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Show SAN FRANCISCO SEAL ROSTER Veterans and Some New Faces to Be Seen in 1917 Team. San Francisco, Jan. 21. San Francisco Fran-cisco fans were given the first real peek at the 1917 Seal roster when the names of players to whom contracts have been mailed were announced by Doss" Wolverton yesterday. 'W hile the list is far from being a correct line-up of the teams as it will appear on the! field at Recreation park when the sea-OB sea-OB opens April 3, it gives a fair idea of "whom is whom" among the Seals In making his announcement of men under contract. Wolverton modifies it with an assertion that he has yet to sign a first baseman, A flrst-sacker ! isn't going to change the complexion of the personnel to any great extent. , and its quite evident that other1 changes must be made before tne club ' is to be considered seriously as a contender. con-tender. The holdover pitchers will include Spider Baum, Oldham. Erickson and Kallio. who is practically no more than a youngster. Ralph Stroud, well known in the West, and Dougherty, a lefthander left-hander from Wllkosbarre, are to be the newcomers, with O'Doul a local novice, thrown in for good measure It s assumed, of course, that Brown , and Steen are to be disposed of Del Baker stands out as the best of the catching brigade, with Louis Sepul- I veda and Clarence Brook of last year's team: Hall, a lad who was with the team in the fall, and Dent a Stan- - ford acquisition, yet to be considered. Two Veteran Infielders. Jerry' Downs and Roy Corhan are the infielders from 1918 on whom the man I agement can relv, for it Is questionable ! whether either Bill Speas or Jack Cof-! ' fe will be on hand when spring practice prac-tice comes. i Majsel, available either as an infleld- er or outfielder, is the only man of the ! new squad who can he considered as an experienced ballplayer, The remainder of the infielders include in-clude Henry, from the Trolley league; Hollywood, from Alameda, Fouts, a flrst-sacker who has seen semi-pro service, and Meranl, another lad of the bushes, signed by Berry himself. Past experience in tho us1 of novices j has proved that boys just out of the bushes rarely ore strong enough to hold up under the strain of class AA I leagues, and if a star Is developed, it Will be more of a surprise than any- I thing else. 'I'll, outfield, so far as completed, includes in-cludes "Biff" Schaller. of whom it has frequently been reported a trade might be made! Justin Fitzgerald. Jncinto Calvo and Maggini, the local protege of Judge Graham, who tried out last season sea-son as an infielder. The list leaves much to be desired, and while "Boss" Harry undoubtedly figures on later acquisitions, his lineup, from being self-satisly ing Getting Down to Facts. Take the pitcnlng and catching department de-partment as a start. Erickson was leading hurler for the locals, but there was always the problem prob-lem of control that does not appear to' havebeen solved Oldham was unques tionably an improvement toward the close of the season, and he may prove a pleasant surprise. Baum, as one of the veterans of the outfit, certainly will show no advance oer last season, while Kallio is more or less a Question Hf must come ahead if he is to be of use to the club in winning games. Stroud, unless ho is a decided disappointment, disap-pointment, should be a factor in the pennant race, while Dougherty, the left-hander drafted from Wllkesbarre, is an unknown quantity; one, however, who has a good reputation The Seals certainly could stand an- Other pitcher of class AA caliber with 1 whom to start the season. Catching prospects certainly appear brighter, figuring Baker a high-class man. Sepulveda was a disappointment as a flrnt-string backstop in '16, and Brooks did not fill the gap as had been desired. You have to have brains behind be-hind the bat, and there is no mistaking the Seals felt the loss of Walter Schmide, Baker, from all accounts, is a flrst-chop man. Corhan Owns Grocery Store. In addition to being an alfalfa farmer. farm-er. Roy Corhan is now the proprietor of a grocery store in Albuquerque. I From far away New Mexico he writes; I "Just bought a grocery store." Which is brief and to the point Roy says nothing of baseball for the coming year, although it isn't likely he will allow the new establishment to interfere with his playing at short for: the Seals. Iburg Pitched Seventy-eight Games. "Ham" Iburg, who twirled for Hank Harris' San Francisco club in the davs when pitchers were forced to work, is inclined to believe the modeni-day hurler rather overestimates the amount of duty he has to do on the mound. There are plenty of pitchers in this modern age who figure on working one game a week. But "Ham" can hearken back to the time when he, with Jimmy Whalen, pitched a full season sea-son for the San Francisco club Harris had three pitcheis when he started the season, but one of the trio' quit. Then Hank made a proposition to Whalen and Iburg to go through the year's work, pitching on alternate days ! and dividing the salary of the missing1 man. They agreed and worked like , beavers. How many games do you think Iburg pitched that year of 1901? A full se enty eight, and Jimmy de Whale went as many more. |