| Show P CE has known over sev scy- B D BASEBALL five enty-five spring starts but in all that time Di Abner Doubleday's discovery has discovery has never before known the tangled knot that belongs to the National League race of 1947 Ag As A a starter the National League still has a 3 to 5 shot trailing the pack by many lengths with corn on the cobb and watermelon just jus j u s t 3 around the corner f Eight National National- c k c cLeague League managers y i are reeling around with the look that follows the arrival arrival of a blunt instrument instrument a ment at the base of of F the brain They Grantland Rice cant can't find pitchers who can protect a run or or 6 run lead They find a flock of normally hitters swinging savagely at a clip often orten lucky to get a foul fout It is nothing to see sec pitchers hand out ou 4 or 5 passes in one inning forcing f over important runs Star pitchers are far behind the 50 mark struggling desperately to last three innings No one seemed emed s to know whether the first-division first teams had slipped or the second-division second teams had moved far up There was no way to tell them apart except to keep wondering won won- wondering wondering dering how the tail-end tail Cardinals stayed where they were as long as they were allowed to carry bats to the plate Anybody's Race Now NolO We have made a careful check of the long list of games played in re- re recent re recent cent weeks and from this roundup it is impossible to locate a sure first- first division team or to name a team that cant can't win the pennant by breaking just a trifle better than even Of course this bizarre state of affairs cant can't 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 sud sud- suddenly suddenly suddenly denly rushed in with the best of of- offense offense offense in either league backed up by greatly improved pitching Picked by many as repeating they have been the best around all-around team in baseball through the last few weeks Mel Ott is due a number of rousing cheers for the late stand 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 League race the themore themore themore more consistent scramble with the Indians crowding in The Red Sox are far from their stampeding form of last season The he Tigers are now favored as the best team in the cir cir- circuit certainly certainly the team backed up with wit the best pitching which is a pretty vital matter Joe Gordon as one could figure in advance has been one one of the main factors in Cleveland's chal chal- challenge lenge once lenge-once once more the Gordon that ranked high among the best It should be Tigers or Red Sox inthe in inthe inthe the American League and you can cando cando cando 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 length t of time But their earlier crash up has left the National League race wide open Any pretty- 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 be t unless un un- unless less Dyers Dyer's young men suddenly throw aside their winding sheets and play the ball they should have played from the opening pitch On copy paper they are still the class of the league in every depart depart- department department ment of play But you dont don't win pennants on copy paper This 1947 National League pen pen- pennant pennant pennant nant race may not be the fanciest joust on record but it should make makeup up in the way of action and upsets what it lacks in class and form Giant power has been a spring sur sur- prise So has improved Giant pitch pitch- ing Here seems to be a pennant that almost any team can win win any any team willing to hustle and work a little As the old philosopher Dizzy Dean puts it There it There arc are a lot of good gG d ballplayers around but no good ball teams What looked to be a one club stampede has now turned into a four five our four club scramble scramble mean mean ing Cubs Braves Cardinals Giants and Dodgers with Dodgers with such teams as the Phillies Reds and Pirates still dreaming of the hour e e eMore More ore Than Power The great majority link Babe Ruth's Ruths Rut R u t h h s 's s name with the word power They think of a pound giant hammering out more than home runs with a ball baIl much less lively than the one in use today Too many forget that the Babe also had hadan hadan an around all-around skill a matter of touch and timing often approach approach- approaching ing the delicate side that certainly matched his power |
