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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 11, 1909)
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, APRIL 11, 1909. SEASON'S OUTLOOK Some Big League Stars Who Will Soon Be in Action IN BIG BASEBALL i - V I c - FOUR HANDSOME TROPHIES Offered by the o --x 5 ty,"v. - " --,- ill i - - - 1 - if J SjTX J ' I j - is? Doubtful If Strenuous Finish of 1908 Will Be Duplicated. OLD LEAGUES . DISSECTED Analysis of Fighting Strength of N. tlonal ud American Lrarues In dicates That There Will Be Some Reversals of Form. " X JOHTf B. P08TZS. When the season of 1908 was completed h. four beat contest, for pennants in i k ! 17 f baseball were finished with It. I. fOUht ln tt8 National for supremacy until four davs be- two teams, before the Na'lonal Leaaue championship was decider, were Mm peed to play an added .d extra me subsequent t the regular season thrll'T V ln the r "'most to the last day of the American League eerles. The championship In the Amer- the frost was on the vine in that organi sation, and the Eastern League race, a - s0.Ug.mr,ne mre Ptl by teams. v.as a bitter gallop to the very jumping h-Llhilf "7 'aJOr Ie"uo ces for 1908 JVTT fan not have noted that Amert 7.' bth the N"onal "d dlvlE?- were 1"o.t exactly divided in regard to their ability in the Natlont m?" half f the P'hers in the won 600 Pr cent or more of their games. Almost half of the pttohere ln the American League did ex actly the same thing. When the pitching becomes so well iww2L B ent of th- who throw the ball are suocessful on the plus siae. as against 60 per cent unsuccessful vmlnU" "",' the owners of the . ""consciously handicapped ?h!!f Vth "VM bttr 'ucoess than Tney might have been matched had an expert and a professional student of odds attempted to achieve the same result. Pitcher of the Present Year. If the championship races of 1909 are not so okyw as those of 1908. and another ucn nerve-racking strain would almost separate families there is at least plenty of reason to believe that they will be much superior to some of the contests for the pennant which have taken place in the past. For while there may be 'ms which may not quite meet expec tations It is also to be taken into con sideration that any slump on their part may not take them so far down the lad der as has been customary in other years, owing to the fact that very good auxil- i VT "trenth h been recruited from the I clubs of the minor leagues. Outlook in the National League. r,f.,Cnir0 ..??m?" first the world s cham: plons a title deservedly earned, as thev f 'Jfv" tw' wn it from the leading club ; or the American League which was pit ted against them. J-tl.Iately the Cnlcs-o club on the , field this year will not be far different I from that of last season, unless there . shall be serious Injuries early ln the ) oampalgn to some of the players. , .? th? ""S'nnlns of the season Chicago ' 27 I w !aoa nlne ln th race intact If John Bvers. the brilliant second base . man of the club, persists in his deter mination not to play ball until the middle L.n lf he does not begin the season with the team it Is probable that Zim merman will take his place. The infield I will therefore, be Chance. Zimmerman. Tinker and Stelnfeldt. There will very likely be a change ln the outfield. Browne has been signed by the club for the coming season and Is almost certain to be placed ln center, with Bchujte on one side and Sheckard on the other. His speed is great enough j to warrant playing him In-center, and the , chances are that he will bat better for . Chicago than Slagle. Kane, last year with Cincinnati. Is a Chicago plaver this season and will be used as a utility man. Behind the bat and ln the box the . Cubs are pretty apt to have much the same players as they have played for the last two years, unless there be voung i 1'ltchens who appeal to Chance in Spring practice. Batting Strength Not Affected. On the whole the batting strength of the team will not be affected dlsadvan ; tsgeously by these charges If the plavers , live up to the form of previous years. ; Zimmerman la a powerful hitter and was , well up with the best ln the league ln , the games ln which he took part last i reason. The team work of the nine and Its gen eral system of play will not vary from (the methods which Chance has Insisted , pon In the paet. Hie team Is essentially one of run-getters, depending upon good battery work to hold the attack of op posing nines at a protitable defensive level. His pitching staff must not show any deterioration if the champions are to maintain their pace of former years. New Tork has made more radical changes than any nine in either league ltli a record behind It of the qualltv of that which was made by the dlants ln 1908. , Bresnahan. one of the greatest catchers of his time, has been permitted to go to another team as manager, and McGlnnlty and Taylor, two veteran pitchers who have won their share of games in the past, have been released outright by ths club. The infleld will be made up of Tenney at first. Doyle at second, Brldwell at short and Devlin at third, an Infield identical with that of last year. Its work ln general was a revelation to the en thusiasts a year ago. for It then played together for the first time and so united ly that it was one of the fastest quartets of the ra. Murray was obtained from St. Louis for the outfield. With Donlln In the game