The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-12-09
/ ALKING
IT OVER
By JOE WILLIAMS

HIS JUST 700 DdQ JIle AIIISIlCdIl
i League tossed it's mort valuable
prize out of the window before
handing the thousand dollars to Lew
Fonseca. the sweet singing Portu-
guese Of the Cleveland club. Had
there been a 1929 prize In the Amer
lean League, Fonseca would have got
1t. That the Indians made SO gal
liant battle after having been
picked for sixth place was due large
ly to the socking of Senior Fonseca,
and the surprising pitching Of Wes-
ley Terrell.
Fonseca deserves a world Of credit for
making the splendid comeback he
had achieved with the Indians. He came
from the Pacific Coast League to the
Reds, and they couldn't find ~ perma-
pent spot for him. He was too awkward
at second base, and Pat Moran didn't like
him at FIRST base. So Fonseca moved
down to Newark, where he stayed only
one season.
CLEVELAND paid $4,000 for
~ Lew, and it wasn't long before
the fans in the Rhineland were
kidding the management over hav-
ing sold a better ball player than
anybody who remained on the Gin
cinnati outfit.
n
Yes, sir, this Fonseca gets the call
and then some. And I'd give second
place to the 21-year-old Terrell.
Here's a kid who stepped from
Terre Haute into a tough spot in
the big show and proceeded to win
better than twenty games-a trick
that had been forgotten by first-year
men after Grover Alexander turned
1t in years and years back.
While on the subject of Alexander, /
learn that nobody in the National League
wants him-that he may slide into the
minors, or retirement. There's stark
tragedy for you. This man Aleck seems to
be q throwback. Nowadays ball players
take care of their financial future, but
Aleck. always hale fellow well met, always
prodigal, is said to have given no thought
TO the future.
1T seems to me it was only yes
IL terday that Alexander trudged
from the bull pen at the Yankee sta
dunn into the glaring spotlight in
the last game of one of the most
tIramatice world series baseball has
seen. 1t seems but yesterday that
Alexander came in to relieve the
faltering Jess Haines and struck out
he over-eager Tony Lazzeri to win
the title for Hornsby's Cardinals.
u n
We all remember the drama of the Alex
ander comeback In the uniform of the ST.
Louis club. Aleck and Joe Mccarthy had
some differences on the matter Of train
ing rules and much to the surprise of
the baseball world, the Cardinals got Aleck
for nothing more than the waiver price
OF $4,000.
Last summer Aleck got into some
difnculty with Bill McKechnie and
was sent home. Now the Cards have
asked for waivers, and at AZ Aleck
finds that he isn't much in demand
Well, it's just a tough old world.
ATHE admission of Havana into
4 the Southeastern League means
that organized baseball has reached
out into territory off the American
continent, and that the game has
become truly internationalized. The
entrance of Havana into the domain
of Judge Lands means another ad-
vance in the business of baseball.
It marks the introduction of the
airplane as an official means of
transportation and no doubt will
pave the way for the more general
use of the air lanes in moving ball
clubs.
The application of Havana for a place
in the Southeastern League, along with
Miami, jacksonville, Selma, Pensacola and
+ Tampa, was held up pending the settle
ment of very fine point. The league
wanted the right to discipline any player
who refused to travel by air. The Ma
ltionaI Association very properly refused
to grant this privilege, but Havana has
come ia anyway.
The Pacific Coast League, with
several cities nursing major league
aspirations, will watch the Havana
experiment with great interest.