Evening star., 1940-03-19
Old Loop Keyed
To High Pitch
By Red Pilot
Manager Is Regarded
As Directing Genius
By Team Member
BY GAYLE TALBOT,
Associated Press Sports Writer,

TAMPA, Fla, March 19.-One Of
the players in Sundays fine all-star
game tells me that Manager Bill
McKechnie probably deserves more
credit than any one else for the
fighting brand of baseball put up by
the National Leaguers and for their
eventual exciting victory.
This player, who thinks it would
be a smart idea to remain anony-
nous, says McKechnie practically
won the contest by the smart, un-
derstanding way he handled his
aggregation of stars in the dressing
room before the start. The National
Leaguers, low in spirits, were turned
into new men by McKechnie, anx-
lous to whip their weight in wild
cats.
Bill first thanked the boys sin
cerely for coming here to play in
the game, and before they could
recover from their surprise con-
tinued:
Now I'm not going to try to
tell you how to beat that bunch.
You're fine ballplayers or you
wouldn't be here. I'm not going
to tell you pitchers how to pitch
to Dickey or Di Maggie. On GER
tain key pitches you can look over
to me, but otherwise you're pitch
ing your own game. You know how
to do it. That's all-iets go,"
Made His Club Confident.
This player, who happens to have
had an important part in the VIC
tory. says you would have been sur
prlsed to hear and feel the spirit
on the Nationals bench after that
talk. He says he never in his life
played with club that was hustling
harder or was more determined to
win. This spirit, incidentally. was
noted with some astonishment from
the stands, and We wondered who
had lit fire under the lads.
1T was McKechnie," says the
player. Bills smart Before last
summers All-Star game in New York
Gabby Hartnett and Bill Terry spent
so much time warning us what not
to pitch to those guys that we START
ed the game feeling like We might
get our heads knocked loose.
Watch the difference in the ALL
Star game this summer. McKechnie
will be managing us again, and
We'll win for him"
Possibly our informant is a trif1e
enthusiastic both about McKechnie
and about the National Leagues
chances of making habit of VIC
tory, but Sundays result undoubt-
edly was boon to baseball gener-
ally. The National Leaguers. from
President Ford Frick down to the
clubhouse boys, have song in their
hearts today
Senior Loop Leaders GIOat.
Where for some days prior to the
game Frick and his associates were
furtlve creatures, darting across
hotel lobbies at the sight of would
be lnterviewers and neither eating
nor sleeping we'll, they now are al
most garrulous. Frick chided me
happily five times in one evening
for having picked the Americans to
win, while Bill Brandt, publicity
director for the National League
nrm, said he couldn't wait to get
back to his trusty typewriter in New
York.
There's only one little thing that
makes me uneasy for the National
Leaguers. This victory was won in
the spring, with the pitchers far
ahead of the batters in their train
ing, and on field so tremendous
the outflelders could pull down any
thing that didn't get caught in
cloud.
Up in July, now, I wonder if
young Kirby Higbe will be able to
make Jimmy Foxx nearly crack his
back stabbing at outside curves, or
If Luke Hamlin will recall his recipe
for sitting three fast strikes past
Joe Di Maggie. It's something to
| worry about.