and if Seymour is able to make peace with the management, after hla trouble In the South and latham. the outfield 1s likely to be composed of Donlln Sey mour and Murray. -hlei. "Jack- Myers, the Indian: Snod arass and Wilson will divide the responsi buttles of catching among them. In the box the Giants should be stronger than they were last year. With Ames In con dition at the beginning of the season and 2lth Raymond, who was secured from St. Iuils ln the trade for Bresnahan. it is figured that the team has more rwaervv force to draw upon than it had. It will be a nine of speed, fast on the field and dangerous at base running at all times by reason of the hatting strength of nearly every player. Hlttsburg will present much the same earn for ftoe championship that played so ably In 190. Therefore It is but necessary o take the work of the club last year as t baais upon which to gauge Its strength tin the year to eoine. allowing for any . -. .... fvr., - v.. i l:K if : : Ux33ry -wn h pf J.J jT trass seAT-psts-oAr, ? I. --IS aVf' I-llL. lf--VI V : is ft " j v I J j'JP' pi deteriorations because of long service on the part of certain players. . First Base Was the Weak Spot. Not untruly it has been said that if Pittsburg had possessed a competent first baseman last' season the team might have won the championship. Don't over look this fact In forming an estimate of the nine's chances. Strength with the bat is a predominant trait of Pittsburg. Combine that with the possible element of good battery work and Pittsburg will be found to fit Into the scheme of play ln the National League with an organization much to be respected. Philadelphia will vary but little In Its 1909 personnel from that of a year ago. The addition of Coveleskie Is believed to have strengthened the pitching de partment. There are some who are of opinion that Coveleskie may not be found so uniformly successful through out a season as hp was against the Olants at the close of last Summer. Philadelphia Is a well-balanced team, playing better ball than it has ln some years. It can make runs, it can field well and It can bat. In the Second Division. The four second division clubs of last year will work with new managers this years. There Is not one which pretends that it Is of high enough class to win the championship. Cincinnati proved that It bad some class last year. Boston did not play to the standard which might have been ex pected from it. Brooklyn and St. Louis were both disappointments. On general principles Griffith and Bres nahan may be expected to drive both Cincinnati and St. Louis better than they were handled a year ago. Bowerman, at Boston, and Lumley. at Brooklyn, are more experimental, yet with their long training in the National League and "the caliber of the men who have been en raged to ilay under them this coming season, they should not prove to be total failures, unless their teams are handi capped by causes which are not now foreseen. The American I?g-ne Race. Frankly, the Detroit club seems to have a harder battle on -its hands to win the championship this year than it had ln 1908. and that Is predicting a task for the Tigers and their plucky manager that means many a day of intense anxiety. The team will enter the season better equipped for a championship battle than it was last year. There are two vital changes on the infield. Bush will be the regular shortstop and Moriarty is ex pected to become the regular third base man. Neither change seems to have At tracted from the strength of the organi sation. Conjointly they seem to have added to it. Schmidt has announced that he will retire from professional base ball. He may, but It Is doubtful. The club Is essentially a run-getting or ganisation, with a powerful outfield and a corps of pitchers who have been well tried ln the American League and whose ability is known. If the struggle to win the champion ship is more severe, as it appears likely to be. Detroit will fight that much harder to win again. for the team is shifty and does not play a stereotyped game. Moves are seldom wasted by the players add they are quick thinkers and quicker actors. Chicago is an element of uncertainty. Without Fielder Jones to manage the team It Is a question whether Chicago ;jjiLiuuLJB-Lt.r iinnm , Iv-fea : - - j&V& WW fei f r&g2f : I - - I arii0 sin I J -VW&PCWJ- 'j v tx'" f i A a , can cling with such persistency to the leaders. If Jones' ability as a team executive were to be eliminated it must not be forgotten that his ability as a winning player is something. which no team can well afford to lose. Hard Tak for Comiskey. Comiskey s task, lf he is finally called upon to fill Jones' place. Is the hardest of any owner in the American League. Comiskey can direct a team and instil the best of team w-ork lntp any organ ization of which he Is the head, but whether he can. accomplish In a single season such results .as have been achieved under the direction of Jones, who has so long been with Chicago, is something which any man may well hesitate to answer. Jones has the faculty of bringing his players to a rally. ,and when he has them there, to go far enough to clinch victory. Such men are born leaders, and when a baseball owner loses a player of that type he has to make many a weary step before he finds an other tr succeed 'him. Cleveland must be given credit for being more of a championship con tender this year than last. Any olub which