The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
|RUFFING, DICKEY
 KEYS TO YANKEE
 SUCCESS IN 40
Star Battery Needs to Function This Year to
 Hold Off Red SOx
BY GEORGE KIRsKEY


 United Press Staff Correspondent
 St. Petersburg, Fla, April S-(UP) The New York Yankees are head. ing north with another flawlesS out fit ready and eager to smash all records by winning their fifth con- secutive American League pennant. Manager Joe Mccarthy is Su- premely confident that he can keep his hirelings hustling and on their toes through another rough cam paign and leave the other seven clubs battling for second place.
 The Yankee players themselves are contemptuous of their opposition.
 Trouble Brewing?
 But underneath the surface trou- ble may be brewing. No Yankee reg ular need be afraid of the boss call- ing him on the carpet and threaten ing to ship him down the river. The American Leagues no-trade rule for champion tends to give all Tanks that satisfied feeling that breeds disaster.
 The Tanks have practically the same ball club that won the pen- nant by 17 games last year and then knocked down the Reds four straight in the World Series. Only three new players, at most are like ly to make the Tanks, and all of them are pitchers.
 If trouble develops this season, it's likely to start with the pitching staff. It's not exactly fool proof. Charlie Ruffing, now 36, has to hit the 21-game mark again to make the Yankee staff sturdy. If Ruffing does- mt go, the Tanks may have to do some first-class worrying for 8 pitching ace.
 Preparing for pitching headaches. Mccarthy plans to carry 12 mounds men. Behind Ruffing he'll have At ley Donald, Steve Sundra, Monte Pearson, Lefty Gomez, Bump Had ley, Rusty Russo, Spud Chandler, and relief man Johnny Murphy. Oral Hildebrand, from last years staff, hasn't shown anything this spring and may go.
 Refs Looks Good
 The two best rockies are Marvin Bruer and Tommy Refs, a pair of right-handerS from Kansas City. Lefty Lee Grissom is trying to sneak into a berth but he doesn't appear to be the Yankee type.
 Bruer, who pitched IS innings in four games in the grapefruit league and allowed only three runs and IA hits, looks like he'll geet plenty of work. Rusty Russo, the Italian left handler who was called in from New ark in mid-season a year ago to win 8 and lose 3, is definitely ticketed for stardom. No other pitchers on the Yankee staff look like they are going to do any more than they did last year, and some of them aren't likely to do as good.
 Pitching will play major role ir whether the Tanks become the first club in history to win five straight pennants. There's nothing the mat ter with the club defensively but the old power isn't there. Some of those Yankee pitchers like Donald and Sundra, who ran off winning streaks of 12 and Il games respectively, last season, need plenty of runs to win.
 Babe Dahlgren, hitting .235, and Frank Crosetti, batting .233, take some of the teeth out of the Yankee attack. But there's nothing wrong with these men afie1d. They save plenty of ball games, especially Crosetti who seldom fails to make that vital double play in the clutch Joe Gordon at second and Red Rolfe at third round out the best defen- sive infield in baseball.
 Keller To Repeat?
 Charlie Keller, Joe DiMaggio who'll try to repeat as American league batting champion, and Geo. rge Selkirk will give the Tanks what some consider the games clas- siest outfield. Tommy Heinrich and Jake Powell are nifty outfield reser- yes while in the infield Billy Knick- erbocker is the handy-man.
 Another key man in the Yankee club is catcher Bill Dickey. Bill will be B in June and he's caught over 100 games for Il straight years. How long can Dickey keep it up? If you want to throw a scare into the Yan- kee board of strategy just hint that Dickey may slip this season. Behind Dickey the drop is terrific to Buddy RoSar and Arndt JorgenS.
 Another angle which may or may not affect the Yankees on the field is the recurrent rumor that the clut may be sold. Ball players generally don't care for whom they play but in the case of the Yankees the three women who inherited the clut from the late Col. Jacob Ruppert are suggesting that they are cage, to find a buyer and unload their holdings at the peak price. Hereto fore, the Tanks were the tops from the front office down to the lowliest utility man. On ball club, obvious ly for sale, the superb organizat tior of other years may not function