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I cult, and a pitching staff capable of
' shooting all that is necessary.
But the inner wall is no wall at all.
There is a large hole at shortstop,
and third base might be better cared
ior. First and second are ably de
fended, but Zeider is the only capable
batter. Rollie is effective both on at
tack and defense. And the other in
field members are deficient in one or
the other of those two important
points.
Fred Beck has slipped so woefully
that Tinker has placed Joe Weiss, a
local semi-pro, on first base. And
the shift has resulted in no improve
ment. Weiss, like Beck, is a sterling
man on defense, but small potatoes
with the bat And batting strength
is needed around first base to hold up
the position with the other stations.
Mordecai Brown was batted vi
ciously yesterday by the Pittfeds,
one of the few occasions this season
on which the former Cub star has
been easy. Even so, there were op
portunities galore for the Whales to
cop, as they cracked 13 hits them
selves. But each time the gate seemed
open for a flock of tallies some as
piring gent slipped in the pinch.
It is a cinch that either White Sox
or Tigers will gain ground on the
league-leading Red Sox today. The
teams are pitted against each other
I in Detroit, while the easterners are
idle for the afternoon.
The Tiger-Sox series is billed to
travel three days, and the only way
either challenger can make progress
worth while is to sweep the series.
Two wins in three would be too small
a stride to be of much value, espe
cially to the Sox, who are trailing
Boston by seven games.
Detroit is but two games back of
the Red Sox and still has a chance
to land the bunting. Red Sox finish
with a long home series, but in the
past the Tigers have played good ball
on the road, and Ty Cobb and Sam
Crawford are always dangerous.
Rowland will have one of the heav
iest hitting teams in the league when J
Jack Fournier returns to harness, but
it is doubtful if the strength will be
enough to pull down the Red Sox.
Seven games is a big handicap to
overcome in a stretch of a little over
a month.
Preparing for next season, Row
land and Comiskey have been center
ing their efforts on third base,
strengthening that post. Pete Johns
is the first acquisition to be tried,
and the verdict so far is that Pete
will do. Now, it might be a good idea
to go after a first baseman.
Jack Fournier has played the bag
for the greater part of the season, but
the best evidence that his work is not
entirely satisfactory is that John Col
lins will be continued at the bag
when Jack is well. And even John's
best friend never accused him of be
ing a stellar first baseman.
One of our leading advisers yester
day explained what a fish Manager
Bresnahan was to trade Larry Cheney
for Joe Schultz. He explained that
there must be something wrong with
Joe or Robinson wouldn't keep him
on the bench. But he didn't stop to
think that two or three teams in this
scrambled National league had on the
bench better men for several posi
tions than were holding down regular
assignments with the Cubs.
Cheney may wheel into effective
ness with the Dodgers. But that won't
weaken the value of the trade from a
Cub standpoint Larry was through
here, absolutely.
Schultz is young. He has never
had a real chance to show his worth
in the majors. And Bresnahan wants
new blood to rebuild his decrepit
gang. Schultz probably will go to
second base and Zim will return to
third. Phelan and Fisher have both
been fielding erratically, but Bob has
been hitting harder than Art.
Bresnahan got something that may.
De some gooa ior sometmng tnat
no good to him.
Two games with Giants today '
up eastern trip or tne Cubs
Whitted cracked homer in
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