Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 April 1943 — Page 23

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PRIL 8, 19

| Baseball Hit Harder Than

Pro Grid League . Drafts 21 200 Players Today

Owners Anticipated; Not Sure |——

THEY PLAYED THE GAME . . . NO.9.

Not Even Cobb Took Extra Base On Hooper, Speaker and Lewis

College oe Siiis N. Y. Claims the Winnah: o)

To Be Selected a a goa which is Edd] For Fall Duty

now in New York that the winner| Willem B. Boeing's Siide Rule, 4 By TOMMY DEVINE

Of Completing 1943 Season

By JOE WILLIAMS Times Special Weiter NEW YORK, April 8.—The best military minds are agreed the war will not be over for another full year or so. This means, among other things, we will be seeing the last of league baseball in 43, The club Owners will be too discouraged to give it another trial.

hich is wor Belmont. of the Kentucky Derby, May 1, is| working a4 now training here. ' They agree that i Count Fleet, which is at Belmont AMATEUR NOTES Park, is the probable victor. oOo

Moga) Beers will work out They predict that if John D. ind aia

Hertz’ mile record-wrecker of last'gR am Out-of-town players are welcome.

Majors and the bigger minors would

i Y

ore than a 50-50 chance to reach

It’s an open secret they have

been hit harder already than they

anticipated. Two or three clubs have been decimated to a point where

recognition is almost impossible. There being no alternative, they will do the best they can with fill- * Ins from the bushes, the semi-pros, even the sand lots. Until recently the feeling was the

be able to operate on a reasonably stable basis. It was not thought the demand for manpower would slash so deeply intor the general playing personnel. It was admitted the smaller oH ti leagues would Williams crash, but it was hoped that out of these crashes would remain enough able operatives, even of dubious skill, to enable the survivors to continue. At the moment, this is problematical. George Weiss, who heads the far-flung Yankee farm system, had an experience- last week which Spotlights the problem. Overnight, 80 to speak, he lost some 30 bhallplayers. They were casualties of the crashing minors; some were tapped for service, but most of them just decided they didn’t want to play baseball. They went into defense work. “They didn't even bother about returning their contracts,” said Mr. Weiss. “It wasn’t until IT checked with their relatives that I learned Where they had gone.”

Manpower Explains It

‘We mention the Weiss experience by way of illustrating the over all character of the problem. Some of these players would have been Jumped up more rapidly than in normal times but as it turns out they simply aren’t available at all. The crux of the situation is manpower. If it has reached a critical stage now, you can readily imagine what it’s going to be a year from now. Anything approaching formalized baseball will be out of the Question.

Indeed, it’s no sure thing baseball wil go all the way through this year. We hope it does, hope it goes through many years uninterruptedbut a realistic examination of the ture does not make for excessive optimism. | {Our guess is that baseball has no

je 1943 playoffs. On reflection, we'll enlarge on the odds because: we know the club owners will make every effort to get there. If this is to be their last whirl until peace comes they can be counted on to be there at the final out. We trust we aren't being naive

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about this. The club owners are money changers first, we grant you, but they do have a certain loyalty and sentiment. They don’t want to be called quitters, either. Paradoxically, they figure to make a lot of money this year, despite the ab sence of stars and the generally lowered artistry of play. They will be appealing to a new money clientele which is merrily indifferent to values.

stay home and take his fights and ball games by ear has the stuff which jingles, jangles, and today he’s making personal appearances. If any kind of fight show will sell, any kind of baseball game will sell, and don't think the club owners are blind to that. It’s they are determined to see the season through, but just the same we

ican pastime,

A’s Still Look Like Losers

By LEO H. PETERSEN United Press Sports Editor NEW YORK, April 8.—There have been some changes made in the Philadelphia Athletics, but they aren’t likely to break the team’s

each season to finish in the American League cellar. The draft has depleted Connie Mack's player stock to such an extent that he has only one outfielder} two infielders and four pitchers back from his 1942 club. To make matters worse, the team lost its heaviest hitter, Bob Johnson, in a deal which did little to replace the batting power he represented. Dissatisfied over his failure to receive a bonus in 1942, Johnson announced he was through with the

A’s and left Mack no alternative except shipping him to another team. :

Mack, who contended Johnson did not earn the bonus, sent him to Washington for Bob Estalella, outfielder, since has announced his refirément from the game to stay in defense work. Estalella is neither the hitter nor fielder that Johnson is. He will, however, hold down a regular berth in the 1943 outfield

{along with Elmo Valo, the lone

gardener left from last year’s team. Four rookies and an old-timer who left the majors several seasons ago are candidates for the third post

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When Tris Speaker threw the ball, the runner was out. Insets, Duffy Lewis, left, and Harry Hooper.

