Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 March 1938 — Page 17
Boss of Cards A Asks Time To Study Lengthy Report Denouncing Farm System
Full Effect of Drastic Decision Declaring More. Than 100
Players Free Agents Eagerly Awaited By Baseball World. an
BELLEAIR, Fla. M
for Branch Rickey’s answer to Co
March 24 (U. P) BEER baseball world waited today
mmissioner Kennesaw Mountain
iid denunciation of .the St. Louis Cardinal's ‘methods of operating
ir “chain store baseball system.”
Sin nearby St. Petersburg, Rickey promised to
reply in detail to the
Ee oS of Commissioner Landis, but asked time to digest the nine-
page, 5000-word report.
“At this time the Springfield decision seems harsh,” Rickey said. : ‘The aftermath of Landis’ decision, which declared an estimated: 100 players free agents and assessed fines totaling $2176 on three; Cardinal
fal clubs, Springfield, Mo., and Sear Rapids, Iowa, both of the West Pacific & :
League, Sacramento Ee may not be known for some time. It may be the beginning of a war between Landis and Rickey over “chain store baseball” or it may prove to be an unimportant decision affecting a lot of “5 and 10” ball players. The only Cardinal ‘players who may be involved, are Shortstop Jimmy Webb and Outfielder Johnny Hopp. Webb was with Cedar Rapids © in 1935 and 1936 and played with Columbus last year. Hopp was with. the Mitchell club of the Nebraska league in 1936 and came up this * spring from Rochester.
Sees Honesty at Stake
Only 17 players of the Monett club of the Arkansas-Missouri Leagte have been made free agents by Landis. All players belonging to Cedar Rapids with the exception of James F. Howard were declared free agents, but Landis, needing more time to identify them, won't list their names for several days. IA making his decision, Landis said that the honesty of baseball had fo be protected, that “an individual club cannot and will not be allowed to make a contract destructive of public confidence in baseball’s integrity.” : The investigation goes back as far as 1934 and involves 12 teams in the Cardinal chain gang. Most of the players affected, however, played swith either Cedar Rapids or Monett. Other clubs involved include Danville and Springfield in the ThreeI League, Jamestown in the Northern League, Mitchell in the Nebraska State League, Fayetteville in the Arkansas-Missouri League, Crookston and Newport in the Northeast Arkansas League, Columbus in the American Association, and Sacramento in the Pacific Coast League. + In effect, Landis’ decision will prevent the Cedar Rapids elub making a working agreement with the Cardinals or any- other club which operatés a team in the same league where St. Louis has a farm club.
Plan National:
Softball Loop
New West Side Park to Be |
Home of Local Entry.
With the completion of the Bel-.
mont Softball Stadium at Belmont: Ave. and Minnesota St,
be introduced here, according to. a
statement made today my R. W. Shaw and Johnny Devney, owners ‘of the new park. Devney is organizing a National Softball League to include teams from Chicago, Cincinnati, ILouisville, Covington, Ky., and several other cities. The tentative sched-. ule calls for the local season to open May 29 with the . Roseland Merchants of Chicago appearing against Shaw's Market, local entry. - In addition. to the interstate league, a State league will be formed to play on Wednesday nights. Other leagues planned by Devney ‘and Shaw include a sixteam Downtown League, an-eight-team Factory League, a -six-team girls’ circuit and a loop composed of eight of the best local independent .tens. Out-of-town teams wishing to join the State League write Johnny Devney, 841 Birch Ave. or Smith-Hassler-Sturm, local sporting goods store. Teams interested in any of the other leagues may obtain further details from either Devney or Smith-Hassler-Sturm
Four softball leagues will be formed this season by the Sportsman’s Store. Representatives of all teams entered or intending to enter will attend an organization meeting at the ‘store, 126 N. Pennsyls vania St. at 8 p. m. tonight. All softball teams are eligible lo rier.
By HENRY
Gehrig Is Best: Fj ist Sncker In Movies, Premiere Proves
Film Beats Snow White for Action, Is Verdict; Lou Is Cowboy Hero in ‘Rawhide.’
M’LEMORE
United Press Staff Correspondent
T. PETERSBURG, Fla., March 24.—Not since the women’s national horseshoe pitching championship ended in riotous hair-pulling several years ago, has St. Petersburg’s artistic, social and sporting circles been so stirred as they were last night when Lou Gehrig's first. motion picture, “Rawhide,” was given its world premiere.
