Evening star., 1928-03-16
SPURGEON'S INJURY
BAD BLOW TO CLUB
FonSeca and Ward Available
for Second. but Peck
Is Ready, Too.
BY JOHN b. FOSTER.

NEW ORLEANS. March left the
Giants in New York had not monopo-
Lied the title or human behemoths. the
Cleveland bali club should have done
so, Physically the title belongs far
more 10 Cleveland than TO the New
York team
1t takes more flannel to surround the
Cleveland club than any Of their Amer
lean League rivals. Running around
Julius Hcincmanns New Orleans play
ground for base ball. which Julius
proudly AYERS Is the largest ever. the
Cleveland PLAYERS fit the scene because
they, too. are the largest ever.
The Cleveland pitchers are like those
OF the Pittsburgh Pirates. The more
you look at them the more you realize
what large-framed men they are. Many
people think the Clevelanders are more
EXPERT pitchers than the Pirates; yet the
Pittsburgh pitchers win pennants and
those Of Cleveland win razZoerrieS.
Cleveland begins the season With the
toughest dose of hard luck OF any team
in the American League. Fred Spur
geon. the first choice second baseman,
broke his arm. II was not properly set
and had 10 be broken again. and now
there IS a strong belief In the Cleveland
camp that SpuTgeon is out OF the game
for good and all. Luke Seweu. the
catcher. fears that the injured man
never will play again.
"It is a pity" said Luke, because
Spurgeon was heading toward a high
class infieldey until this happened"
Fonseca, Ward or Peck.
The second string second baseman is
Lou FonSeca. Lou is well known IN
both major leagues and can hit in Eng
lish and III Portuguese. He is one OF
the two or three players who can bat
more than 800 in Portuguese. II fon-
secca does not start at second base. may
be il will be Aaron Ward. who is here
and looks we'll in gray Cleveland haoer-
oashery. Ward now has circulated |
through three-eighths of the American
League and likes it as far as he has
gone.
But here is the most important thing
about that second baseman'S JOB. May
be Manager Roger Peckinpaugh Will go
there himself That is the advantage
of having q player-manager. Some
folks insist that a playing manager Is
less effective than a manager on the
bench Not If he can play second base
and boss the club. too.
Peck" Is not in such bad condition
this year. He has been working hard
with the others and what he does not
know about playing second base is i'm
material. A big base ball man said the
other day that Peckinpaugh made STAN
ley Harris and not Harris Peckinpaugh.
That Is one of the few times that some
one has been plain spoken about the
famous Peck" 10 Harris combination on
the Washington team.
Other parts OF the Cleveland infeld
tremble in the balance. An envious
Cleveland man afirms that George
Burns is a fine first basenlan on the
Cleveland ground. He argues that no
ball player knows how TO bat as well
as Burns on the Cleveland ground.
The Chicago man goes on 10 say
that when Cleveland does not play at |
home. 1t should use another first base |
man But that is expensive. Besides. |
this specialization in base ball Is be- |
coming q darned nuisance. By and by
each team viii carry 70 players, plus
Pitchers different team for each city
II the league.
shortstop SeweIl OK.
Joe Seweii, shortstop. is all right
Luke says his brother Joe never report
ed better able TO play bail There is a
compliment coming 70 Luke. too. Ball
players west of the Mississippi say
that Luke Seweii Is the best catcher In
the American League.
Hodapp is 10 play third for Cleve-
land Some day that young man viii
get settled On his own homestead
When DOME Bush managed the In
cianapolis team some years ago and 1t
trained at Plant City. Fla. Hodapp ap-
peared 10 be the most promising in
fielding kid Of the year. Later Cleve-
land got Hodapp and then things began
70 happen 10 him.
These young men are so brittle now
sdsys that the moment they are signed
10 play IN the majors they fall apart.
overwhelmed with what they owe their
: rev bosses. Hodapp has been through
most Of that and now is about ready TO
emerge and play base bail. Grover
Cleveland Hartley says he will
Hartley is q good prophet. He served
his time under sharp master, who
called him back the second time
Whenever John Joseph McGraw goes
sf.sr q bailplayeY twice. IL Is certain
t:zt the player has been riding IN
balloon anc not cIinging 10 parachute.