Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 157, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1911 — CANNOT FIGURE ON BALL TEAM [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CANNOT FIGURE ON BALL TEAM

Third Baseman Byrne of the Pittaburg Pirates Say* Prediction* Are Merely Guesses. "No man living can tell how a ball team is going to finish,” offers Bobby Byrne, “and if he picks one out right before the seasdn opens he is merely making a good guess. On past performances it is possible to tell whc ought to be in the first division and what clubs will probably finish tower than fourth, but even in such a classification there is apt to be come poor guessing. Many things enter into a championship campaign that the spring dopesters a* a general rule overlook. They seldom figure on accidents and Illness, and they pay little attention to the breaks in baseball luck which cut a big figure in every pennant race. “I notice a so-called eastern expert has placed Pittsburg in the second division. His argument is that Clarke, Leach .and Wagner, being old players, are bound to slump, and slump badly, and be adds that if - G<h

son meets with an accident the club will be in distress. He's simply takng undue liberties with the *if deck. Of course, If the four players he mentions fall to play up to form, or for one reason or another are out of the game, the Pirates will be seriously crippled; but, on the other hand, ‘lf they deliver the goods like they have been doing thus far, the club that wins the National league pennant will have to beat the Buccaners. So there you are. It is pure folly for anybody to try to pick winners In the spring, and it's absurd for any manager to claim the pennant before the season starts."

Bobby Byrne.