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Show A I ... w fiCE Ji.-,.. TT MIGHT seem strange to say that a manager whose ball club has been doing very well indeed could be even close to the border line of a predicament, much less the brink of an abyss. But for ten years Boston, al- ways a great baseball base-ball town with a great baseball tradition, tra-dition, has been dreaming vain dreams of recovering recover-ing some of its lost glory. There were the winning days of Jimmie Collins, Bill Carrigan and oth- rr- - ers, who carried joe the Red Sox banner Cronin high. But in spite of the millions Tom Yawkey has fed Into his purchases and pay roll, the Red Sox thus far have been on the outside peering in. Now Cronin has his team winging away at a record clip. He has come through with the hitting and the pitching for which only the most rabid fan ever could hope. Outside of Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky and Bobby Doerr, no one could figure that so many Red Sox would hit so well. No one could figure Mickey Harris winning six straight, with able support from Tex Hughson, Joe Dobson and Dave Ferriss. Can't Hold the Pace Joe Cronln's predicament ts this: no one can expect so many of his men to continue to blast the ball with such deadly effect; and no one can figure that Mickey Harris can continue to hold such winning form, although Mickey is a much improved im-proved pitcher over past seasons before be-fore the war, when he failed to break even. If the Red Sox had broken from the. wire at a steady clip, there would have been no such excitement as reigns In Boston today. As ft now stands, any Red Sox slump, which is certain to occur later on after such early speed, Is bound to cause a reaction up Boston way. ( There is the chance, of course, that the Red Sox today have what the old Yankees once carried when they almost wrecked the league, practically closing out the season In late July or early August. It could happen. After all, Cronin's hired men have shown power at bat and power in the pitcher's box, which are the two main spots of the game. However, an early rush to the front can lead to much brooding later on: It is still my contention that the Tigers have the best pitching staff in baseball, followed by the Cardinals. Cardi-nals. But Red Sox pitching, in addition ad-dition to being an improvement over what it looked to be earlier, also has run-making and fielding support that will bag many a ball game through the summer ahead. However, Boston's long-suppressed supporters should understand that it is still a long way to October. Chasing the Cardinals . My good friend Eddie Dyer, once a star halfback in Texas, is shocked over the fact that his team is still called a 3-5 shot against the field. "We have a good, sound ball club," Eddie says, "but no team is that good not even the Red Sox, today. Too many things can happen hap-pen in a ball game. Too many things can happen to your best men. There are other good teams in this league, teams much Improved over last season. This includes the Dodgers, Braves, Reds and the Giants. Both Cubs and Pirates will soon begin picking up speed. After all, the weather has made this an uncertain spring as far as rating rat-ing goes. I don't believe many people peo-ple understand what such players as Reese, Reiser and Herman mean to the Dodgers. They are all winning win-ning ballplayers." One of Eddie Dyer's greatest thrills so far has been the fine showing show-ing of Terry Moore, not only a great ballplayer but a fine man to have on any club. After being away from action for some time in the army, Terry has been hitting far above his prewar punch; and Terry is no longer long-er a kid. When you look at such ballplayers as Muslal, Marion, Ku-rowskl, Ku-rowskl, Moore and others plus the Cardinal pitching staff whether or not you are a Giant, Dodger, Cub or Brave fan, this is the club to be watched once they have squared away from the summer festivities. It might also be suggested that Billy Southworth has turned in a fine job with the Boston Braves, a club supposed to be planted in the second division. The Braves may finish there, but they are a big Improvement Im-provement over the Braves of other years. They are a hustling outfit, as Billy Southworth's teams always have been. This can be baseball's greatest at tendance year, with many thousands to spare, if the two pennant races remain re-main reasonably close, for it isn't any too easy to keep the popeyed fan keyed up when his home club is outclassed and far out of the race. The danger spots here are the Red Sox and the Cardinals, but both can run into more severe competition competi-tion than one might look for. Both Messrs. Cronin and Dyer confirm this observation. Few horse races ever are won in the first quarter; thii also goes for a pennant race. |