Show Z k 0 ass A S IS usual in an army camp an argument over sports was under way this one on baseball in the wake of the recent allstar all came cam star stae r game in pittsburgh the general idea was this if you picked two allstar all star teams from both leagues dating back to to 1900 and they played a series of seven games which league would win naturally the first firs move in such a situation is the selection of the two teams which incidentally will only e drag in in another argument im sticking my neck out but here we go grantland bice NAIL LEAGUE AMER LEAGUE catchers bresnahan dickey hartnett cochrane pitchers alexander matty johnson grove hubbell dean walsh waddell first base terry lerry chance gehrig second base frisch eddie collins hornsby lajoie third base traynor bradley jimmy collins baker shortstop wagner joe cronin outfield F clarke moore cobb speaker ott ruth cy young included in the list of at pitchers since the gilmore ohio pitched for both leagues his winning record of games leaves the others far behind having taken the first hurdle in naming the two teams the next barrier is picking the winner you would find on both sides brilliant pitching skill thrown against terrific hitting when this combination collides the star pitcher usually has the call only great pitching could suppress these hitters but the great pitching is there rating the two tivo squads 1 the catchers here the american league has at least a shade As good as bresnahan and hartnett were dickey and cochrane are at least close to being the two all time tops especially on the power side 2 the pitching anyone who fan can say that either league has the winning margin here is a better guesser than I 1 am taking all eight in their best years waher johnson would be the hardest to beat but the two sets average arm and arni arm well give the pitching a draw 3 the infields with and gehrig the american league has a decided advantage around first base bill terry was about the best allaround first baseman the national league had to show but there may be a stronger choice in frank chance the consistent batting power of and gehrig is well above the N L pair id say the A L also has the edge at second base with eddie collins and nap lajoie on the job these two were among the harder and better hitters although neither out ranked hornsby in this respect they were also among the greatest defensive infielders in baseball history the summing cummin up the A L takes a healthy lead in the outfield cobb speaker and ruth form an incomparable trio just back of these would come com e jackson dimaggio and ted williams fred clarke of pittsburgh terry moore of st louis mel ott of the giants jimmy of chica gos cubs also brooklyn might form a stronger defensive combination I 1 think they would but they would be outclassed on the attacking side in the run making department for that matter cobb speaker and ruth were never listed with the lame and blind defensively they could also roam quite a bit to help out the army camp argument it would be my guess that the american league outfield would supply the winning balance on the side of power they be murdering such pitchers as hubbell alexander ex ander matty and dean but when you add up the combined assaulting ingredients the A L can offer you get a trifle too much for the N L to match the national leagues best chance would be in the box with four of the smartest pitchers and four of the greatest competitors that ever baffled a batting eye in this ledger ledge r the A L wins in a driving finish |