Today the artistic group buzzed &
with appreciation of the manner in - Which Pepper Martin, outfielding maestro of the St. Louis Cardinals, conducted his “mud cat” band in the incidental music .that accompanied the picture. For the overture, Pepper chose that ‘difficult Arkansas classic, “Willie, My Toes Are°Sore’ and to many he handled the trying score with an ease that his fellow conductor, Arturo Toscanni, would have had difficulty matching, : The social set could not say enough for the brilliance of the pageant that preceded the premiere. Not in many & day has St. Petersburg, or any other city, for that matter, seen" : 8s many celebrated persons, radiant in wind-breakers and polo shirts, roll through the streets in “sleek 2nd hired limousines. » # = : AY the sports lovers—well, they could talk of nothing else but , Gehrig's superb’ performance. in the smash scene of “Rawhide”— a scene ~gpic in -its sweep and breathless in its action. In this scene, Gehrig, attacked in a poolroom by a band of crooked. cowboys, subdues them with billiard balls. One. by one they fall, their skulls cracked by Gehrig's perfect pegs “Raw Rider Nae much more action than “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it hasn't more action than any picture ever filmed. For lovers of the sound of pistols going off, fists hitting chins; and horses running, there never has been anything to.equz1 it. For some reason or another Gehrig is shown very little on horsebzck. But on those occasions when he is, he rides with the sureness of & true Bronx bronco buster. Unfortunately for those. who" woula like to watch Gehrig on horseback, he always seemed to: mo! horse near a big tree and nel TO
ately ie “behing it. ‘ OUTFITTERS a WOMEN and CHILDREN
"THE MODERN STORE
EHRIG’S teammates, who had seats of honor at the premiere, were very generous with their praise. Only occasionally did they yell rude remarks during the showing of the picture and Lefty Gomez, one of America’s keenest students of the drama, said he thought Gehrig was far and away the best first baseman now in the movies. Joe McCarthy, when asked for his opinion, said he saw no reason why Gehrig should not hit .350 or better this year.’ “Rawhide” is a picture one may safely take the entire family fo see —that is, provided one is big and strong enough to handle the complaints of the older children. For myself I will remember the premiere as long as I live, if only for that breathless moment at the close when Conductor his boys played “Possum Up A Gum Stump.”
BEES AGREE TO BACK TEAM IN. ERIE, PA.
EBENSBURG, Pa. March: 24 (U. P.).—The Boston Bees of. the National League have to back a baseball team in Erie, in the Mid-Atlantic League, Elmer Daily, league president, announced ‘here today. “John Quinn, Bees secretary, notified me they have arranged to take the franchise of the Zanesville Grays and place it in Erie,” Daily
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onstrating the use of the bike and terday’s meeting of the Lions Club.’
By JOE WILLIAMS Times Special Writer ORLANDO, Fla., March 24—The man bit the dog today. Clark Griffith - stepped gingerly forward with the astonishing prediction the Yankees would fold up this year. What's more, the gentleman dismissed the Yankees curtly and briefly with the sneer that they are “just a lucky team.” The owner of the Washington team is at least different. Practically everybody élse down here concedes the American League championship to the Yankees. They go further and say the Yankees are stronger this year than last when they spread eagled the field, and manhandled the Giants in the playoffs. But it should be pointed out in this connection that Mr. Griffith likes to be different, especially with respect to the Yankees. The suspicion exists that Mr. Griffith entertains no great affection for the Yankees. It has been said in some circles he is envious ‘of them
envious person. Just the same Mr. Griffith is at
his oratorical best when he is dis-
cussing the Yankees in the spring. As the season progresses he is unable to bring the same volume or quality of eloquence to the subject. And along about ‘September he’d just as soon you wouldn’t mention it. Two years ago down here Mr. Griffith sat in the sun-drenched stands and forecast a dismal future for ‘the Yankees, who had been made favorites in the pennant race. It seems they were vastly overrated—but somehow they managed to win easily. A year ago at this time Mr. Griffith was equally contemptuous of the Yankees. He pointed to Tony Lazzeri at second base. . .. “Say, if anything: happens to that guy the team will fall to pieces and he’s just one man.” Nothing happened to Lazzeri, though sundry things did happen to Selkirk, Rclfe, Crosetti, Pearson and ‘DiMaggio. Anyway it was another breeze for the Yankees. “Well, it won’t be no breeze: this year,” snapped Mr. Griffith looking out at his sweaty athletes from
under a fuzzy hedge of gray eye
brows. “And they are going to miss Lazzeri, too, going to miss him badly. You know as well as I do
Fernand Wambst, French cyclist, 1s’ shown dem-
Club secretary-treasurer (right), ad Ernest. Buhler
Yanks Not So Hot, They ’re Just Lucky! That’s What Clark Griffith Thinks
but_this is probably unfair, Mr. 2] GBI dost Bor at be on
treadmill at yes- * Al 'Bvans,; Lions
that he practically played first base for Gehrig all last season.” (Lazzeri is now master minding for the Cubs.) This was interesting and I'm sorry I failed: to ask Mr. Griffith who was playing second base for Lazzeri for there were times when
Sports Quiz
Q—Was Carl Mays 8 left-handed pitcher? A—No; he was a right-hander with a “submarine” (underhand) delivery. { ' Q—Did the “Tigers win a, pennant during Ty Cobb's reign as manager? -A—No;! their best season under Cobb’s management was 1923, when
they finished second to the: New
York Yankees, Q—What is the function the “stroke oar” in rowing? A-He is the oarsmen who sits
and sets: the pace -ag-directed by. coxswain. Each of the ofher men keeps his eyes on the back of the oarsman in front of him and times his stroke from him.
