Evening star., 1939-03-21
Wild Horses Cont Droq
Open Settlement From Bill

Take, for instance, Mr.. Charley
Dresser, formerly manager of the
Reds, now coach with the Brook
lyn Dodgers and constituting fully
one-seventh of the Dodgers cele-
brated brain trust.
"Cincinnati?" says Charley
"Who's gonna beat 'em? They have
the pitching and the power and the
speed. I'm not even sure it'll be
close"
To which sort of hallelujah shout.
ing Manager McKechnie replies
with a mild "tsk, tsk!"
When William took the tiller of
the club last year, the Reds were in
the cellar. Your correspondent
thought Qargely because of his ad-
miration for Mr.. McKechnie) that
they would move up to fourth or
fifth place, but the old wizard mixed
the idea and said he would promise
nothing better than one step for
ward, namely, into seventh place.
Well, the Reds finished fourth, as
Bill undoubtedly believed in his
heart that they would. 1 think he
plans to finish first this year, as he
did with the Pirates of 1925 and the
Cardinals of 1923. But wild horses
could not drag an open statement to
this effect from Mr.. McKechnie,
and, even if they could, how are you
going to hitch up team of wild
horses (at $6 an hour apiece to a
man who won't stand still long
enough to let a street car hit him?
mo kidding" says William, pol
fishing his spectacles and assuming
sanity look, Ito win a pennant in
this league, a club needs every sort
of break. There wasn't much to
choose last year between the Cubs
and Pittsburgh and the Giants, and,
for that matter, our club. The win
ner was the team that came to the
stretch in the best condition-Lee
and Bryant strong and ready to
work out of turn, and Dizzy Dean
In shape to pitch the game that
broke the Pirates backbone.
Reds Might Go Places
If Grissom Is Tied
"Hartnett had all his boys ready
to go at that particular time. The
rest Of us didn't. And I'm not lying
to you when say that it could just
as well have been a five-club race
as two-club race, right to the end
THAT seems to speak well for
our chances this year, If we were
good enough to win last year, which
we were. But don't forget-the
breaks mean everything. And we're
no more likely to get 'em than the
Giants or the Pirates Maybe, God
forbid, Grissom will try to steal sew
ond base again"
1t was Lefty Lee Grissom's daring
theft of second base last season
which caught every one mapping but
the rival team, that hashed what
chance the Reds had of winning the
pennant. Grissom's leg collapsed
and so did the Red boom.
From now on" says McKechnie
eff the big fella gets on base. I'm
gonna tie him there. Larceny is
not for him."
There will be six teams in the
pennant race this year, according
to the Deacon.
Brooklyn looks better to me this
year, better hitting and better pitch
ing" according to McKechnie. THE
Cardinals have real power and
speed. It's anybody's pennant, boy
and while We'll chase it just as
hard as any of 'em, don't say We'll
run faster than the rest"
One thing for Bills peace of mind
he doesn't have to worry nowadays
about the eternal ingratitude
sharper than a serpents tooth, OF
major league baseball owners. He
won Pittsburgh its first pennant in
16 years and was fired the following
season. He won for St. Louis and
got the bounce less than a year
later.
In Cincinnati, Bill has his own
contract, at his own terms, for three
years. Which is no more than the
just portion of a manager second
to none in wisdom, resource, pa
tience and courage.