Evening star., 1940-06-26
The
SpoRTLIGHT
Browns Advance Stamps
'Huney as Fine Pilot
Nv GRANTLAND RICE.

BY GRANTLAND RICE.
NEW YORK, June 26 (N.AN.A).-
One of the rousing features of the
American League pennant tangle is
the advance of the st. Louis Browns
They started we'll, fell back, looked
as though they were through and
then came on again. Within the
past 10 days they have struck two
terrific blows. They checked the up
ward sweep of the Yankees by beat
ing them in both games of double
header and knocked the Red Sox out
of first place by doing the same to
them.
This is the team that figured to
finish seventeen eighth. It's spring
exhibition victories over minor league
clubs were discounted. 1t had no
pitching, no punch and no spirit.
How could it have any spirit? Most
of the players had been with other
and better clubs and their assign
ment to the Browns was only a
sentence to the depths Naturally
they were unhappy. How could they
play ball in that frame of mind?
Everybody forgot about Fred
Haney. This is Haney's second year
as manager of the Browns. He
didn't do much, so far as winning
ball games was concerned, last year
Now, in the matter of victories, the
Browns are nearly six weeks ahead
of their 1889 pace. But he was work
ing quietly trying to put a team to-
gether. He had almost succeeded by
the time the season ended. Almost
but he still didn't have any pitchers.
Hitters Seen Ever Reody
To Help Weak HurIers
He still has no wonder staff, but
every once in a while he gets an
exceptionally well-pitched game
from Niggeling or Bildilli or Trotter
or Harris, and when his pitching
falters he gets some solid hitting
from Radcliff, McQuinn, Laabs,
Hoag, Cliff and Berardino.
Radcliff-always deadly menace
to the Yankees, incidentally-has
been hammering away from the
start, staying among the top five
hitters, leading the league part of
the time
Haney has modest ambition this
year He would like to finish fifth
He may do it at that. He has put
the Athletics and the Nationals very
definitely behind him and is con-
centrating now on the White Sox.
He has no hope of beating out any
of the others. But the top of the
second division would suit him very
nicely
Improvement by the Browns stirs
real interest in ST. Louis which,
through all the vicissitudes of it's
American League representatives,
has remained in sentiment an
American League town. Even when
the Gas House Cardinals, one of the
most colorful teams ever put to-
gether, were at their peak, there was
much less enthusiasm for them in
st. Louis than there was elsewhere.
The same kind of team in Brown
uniforms would have packed Sports
mans Park to the bulging point.
Eighteen years have fled since the
Browns welded a real pennant
threat. That was in 1922, when they
fought the Yankees down to the
last bitter ditch and the town was
in an uproar. Since then they have
been up and down-seldom very far
up, usually very far down. Managers
have come and gone-come in hope
fully and gone out muttering to
themselves.
Players-some of them at any
rate-have looked upon st. Louis as
the last resting place in the major
leagues-the last stop on the way
to the minors.
The club has been hard pressed
for cash since the death of Phil Ball,
last of the old-time magnates who
fought against Ban Johnson during
the Federal League war-and then
fought so hard for him in the last
days of Johnson's command in the
American League.
Ball poured millions of dollars
into the club-it cost him about
100000 a year, he told me once
and thought he was going to win a
pennant at last when he hired
Rogers Hornsby as his manager But
he died shortly thereafter and the
club staggered on its way and
Hornsby passed from the scene.
Night BoseboII Helps
St. Louis Golfers
Night baseball has helped the
Browns financially-so much so that
the club recently obtained permis-
sion to play IA games instead of the
allotted seven this year. The take
from these games should make it
possible for Donald Barnes to be-
come an active bidder for better ball
players and not-as it has been
up to now-have to rely on the
players the wealthier clubs want to
give him in trade.
Meanwhile, fancy is doing a fine
Job. Fred is quiet, smiles lot and
seldom gets into rows with the UNI
pires and his name doesn't get into
the papers as often as the names
of some other managers. But he is
q fighter when it comes to winning
ball games-or trying to win them.
He was doing all right as minor
league manager and didn't take the
st. Louis job in desperation. He
took it believing he could dispel the
atmosphere of defeat that so long
had lain like cloud over the
Browns dugout. He has done that
in his second year in charge. He
may wind up in fifth place, the goal
he has set for himself this year, or
he may fall back, although I don't
think he will go any Lower than
sixth. But 20 matter which way he
goes, up or down, he'll 60 fighting.
Under him, the Browns no longer
take defeats lying down.