secures a pitcher of the ac knowledged caliber of Denton T. Toung has Improved Its prospects of winning a pennant. Toung Is as likely to be a winner ln the season to come as he has been at any time of his life. His work with Boston last year, when his support was sometimes far from the best, showed - i ii k it that the strength of his good right arm la still with him. He is a winning pitcher. It Is born In him. and until he. is no longer able to command the speed that he has pos sessed ln the past, and until he has Jost his mastery over the batters, he will be a power for good to any team with which he Is connected. He won 21 games and lost 11 last year with a nine not ranked so high as that of Cleveland, not taking into con sideration the pitching strength of either team. Joss won 24 games and lost 11 for Cleveland. These pitchers this season are on the same team. Why not reckon that Cleveland has Increased its possibilities by many de grees for the championship? The combination of pitchers Is a great deal like that of Rusle and Meekln, who were paired ln New Tork at one time, or like that of laathewson and McGlnnlty. when both were going at their best speed for the Giants Cleveland certainly must be given more than a passing thought- St. Louis' Good Move. Had St. Louis possessed Crlger for a catcher last year, it Is certain that the team would have made a better showing than it did. In any event Criger will have abundant opportunity to show exactly what his personal value may be to any club which is fortunate enough to secure his services. Review carefully the work of the St. Louis team in 1908, and, while It may have lost games- here and there by the fortunes of basebaU war. it Is evi dent that the crying need of the club ln Its crucial games Was a reliable and competent catcher a catcher who not only could handle the pitchers, but who oould direct the team. Hence the cleverness of the play to secure Criger for 1909. It is likely to place St. Louis among the contend ing clubs from the start of the race It certainly is gotng to make St. Louis a team to be respected from the start. The Athleti s are always to be treated with respect. With a manager at their head of the acknowledged ability of "Connie" Mack they will keep many a game ln the balance where less compe tent generalship would fail to pre serve their unity. French walnut growers In the- neigh borhood of Grenoble have formed an asso ciation to maintain the reputation and auar "' he quality of the walnuts com monly kim as -Qrenobles." HONEYMAN HARDWARE CO TO THE SCHOOL BASEBALL LEAGUES OF OUR CITY ' A Handsome LOVING CUP To Be Given the Winning Team in the INTERSGHOLASTIO BASEBALL LEAGUE A Handsome LOVING CUP To Be OiVen the Winning Team In the FEDERATED MEN'S CLUB BASEBALL LEAGUE Nine Spalding "Trophy" Baseball Bats Three for the Interscholastic B. B. League. Three for the Grammar School B. B. League. Three for the Federated Men's Club B. B. League. For the Best Batting Averages SEE OUR SPORTING GOODS WINDOW We Are Headquarters For Spalding Baseball- Supplies. Athletic and Gyrnnasium Goods. Honey man Hardware Co; Fourth and Alder Streets, Portland, Oregon FIGHTS FILL WEEK Coast League and Outlaw Men Alike Quarrelsome. ' ANGELS MUCH AT FAULT Wheeler Dares Any Man to Spike Him and Gets It Graoey Sought Trouble Shay's Rowdy Out break Vernon Team Weak. BT HARRY B. SMITH. SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., April 10. Spe cial.) Thi has been a week of scrapping In baseball on all sides. The Portland and Los Angeles ( teams started affairs last Sunday In Los Angeles. Then the State Leaguers had a little affair of their own on Tuesday, and Graney, of the Beavers, succeeded in having- himself chased off the grounds by Umpire Mc Greevy. So far as the Los Angeles affair, I am satisfied that the Angel- players were largely at fault. It appears that Geonse Wheeler was chiefly at fault by making threats as to what he would do lf any body spiked him. Up to that remark nobody had been spiked, but the "dare" probably did Wheeler no good. At all events, it has resulted in a world of bad feeling. McCredie says that the Los An geles papers gave him all the worst of it. Knowing the Los Angeles papers and their propensity for home affairs, I can quite aree with McCredie. As to Graney's trouble on Tuesday, that young pitcher brought it upon himself in a large degree. He seemed to be looking for trouble, and when McGreevy called a ball because of an unusually long de lay, Graney "hollered" long and loud. First of all he was fined $10. When he continued to protest, he was sent to the bench. Even that was not enough, and Graney was retired from the field. Shay Has Violent Outbreak. The State League in its outburst of Tuesday received the worst setback of Its short career. Danny Shay, who is aping MuKgay MeGraw, was responsible, and Jack 0"Connell. the old Coast League um pire, was one of the central figures. O'Connell had Just signed with the State League. Shay showed his disposition to be nasty from the jump. He kicked at every decision. Jimmy Smith was the first man to bat for Cy Moreing"s Oak land club. Shay came running in on the first ball called to aay something mean. Wnen Smith was finally walked, there were not enough words ln the Shay vocabulary to express his contempt. "You blankety,- blank, blank, blank," he shouted at O'Connell, at the same time treading on the "ump's" toes. "Cal Ewing sent you over here to break up this league." O'Connell ordered Shay and Catcher Frambes, who was also violent in his use of language, to the bench. Neither of them stirred. . They kept on using vulgar language and O'Connell Imme diately declared the gama forfeited to Oakland. 