Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-03-08
Runs NEEDED,
ROBINS BOSS
Tells WRITER
Pitchers Good Enough
To Stop Attack of
Enemies, Is Opinion
Of Uncle Wilbert'
BY BRIAN BELL

ASSOCIATED Press sports WEitef}
CLEARWATER, Fla, March g.
~Uncle Wilbert" Robinson, manager
Of the Brooklyn Robins. sat on two
chairs placed between the plate and
first base as he watched his great
pitchers tossing the ball 70 batsmen-
Dazzy Vance, the speed ball king.
was throwing bird shot nc wide-eyed
youngsters. swinging with one foot
free. Jess Petty, with n touch Of
/ silver in his hair. was showing wee
lefthanded hooks, and Bill Doak. his
alert face lined by wrinkles of a
dozen years on major league dia-
monds, vas now and then contribut-
ing 10 the young fellows education
with a knuckle ball. Hard by the big
McWeeny, even bigger Elliott, Rube
Ehrhardt and William Watson Clark
were loosening their able arms.
Manager Robinson's eyes strayed
| from the pitchers to his almost
| equally great catching staff, Deber-
~. Hargreaves and Henline. and
! with a p~laintive note in his voice. in
a brief sentence. wrote a prescription
for his ball club
Need Is Runs
"What we need is runs" he said.
The Brooklyn boss can only hope
that he will get the runs. He will
not know for some time yet IL his
wish Is to be fulfilled. He does not
want many, just a few will do. he
thinks. for his pitchers and catchers
will form the basis for a tight de-
Tense. III baseball teams were made
up only OF batteries Brooklyn would
always be in the first division.
Dave Bancroft, former manager of
the Boston Braves, has added notice
able strength to the infield. He will
play short stop, probably between
Partridge at second and Harry Ri
conda at third. Bissonette seems
likely to draw the first base assign
ment.
Howard Freigau. former big
timer. will be available rs utility, as
will Flowers and Charlie Corgan Of
last years team.
Outfield Scrambled
The Brooklyn outfield is scram-
bled. Captain Max Carey, the veter-
an, will start in center field. The
field Of candidates for the other two
positions is large. Tyson, another
Of the men from the minors who
have been in the majors before, will
make a bid. Babe Herman, convert
ed first baseman, is devotirg all his
time TO outfield efforts and Arnold
STATE is back again from last year.
Harvey Hendrick, Brooklyn's lone
800 hitter in 1927, is now regarded
as an outfielder, subject to call at
first base. Overton Tremper, fast
youngster. who played we'll at times
last season, is back again. Max
West from Waco, and Dap Taylor
from Memphis complete an outfield
array that is impressive in numbers.
Manager Robinson. who can 20 into
a huddle with President Robinson,
without leaving his two chairs, has
no idea how he will arrange the ut
~fielders. He will seek a combination
10 supply his need OF runs.
Has Recruit Catcher
Louis houpal, a pitcher from In
dianapolis, has shown enough in the
early spring to insure him further
careful scrutiny, and Robinson. a
big Texas amateur, second only 20
the 2~35-pound Jumbo Jim" Elliott
IN size, may stick around.
On q ball club less plentifully sup
Piled with high class catching talent,
Alphonse Lopez, a Latin-American
from Tampa, would make the hurdle
from class "B" 10 the majors with
out a stop. The 19-year-old South
eastern league product has n rifle
disguised as an arm and a contagious
enthusiasm. II seems a conservative
estimate that some day he will catch
for Brooklyn.
The Robins have no pitching wor-
ries. Led by Vance. Petty and Doak
already approaching fitness. last
years sharpshooters are almost
ready 10 take up where they left off
making II hard for the opposition
last year