Evening star., 1938-03-24
0UT-B|NCLE YANKS.
BUT WIND UP LAST
Crash of Gomez or Ruffing
Would Wreck Champions.
Rowe Criticized.
BY GRANTLAND RICE.

hOWe CrltiClZe0.
BY GRANTLAND RICE.
MIAMI BEACH, March 24.-This is
an era of power in baseball, and the
crowd looks to the big guys striding
up to the plate. But the managers
still look to the pitchers.
II the Giants are going to win the
National League pennant again Cliff
Melton will have to have another year
such as he had in 1937-or somebody
will have to come along and take up
the slack, A crash by either Red Ruff
ing or Lefty Gomez could wreck the
Yankees. If the Tigers are going to
make 1t even close for the Yanks this
year Schoolboy Rowe will have to be
throwing that fireball again. Dizzy
Dean can put the Cardinals in a con-
tending position. Van Mungo figures
to mark the difference between the
top of the second division for the
Dodgers-or seventh or eighth place.
The aging but still effective Bob Grove
remains the most important member
OF the Red Sox cast The Indians will
rise-or fall-with Johnny Allen and
Bob Feller. And so on.
The base hit, the ball players say,
wins ball games, buys shoes for the
baby and puts money in the bank.
That's true, but it is just as important
to keep the other fellows from making
base hit as it is to make one your
self. There is plenty of power in the
batting order of team such as the
Phlllies or the Browns. On any given
day they can match swings with any
team in either league. But they rattle
around in the depths because they have
no pitchers to stand off the enemy
attack.
Rowe at Lakeland.
II any pitcher could be singled out
as the most vital to his team. with
another season looming Just beyond
this palm-fringed horizon, l would
say he is Schoolboy Rowe. Tommy
Bridges, Elden Auker and Roxie Law
son are good pitchers-but all put to-
gether they aren't good for many more
than so games. At least, they won
just that many last year. That leaves
from As to so more for the rest of the
Tiger pltchers-and don't think they
can make it without lot of help from
Rowe.
How much help can they expect from
him? Well, recent reports from Lake
land, where the Tigers are training.
are not very encouraging to those who
believed the big fellow about to re-
capture his old form. They say that
ne still has hitch in his right shoulder
and that he still breads trying to put
anything on the ball.
I talked today with a rowing scout
who passed through Lakeland a couple
OF weeks ago and saw Rowe working
out in advance of the arrival of the
rest of the squad. He wasn't very en-
couraging, either.
The Schoolboy didn't look good to
me-" he said, "and, while it was no
business OF mine and, naturally, I
couldn't say anything to him about it,
thought he was on the wrong track in
his attempt to get himself back into
pitching shape. Maybe he, has
changed his routine since, but, when
was there, about all he did was to
warm up for little while, tossing the
ball easily and being very careful to
avoid putting any strain or pressure
on his arm. Well, that was all right
in way. But I thought he should
have been thinking less of his am-I
hate to see a ball player let sore arm
sink into his forehead, if you know
what I mean-and more about getting
his legs and the rest of his body in
shape.
Condition Might Mend Arm.
Maybe I'm just an old-fashioned,
guy on those things, but I think that.
when a fellow has sore arm, he can
help it by improving his general condi-
ton. think Rowe should forget
about the arm for while and just hit
and run and throw and shag flies in
the outfleld and take all the other ex-
ercises he can to get in perfect trim.
think if he did that for while his
arm would come around all right.
Maybe I'm speaking out of turn.
Maybe he's doing all that now. I'm
just telling you what he was doing
when I was there. Which was verv
little more than worrying about his
arm"
don't know, either, not having
been up to Lakeland yet. But do
know that, unless Rowe climbs back
into the stride he held a couple of
years ago-or unless couple of young
pitchers come swinging along to take
his place-all the power in the Tigers
bats isn't going to help them much if
Ruftin and Gomez, backed up by that
walloping Yankee crew. have another
good year.
That's not all theory, either. Look
at the record for 1887 The Tigers
outhit the Yankees. So did the
Browns. But the Yankees won the
pennant by 19 games, the Tigers fin
shed secondhand, when the race was
over, there were men out with lanterns
looking for the Browns.
Copyright, 1888. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance, Inc)