The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-11-12
M'PHAIL ROLL BEATS GIANTS
 IN HIGBE BID
Brooklyn Club In Best PO- sitiOn Since 1920
 StOneham Is Short?
BY JOE WILLIAMS

New York, Nov. 12 - "The way to make money is to spend money" That's Larry MacPhail's formula for running successful baseball club, in this instance the Brooklyn Dodgers.
 MT. MacPhail has started the win- ter buying and selling period of in his typical ornate manner; he has purchased Kirby Higbe, fine young pitcher, from the Philadelphia Phillies for
 But why bother about going into the cash details of a MacPhalian transaction? It's always "in excess of $l00,000," and quite often 1t is at that.
 MacPhail is probably the biggest spender in baseball today and his books show that in the main he has spent wisely. Conditions in Brook lyn, both as to finances and as to team possibilities, haven't been bet ter in twenty years.
 The addition of Higbe to the staff may be just what is needed to win the 1941 championship. If 1t isn't the flrecracker of Flatbush can be counted on to make more additions; his motto is to spend and spend and win and win.
 When McPhail makes up his mind he wants a player he doesn't quit easily. He was two years making the deal for Ducky Medwick, who came to the Brooklyns for the most money ever paid for a National League player" The quotes are the private, personal property of Mac Phail.
 Medwick was slow starting across the bridge and he never was ex- actly a ball of fire but he certainly didn't hurt the club. He's still the kind of player you'd rather have on your side than against you.
 MacPhail is an interesting mix ture of brilliance and eccentricity. By no reasoning is he dim wit. He knows little more about psychol- ogy and mass reaction than his rivals in the old league. A purchase like Medwick and now Higbe has a tonic effect on the customers, par ticularly the Brooklyn species. Their loyalty is fired by generous, ag- gressive front office policy. Even when the Dodgers lose the custom CTS will say, well, you can't blame MacPhail. He's bringing in all the players he can get" Which happens to be true.
 Passed The Giants
 It also explains why the Dodgers under MacPhail have gone out in front of their traditional rivals, the Giants. MacPhail doesn't have to worry about the Yankees; the Giants are his opposition. From the start he set his sails to pass them in team skill and customer appre- citation. Today it's no contest. After the Fordham-Purdue game Satur- day Horace Stoneham was pouring tea for the writers in his office at the Polo Grounds. I'm confident we will wind up with Higbe," he told the scribes.
 We have TO doubt the Giants president was sincere in his state- ment but this deal was in the bag for MacPhail from the start. He laid the groundwork at the World Series and all that ever had to be done about its completion was the from ing out of few details, such as who'd be thrown in.
 There was time when the Giants under John McGraw-would go out and spend fancy dough for tal- ent. The Giants don't do that any more. There can be only two pos- sible explanations; CD They have turned conservative or @ They lack funds.
 We suspect the latter because young Stoneham is as quick with dollar himself as any man we have ever known. The only reason the PhillieS sell their Salable players is to get dough. Naturally they are go- ing to deal with the highest bidder. All the Giants had to do, then, was to top the Brooklyn bid. That they didn't suggest the treasury isn't overflowing
 Y' The Giants have been losing cus- toner response for the last two years. Even the old faithfuls have ; been staying away in Roosevelt pluarlities. This situation is liable to get worse before it gets better. The psychological effect on the Giants ' followers on the newest Brooklyn ] deal is certain to be unhealthy. ] They are bound to ask: If the : Dodgers could get him, why couldn't the Giants?" Ard that's not go- ing to be an easy one to answer.
 Not So Hot We have refrained from criticiziug ] Bill Terry, the Giants manager, for some several years. We realized we had gone too far and that some of our remarks had the definite tone of prejudice. But down deep we all ways felt ne was something less than a genius once you took him out of the dugout and away from the routine oi calling the plays.
 What we say about him now can be checked by the records. He in- sisted he be named head of the Giants farm system. with additional pay. The farm system. after five years trial, has been a disastrous flop. with Babe Young its only graduate. In contrast. study the