Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 10, Number 22, DeMotte, Jasper County, 18 April 1940 — Sportlight [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Sportlight

by GRANTLAND RICE

LT AVTNG drifted around from the A * starting spring camps of California to the closing spring camps of Florida, some poltroon has asked me to work out the surer spots and the big guesses of baseball’s two big league shows. My guess would be there are three clubs in each league which can be removed from the

guessing division. They are the Yankees, Red Sox and Browns in the American league—the Reds, Cardinals and Phillies in the National league. The Yankees and Red Sox should carry the pace alone in the American. The Reds or Cardinals—the Cardinals or

Reds—should have the main jump in the National. I’ll let yob guess where the Browns and Phillies will probably wind up in the long parade. This leaves us twelve clubs under both big tents for the main guessing act. They are the Dodgers, Pirates, Cubs, Giants and Bees in the National—-the Indians, Tigers, White Sox, Athletics and Senators in the American. I don’t believe any of these clubs can run 1-2 and I don’t believe any one of them will finish last. i 3 . The First Division Clubs Starting with the American league, as the Yankees are still on top after four years, we have the Yankees and the Red Sox almost certain to run 1-2, granting the fact there is nothing certain in sport. Cleveland with Bob Feller is undoubtedly the best bet for the next first division berth.

After Mr. Vitt’s Indians we have the battle for fourth place left among the Tigers, White Sox and Athletics, unless Bucky Harris can pull off a miracle. The scramble, tangle, or general upheaval is much more pronounced in the National league. After the Reds and

Cardinals we have the MacPhailDurocher Dodgers, Cubs, Pirates and Giants battling for the two open spots. This is where the guessing begins to steam and emit smoke. With two places open, I like Dodgers, Cubs and. Pirates as the best bets for these upper berth locations. Both the Cubs and Dodgers might just as well keep an eye on the team Frank Frisch is bringing to Pittsburgh from the coast. It will be the hardest-hustling Pittsburgh team the Pirates have known in a decade.

The Biggest Guess The Giants are a still bigger guess. As usual a labge part of it

all depends on how the pitching works out, how many veterans cave in, how many rookies blow. Bill Terry says his Giants can bag around 90 victories this season. Bill also announced in ringing tones last April that his Giants would finish 1-2-3. Bill remains an optimist. He will need

all the luck that Dame Fortune, that cock-eyed wench, can dish out to finish as good as fifth. In my hazy winter book the battle for fifth place will be between the Pirates and Giants, with the Pirates having the better chance to displace the Cubs in the upper set. You’ll usually find the manager with the better team trying to pick someone else. For example, Head-man Blades of the Cardinals asked me rather sharply why so many were picking his Cardinals to beat out the Reds. An Odd Angle “The Reds beat us last year,” he says. “The Reds have improved. We haven’t. The Reds are all set. We are not.” Here is one answer—the Cardinals, being a young team in many ways last season, should improve. There is still no substitute for experience. In a season loaded with fate, luck, chance and the rest of it, my guess at this spot would be New York, Boston, Cleveland and Detroit for the top division in the A. L. There are many more kinks when it comes to acting as a National league soothsayer. You can name St. Louis, Cincinnati and Brooklyn. Then you pause abruptly as you stumble over Chicago, Pittsburgh and New York for the next notch below\ From this unchartered medley I’ll take a chance on Gabby Hartnett’s Cubs. Frank Frisch is building for the future. Frisch is looking more to 1941 than he is to 1940, although Frisch, like any other scrappy manager, wants to win every game in sight. The Pirates will win their share.

Bob Feller

Grantland Rice

Bill Terry