HELEN WILLS MOODY ON WIGHTMAN TEAM
NEW YORK. March March 24 (U. Py— Mrs. Helen Wills Moody helped the United States defeat England in the Wightman Cup inaugural in 1923 and she will return to the interna-
immediately facing the coxswain
tional tennis circuit as a member of Sg
the Wightman squad that meets Britain at Wimbledon, June 11-11. ‘Anouncement ‘by the U. S. Lawn Tenis Association that Mrs. Moody would be one of the six members of the team came as a surprise, because the one-time ruler of the world’s courts has been out of big-
‘time competition since her dra-
matic comeback to win the coveted Wimbledon crown for the seventh. time in 1935. :
ITribe Ready |.
To Face Bees
Schalk. May Start Paring
_. Roster Today.
Times Special ' BARTOW, Fla, March 24. —Another intraclub game is scheduled for the Indianapolis Indians today while tomorrow will see them meeting the Bees, their first major league fos of the training season. Manager Ray Schalk is expected
: | to begin to whittle his 35-man roster
on the basis of showings in today's tilt. “Meanwhile General Manager Leo T. Miller and Secretary Dale Miller, who visited the Bees’ hive yesterday, still were searching for one or two slugging infielders. Yesterday's practice consisted of routine work. , Excused from the
€ | drill were catcher Buddy Lewis and
outfielders Andy Pilney, Vic Mettler and Frank Doljack. Jack Rothrock, the veteran outfielder who has been holding out, is expected to arrive here from his
¢ | California home Saturday. His ari rival will leave four Redskins still
Times Photo.
of Switzerland, also are shown. Wamibst and Buhler are entered in the six-day bike race, sponsored by the . local Interfleet Safety Contest Committee, to be run * at Butler Fieldhouse April 3-9.
it looked as if the estimable Mr.
Joseph Q. Doques was filling in |
for. the gloomy signor. These were
the times when ‘double: lay balls aging |
were getting away from the gentleman. Since the Yankees “were a lucky team and due to crack up: miserably, perhaps Mr. Griffith might be so kind .as to ‘tell his great unseen audience what team is foing to replace them.’ * “Three or four teams have a chance,” he answered and a strange,
“The Tigers might have beaten them last year if they had had any luek. ‘And the same goes for Cleveland. -X look for a cat.and dog fight this year. Even my club must be considered. If we can get some
pitching. we'll ‘be tough.”
This may be: nothing. more than
‘a. wish on the part of Mr. Griffith,
and-very likely is; because it is hard to see where “or how the Yankees can be called Jucky, and while Lazzerl was an important member of the ‘team. I don't believe even his closest kin would make the point
g. the whole burden.
1 Shortridge Thinlies
“Face Busy Season
Five lettermen will form the nucleus of Shortridge’s track team, which faces four dual meets and four multiple-team events. Available lettermen are Capt. Ed. Ziegner, Bill Strong, Harvey Hunter, Jack Evans, Hugh Dalzell. The Blue Devil schedule:
A, 1 gt Tagen, Content vel fat 0 - or April 23 Muncie Relays: oA ml 29,
Ap t at Tech; May Sectional Do a Srechy Mey FoR ale mee tion 25 Sho! t idge may enter m ad Bo rir ge in’ 1 dition meets at Southport Apel 20 and at oa April 30.
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unreported.
Indiana Entered In Wrestling Meet
STATE COLLEGE, Pa., March 24 (NEA) ~It'll be the nation against Oklahoma A. & M., when collegiate wrestlers from every section of the country gather Friday and Saturday for the National Collegiate. Wrestling Championships at Penn State. ‘The Cowboys, who have dominated eight of the 10 previous tournaments, again are favored this year, with the team including three of last year’s National Collegiate titlists; two members of the 1936 Olympic team; one member of the Canadian Olympic team, and three National A. A. U. champions. Big threats to the Southwesterners’ title aspirations will come from the Midwest, where Michigan and Indiana will be ‘represented by strong squads.
