The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-03-18
STREET SET TO SURPRISE 'b|C'
 CLUBS OF LOOP
Browns Rounding Into Fine Form and Plan to
 Desert Cellar
EDITORS NOTE: Following is the fifth of a series from the major league spring training camps.
BY ROBERT II. PARHAM United Press Staff Correspondent

a
 BY ROBERT II. PARHAM United Press Staff Correspondent
 San Antonio, Texas, March 18- (UP) - Charles "Gabby" Street spends his time these spring after moons basking in the Texas sun- shine and getting back his health. He puffs contentedly on his brair pipe, between butts barking out orders to his charges, then looking satisfied.
 It isn't the return of his health, which threatened for a while last year to retire him from baseball for good, nor the fact that he's the third manager the St. Louis Browns have had within year that satisfies Street. It's that the Browns are rounding into pretty fair ball club.
 When Street, succeeding Jim Bot tomley who replaced Rogers Horns by, signed up last season to pilot the cellar-ridden Browns through 1888, things started popping. The Browns went to market. They didn't have much to start with, and they didn't spend much money. but they did lot of trading with an aim towards strengthening their weak spots.
 "The result is good ball club although not great one," Street says. "It's short on name players, and a little short on experience in spots. But wait until the season starts and watch it go.
 "We'de not going to win any pen- nants. You could hardly expect that of us this year. But we're go- ing to win a lot of games, and we'll have a lot to say about who does win the flag"
 While Street is pleased with all the trades made by the St. Louis management during the winter, he's tickled pink with the Cleveland deal that sent Catcher Rollie Hemsley to the Indians in exchange for Catcher Billy Sullivan, Infielder Roy Hughes and Pitcher Ed Cole.
 We got the best of that one," he chuckles. "Rollie was a good catcher but hard to handle. Sul- livan will be just as good. He's got good head, good eyes and good legs and a great arm, and he'll protect us better at first and third, and knows their problems"
 Street planes the Browns miser- able showing last season not on the pitching staff as most of the Browns critics do, but on an in- field weakness that blew many close ball game. Any pitching looks bad, he says. when a second base-shortstop combination doesn't click.
 To strengthen that combination the Browns obtained Ralph Kress from Minneapolis to replace Billy Knickerbocker at short and got Hughes from Cleveland and Don Heffrer from New York to take care of second base George Me- Quinn was drafted from Newark to cover first base. and Harlond Gift should be as good at third this year as he was last.
 The pitching staff looks better with the addition of Buck New som, obtained from Boston: Jim Weaver, from Pittsburgh: Charles Vito" Tamulis, star of the Newark staff last year, and Ed Linke, ob- talned from Washington. Oral Hildebrand, who Street believes is a much better pitcher than he is repuied to be, should improve this year.
 He also expects help from several young stars brought up from San Antonio, some of them played with the Browns while last year. They are Juklio Bonetti, Harry Kimber- lin, Bill Miller, Howard Mills. Bob Muncrief and Les Tietje. Others on the staff included Ed Cole, se- cured in the Cleveland deal, George HennesSey, Jack Knott, Ewald Pyle, Bill Strickland, Bill Trotter, Rus sell Van Alta and James Walkup
 The outfield is the least of Streets worries, In Beau Bell, Sam my West and Ethan Allen. Gabby figures he has one of the best out CT garden combinations in the league. But Aliens job is far from being safe. He has Buster Mills who the Browns obtained from Bos- ton, and Mel Mazzera, up from the San Antonio farm club. to con- tend with Ed Silber, from Johns- town, Pa. also must be conceded a chance of landing an outfield job. Any man on this ball club has as much chance to play regularly as the other fellow has," Street declared. ITO hold job, the boys are going to have to hustle in every game, just ike it. was the last game of the season and the one on which the pennant will depend. If they don't they won't play ball on my ball club" .5..