a sensational ,' player, but the youngster can cover the first sack up to the snuff. He Isn't a Koney or a Daulbert, but players play-ers of the Ed and Jake stripe are discovered once n a decade. Evcrs Starred Last Year Evers didn't show any signs of going go-ing back last year Even with a cracked ankle ami a physical wreck, he only batted :: 1 1 in 14H games He skipped but 12 chances out of the, 790 offered him Over on third the Trojan will hae n good mate in Heine Zimmerman. That is. if Heine doesn't sulk. If Zlm refuses to listen to a few of Ewers' calls Heine will be a bad aetor, but this big boy is a great ball player. He's a perfect clean-up slugger, slug-ger, and while he may not be a fin-Ished fin-Ished thlrd-sacker there are others piradlng in league below his class. But the hole appe ira at short. Brldwell Brld-well only played In II games for Boston all of last year owing to sick- j ness. AI Is fast on his feet, bul nev- j er certain of any hopper he goes after af-ter He may mal e the stop but the throw may hit the gr:nd stand "Red" Corrlden wouldn'l cause, anybody to enthuse with confidence.! He was a frost with the Browns and I Pi i ntes, did not improve in Kansas' Cl'y and wasn't a w hirlw ind w ith the j Tigers the few games he played inj the A. L. l3st fall ' Jimmy Archers holdout should not last more than a few days, and with h!m the Cubs will have one of the best catching staffs in the league. Bobby Byrne and Larry Doyle told the writer last fall that Archer Is the greatest man behind the bat In the bame today, and that Evers will make a mistake If he sends Bresnahan in ahead of James. Ward Miller Fancy Youth. The Cubs must sign Archer, though, because Rog Is getting too husky to catch more than 100 games per summer. The outfield puzzles because Schulte and Mitchell are the only onco sure of their places Ward Miller Mil-ler looks to outstep Otis Clymer, Wilbur Wil-bur Good, Sheckard and Leach. Cly-r"er Cly-r"er doesn't think fast enough; Good j can t hit, and Sheckard and Ieach bave lost their stride. The pitching staff totals ID, with Cheney, Lavender and Richie picked to be the mainstays. If Reulbach can eoMrol the ball he will help material-1!. material-1!. BUI Powell, picked from Knnsas City, ought to stay In the big circuit this time. Fred Toney has the build, but not the nerve, and doesn t like jit when the fight gets close Charley Smith is far from being a I regular big leaguer, and Painter. Butcliffe, Sommers and Gilbert are experiments. "Bunny" Pierce developed devel-oped after being sent back to Scran-ton, Scran-ton, and this kid southpaw should mi ke Leifield snow a bit of life to get the Job as the leading portsider. They're betting Evers isn't manager mana-ger of the Cubs after July 4. so how can he sink the Giants or Pirates' |