Capital Five Wins In Catholic Tourney
CHICAGO, March 24 (U. P.) —St. John’s College High School, Washington, D. C., scored two baskets in the final minute of play today to score a 41-to-37 victory over the St. Stephens, Wyo., Mission School for Indians. in the first round of the 156th annual National. Catholic Basketball Tournament. - It was the opening game. of foday’s 1l-game schedule. The
Wyoming team led at the half, 15
to 14, and the score was tied at 24-all at the start of the fourth quarter. James Giebel scored two long shots in the final minutes to win for St. John’s. La Salle High, Cumberland, Md., entered the second round of play with a 37-t0-26 triumph over St. Augustine, Austin, Minn.
JUST SMALL CHANGE Mrs. Charlie Root, wife of the Cub pitcher, is carrying around a cigar box full of ore she hacked from the mountains near her home. It assays
about 30 cents gold to the ton, but |
Brooklyn boys this spring? Dolph Camilli? : . Leo Durocher?
Durocher Should So A
(Fourth of a series)
By HARRY GRAYSON Sports Editor, NEA Service
CLEARWATER, Fla., March 24.-—The most important addition to the
/
No, sir-ee,” ‘says Burleigh Grimes. “The biggest improvement in the
Brooklyn club this trip is
MacPhail.” Now, Larry MacPhail can’t hit, run, or throw strikes from center field, nor is Burleigh Grimes simply flattering his new general manager. Boiling Boily is fully as tact-
kers always has said exactly what he meant, no matter how painful. “MacPhail gives a guy something to work with,” asserts Grimes. The Dodger director refers to MacPhail’'s' so quickly satisfying the great right-hander, Van Lingle Mungo, and obtaining Camilli from the Phillies. The sum paid the Philadelphia outfit for the first baseman is variously estimated, $20,000 being the lowest figure and $75,000 the highest. The Brooklyn club is so hard pressed financially that it is suspected that it shortly will be sold. I asked Grimes where MacPhail got the mony. “He’s a Houdini,” replied Boiling Boily. Counts on Durocher
Brooklyn finished sixth last term with the poorest kind of a defense. A bad arm rendered Mungo useless after July. ‘Buddy Hassett, Cookie Lavagetto, Al Butcher and Joe Stripp were out for protracted periods. ; Grimes gave the St. Louis Cardinals four athletes who weren’t doing him any good—Stripp, Johnny Cooney, Jimmy Bucher and Roy Henshaw—for one he believes will make his infield—Durocher.
Leo Durocher still is the’ finest fielding shortstop in the business, despite a miserable year at bat in 1937. Duracher hit .286 in 1936, and his having another such year easily might take the Dodgers a long, long way. : His success with the veteran Heinie Manush in 1937 prompted Grimes to sign another old-timer, Kiki Cuyler, who is to start in center field. As he schooled Augie Galan in Chicago, Cuyler now is instructing Hassett in left fielding, to which the agile first baseman of the Bronx has been forced by the acquisition of Camilli.
Lavagetto found himself at third base at the fag end of last season, and with young Pete Coscarart, a flossy fielder from the Portland Coasters, at second, Grimes sees his defense increasing the efficiency of his pitchers to a considerable degree. With the soreness out of his arm, Mungo is the perfect bellwether. Luke Hamlin, Max Butcher and
Four at the moment, with wise old heads, Waite Hoyt, Freddie Fitz-
You Can Always Save at HAAG'S
she hopes for a strike.
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simmons - and Fred Frankhouse ready to step in. ° Others on the staff are Bill Pose del, Forrest Pressnell, Walt Signer, Charley Marrow, Jack Kimball and [Alta Cohen, the only left-hander. Posedel bagged 45 games for the
Pressnell, Signer, Marrow,
of the American Association. Signer:
Pennsylvania League in effectiveness in 1936. Kimball had a good year with Elmira.
YOUNG TO PERFORM FOR LOCAL NET FANS
Local fans who failed to see Jewel! Young, Purdue’s all-Amer-ican, in action during the season will have a chance to see him when his All-Stars play the New York
Celtics on Butler's hardwood Monday. The game is expected to match the clever tactics of Young's ex-
of the Celts, “world’s professional champions.” In their last local appearance, the Celts whipped the New York Renaissance, Negro champions.” Playing with Young will be Johnny Sines and Pat Malaska of the 1937-38 Big Ten champs and Cecil Isbell, former Boilermaker gridiron star. . ;
FOX TO FACE SHUCCO BOSTON, March 24 (U. P.)~— Tiger Jack Fox, Negro heavyweight boxer from Spokane,’ Wash. opposes Tony Shucco in a 10-round bout at Boston Gardens tonight. An easy winner over Lou Brouillard in his last appearance here, Fox
Fox has scored. five kayoes in six fights this season.
FELTMAN & CURME
MEN'S
hurt in 1937, led the New York-
collegians against the rougher play =
“world’s
will enter the ring a slight favorite.
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