By HARRY GRAYSON NEA Sports Editor WHEN great outfielding is mentioned, ' there is only one that’s really discussed as a combination. That is the Hooper-Lewis-Speak-er trio of the Boston Red Sox that thrilled American league crowds from 1909 to 1015, inclusive. John I. Taylor brought Tristram Speaker from the cactusfronded state of Texas, Harry Hooper and George Edward Lewis from the golden sands of California. All were topnoichers in every respect.’ There was a premium on throwing in that era of the dead ball and scientific baseball, and each had an arm that had the accuracy and power of a Springfield rifle, Like the butcher in the famous old ballad, “Did. He Ramble?” they specialized in cutting down. They didn’t bounce the ball into the catcher’s hands, they threw strikes. 2 2 = Just Behind Cobb ASSISTS tell the story. Tris Speaker, matchless center fielder, had 461 in 20 full American league seasons. Hooper had 260 in a dozen years with the Red Sox, Duffy Lewis 180 in eight. Speaker sported the fattest batting average, broke Tyrus Raymond Cobb’s league-leading skein at nine with .386 in 1916, his first year as Cleveland manager. It was Spoke’s misfortune to run contemporary to Tyrus Cobb, who usually managed to beat the Gray Eagle for the batting championship, although the margin

fected a half crouch, but swung

was light at times, as the latter's lifetime mark, .345, makes plain. Speaker, a left-hand batter, stood parallel to the plate, af-

on an even plane. He was an exceptional base runner. Hooper was the leadoff man. A left-hand batter, he spread out to such an extent that it looked as though he couldn’t hit the ball past the pitcher. : His theory was that the wideopen stance shortened the strike zone. He drew many a walk, had a happy faculty for getting on base. He was a corking hitter without smacking the ball for magnificent distances and was very fast.

Lewis Respected LEWIS BATTED behind Speaker, They always passed Spoke in a pinch to get at Lewis, whose batting average was not as heavy. That was where they usually made a grievous error, because that is when Lewis generally got his damaging base knock. Walter Johnson admitted that he would rather face any other batter in a clutch. Lewis, a right-hand batter, held his club close to the end, wiggled it around on a little rotund tummy before giving the ball the ride. Speaker and Lewis got Hooper around often enough to score more runs than the other side, as attested by the Red Sox’ American league and world championships of 1912 and '15. With Speaker gone, Hooper and Lewis helped the Red Sox to another world title in ’16, and Hooper was alone

Radical Grid Change Seen

By GRANT DILLMAN United Press Staff Correspondent

COLUMBIA, O., April 8 (U. P). —The job of football next year,

= | despite a considerable lowering of E the quality of the nation’s teams,

will be to provide entertainment for

members of the armed services and

insure continuation of the game itself, Paul Brown, football coach of

Ohio State university, said today.

665-1

1 ant 16 BIER

Righ

rink light

“I believe we'll have football next fall, all right,” Brown said, “but it will be football after a fashion. It won’t be the same game the fans knew last year. The clean-cut precision play will be missing. The teams won't be as good.” The slight, balding former high school coach who led the Buckeyes to the championship of the Big Ten last year in his second year as

The quality of next fall’s could not help but be affected by

general drop in the quality of individual teams.” Some inequalities may arise, said, from the fact

when they went on to still another in "18. Hooper was remarkable in coming in on low line drives, sliding’ on one knee for 10 yards or more in order to make the catch. He appeared to be putting the shot when he threw, but it was always a bull’s-eye. He played the right or sun field at Fenway Park, the most difficult of all big league flelds. Speaker was a left-handed thrower. On a throw to the plate, he generally aimed it half-way between third and home, and the natural out-shoot on the ball would zoom it into Bill Carrigan’s hands. ® 5 =

Unassisted Double Plays

SPEAKER PLAYED the shortest center field and could travel back farther than any man who ever lived. He is the only outfielder who ever made two unassisted double plays in a season, the only one to make one in a world series— against the New York Giants in 1912, It was nothing short of suicide for a base runner to fry. for an extra base or to attempt to score from third after Harry Hooper, Duffy Lewis or Tris Speaker had made a catch.

Not even the venturesome Ty.

Cobb would run the risk. Period. ;

NEXT—Eddie Collins. *

United Press Staff Correspondent

CHICAGO, April 8—A huge player lottery which has as its grand prize a possible cut of yo championship melon, is scheduled today when the National Football league holds its annual “draft” meeting. On giant blackboards in a smokefilled hotel conference room were posted the names of approximately 000 college gridders and by nightfall 200 of them will be selected by pro grid teams. The number of drafted players who report next fall to their respective clubs may £0 a long way toward deciding the combination which will capture the 1943 title. : Some club owners claim the draft is a mere formality the league is going through to establish: future]. negotiating rights, but others maintained the size of the posted list indicated that availability might greatly influence the choice of some outfits which already have had their rosters riddled by military service calls.

List Is Expanded

In a normal year the number of draft prospects offered the club owners and coaches is only 400. However, the urgency of tke times and the need for athletic manpower to keep the pro circuit operating has influenced the officials to expand the list. Although he’s already in the marines, coaches were virtually unanimous in the belief that Frankie Sinkwich, the top star of Georgia's Rose bowl eleven, would be the No. 1 player on the draft It was believed most clubs would take several big name stars for “window-dressing” purposes and then settle down fo drawing performers who might be on hand for use next fall,

Mandel Wing Request The player selection meeting has been postponed twice. It originally was scheduled last December; but delayed because of “uncertain conditions.” Re-set for Tuesday it was put off until today at the request of Fred Mandel, owner of the Retroit Lions. ' Mandel sought the delay in the hope his newly appointed coach, Gus Dorais, would be able to attend. Dorais, recovering from a skull fracture, has been forbidden by his physician to make the trip here, however. Detroit, which lost 11 straight games last season to finish in the league cellar, gets first choice in the draft. The remaining order of selection is Philadelphia, the Chicago Cardinals, Brooklyn, Cleveland, New York, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Chicago Bears and Washington, Although Cleveland will not operate next season it will be permitted to participate in the draft. The players the Rams select, plus the gridders now on its active and re-

among the other nine league members.

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