9 to 0. Then when some of the disgusted spectators filed out of their seats, it was agreed to play an exhibition game, which resulted in an Oakland victory. Shay was fined 50 by President Frank Herman, of the league, and was also called down by the managers of his own club. They told him plainly hat they did not propose to stand for such rowdyism and that, lf there was 4 f ikH A ! kJta . i A 4 $ A 4 , nS. u .1 -f - vary-: ' There Are Also Offerd For Full Particulars any more of it, they would secure a new manager. . Cy Morelng was more out up over the disturbance than anyone else. His club has been drawing none too well as It is. and that sort of row does not help him. In fact he sides with O'Con nell ln what he did, but admits that he wishes nothing of the sort . had oc curred. Weak Sisters in League. McCredie Intimates that the continu ous baseball racket at Los Angeles will not pay. He says that they only drew 2200 people on opening day ln the South ern city and. as far as Vernon Is con cerned. It Is an absolute frost. "We only drew 211 people all told at the Sunday morning game at Oakland," said McCredie. "The grounds must be situated near a slaughterhouse, for the stench was something awful. The people simply will not attend the games there, and they might as well make a change at once. I will be mighty glad when we are at home once more." The Vernon Club ln the Coasters is ad mittedly the weak sister, and the base ball writers say that something must be done to bolster up the club. Happy Ho gan, from having a happy disposition as his name Indicates. Is the worst grouch ln the league. They say he "crabs" at his players every time he meets them. This is doubtless due to the worry that comes with the responsibilities of the managerial job. but it will not help his club play baseball. One of the experts who saw the last game at Sacramento tells me that the Vernon Club is badly disorganized, and that it Is up to the league to take speedy action. I suppose you have beard that Rollle Zeider Is to be returned to San Francisco. As a matter of fact, he is expected to Join the club at Sacramento. It was not a case of falling to make good. Comis key has so many infields that he could not use Zeider. Rollie said he would rather play regularly with the Seals than warm the bench for the White Sox. Long needed him badly, and the switch was made. As McArdle Is playing a phenom enal shortstop, Zeider will revert to his old Job at third base. Mundorf will be retained as a utility lnfielder. He is far too valuable a man to be released, and. with Curtis gone to Santa Cruz, Long need 8 another lnfielder. Morelng. of the outlaws, who needs a catcher the worst way, made overtures to both of McCredie's backstops this week. This was only after Morelng failed to entice Berry or Williams of San Fran cisco or Mickey La Longe of Oakland. TJp to elate, the Portland catchers have not decided to take the hurdles, and the chances are that they will refuse any such step. The outlaws are losfng money on their Oakland venture, and the play ers want to know where the cash Is com ing from before they decide on any such move. Already Berry and Williams of the lo cals are disabled. Williams Is troubled with an abscess, while Berry was spiked ln one of the games. Kid Mohler has to limp around, and Duffey Lewis, the Oak land outfielder, was spiked by the umpire the other day when there was a play at second, and has been obliged to lay ofZ temporarily. Jimmy Williams, the Seal outfielder. Is temporarily under the weather, and matters are not running as smoothly as they might. The attendance af Ban Francisco has m : - - 'Si "X.''j'im J WRESTLING EDDIE O'CONNELL . - Welterweight Champion VS. JOE UHRLACHER. of Rochester N. Y. Coming- Middleweight Champion EXPOSITION RINK Doors Open 7:30; Prdinrinary 8:20 Seals on Sale at Schiller's and'CadweU's A Handsome PENNANT ' To Be Given the Second Winning Team ln the GRAMMAR SCHOOL BASEBALL LEAGUE A Handsome LOVING CUP To Be Given the Winning Team in the SALEM-PORTLAND RELAY RACE IN MAY been good. Last Sunday there were MOO people ln the stands, and the bleachers slopped over on the field. The weekly attendance has averaged about 2000. which Is decidedly encouraging. Across the bay with the outlaws the average weekday attendance has been 800. On Sunday there were 2600 fans on hand. Entries In for Breeders' Sale. Emtrles ln the Eighth Breeders' Sale to be held here the last week of the present month Indicate that It will surpass any sale ever held on the Pacific Slope. About 250 pure bred horses and more than 100 pure bred cattle will be offered for sale during the week of the auction. Included In the lists are some of the most cele brated animals in America, and there Is every indication that the top prices paid a year ago will he equaled and possibly beaten when the present entries go under the hammer. The entry list closed last Thursday. AUTOMOBILES GUARANTEED Past performance is a GOOD criterion Present service is BETTER But the BEST is we guarantee the future Let us tell you about our plan STUDEBAKER BROS. GO. NORTHWEST 330-336 East Morrison St. NEXT TUESDAY NIGHT