Ogden Standard-Examiner | 1920-04-05 | Page 10 | Absence of Chase and Heinie Means Mc Graw Must Solve Infield Problem

I . : J Absence of Chase and Heinie Means McGraw Must Solve Infield Problem 'fe' ' I ' SS of ;Sr; .lr : ; .- ' Gianis warming ..p at San An- ! tmm,v.:W- ? i ,. SM lonio. Tex. Left to right arc: v ' ' y ditcher Ryan. Outfielder Rurns lWf- J$S JJ .md Pitcher Jess Barnes. Below TO5feJ-i :;sm ' &m is Infiddcr Eddie Sicking, at left, (vvy and Catcher Earl Smith. Uy NO It. MAX 1. BROWN I JnWn McGraw. with hi.-, while fl;in-nels fl;in-nels which he sportfd at his r.ice i , track at Havana hung up hi the j closet. Is busily engaged In his major j j business! of turning out another ball i I team for the' Giant fans. And here's about the situation in'i ! ilial San Antonio squad: ' . McGraw has a bettor -pitching staff : than iho ono with which he started I the Hi 19 campaign that left thej GIojils in second place. I I Ho has his old ou:fleld Ivauf'f. j i liuriis and Young, which is Just as j sw-cet as they make 'em. He must, rebuild his Infield. lie must pick a regular catcher from among four candidates. Last year Benton and Barnes bore j the brunt of the. Blab work for the Giants. Early in the senson they wore practically the whole Av.brks. iToney was not available at the opening. open-ing. He was late In rounding into (shape. Tho two pitchers who finally j gave Mac a real staff with Uenton IBarncj and Toncy wore Nehf and ! Douglas. Both were acquired after I the season was well along. Douglas' I worked in only eight games and Nehf in thirteen for Jawn. Their total record for the year showed that they held the opposition to 2.03 and 2.49 runs per game, respectively. Barnes won the most games pf any pitcher In the league twonty-flve. lie won ten In a row at one stage of tho season. Benton won seventeen games while losing but eleven. So. with Benton, Barnes, Toncy, Nehf and Douglas available at tbc bell Mac's staff looks formidable. J Ross Young, KaufI and Burns need little comment. Burns ranked as one of the leading three gardeners in the list of those who played In 100 . or more .igm.es. Hal . Chase is gone for good. At first McGraw believes , George Kelly, former Rochester International league 'star, will startle tho big leaguer. Me is a heady, clever fielder and can hit like a demon, Larry Doyle says he'll make his second sec-ond dobut at second, but McGraw iin't depending entirely upon him.; Frlisch. a rookie. Is being groomed for second' and third. If Doyle starts at second Mac will ship Frisch to third'. This berth was loft vacant by the departure of Zimmerman. If Frisch plays socond, Ed Sicking, another an-other boy-Avho looked good,, will start I at third. I Lew McCarly. considered the Giants best catcher, failed tho pa3t two seasons to live up to McGraw's expectations. Low, therefore, must compete with Earl Smith, Frank Synder and Mike Gonzales' for the first string honor. Smith now has j the call. A year's coaching- under McGraw has made this kid a real catcher. lie's a thinker and handles himself well, lie's the lad for whom McGraw gave Rochester seven players play-ers and some cash. Synder is a big mechanical gent. Gonzales, the Cuban, is undoubtedly coming along well, but doesn't look as sweet as Smith. McGraw lauds Smith which means he's banKng on the kid. As the team stands, now the playing play-ing of .the Infield will bo the barometer barom-eter of the team's success. With a fair Inner defense McGraw ought to have his team up there battling the Cubs and Reds.