Evening star., 1941-09-24
Bv GAYLE TALBOT.
Associated Press Snnrrs Writer

the fact that Dolf Camilli, generally
considered the most valuable player
in the National League, holds down
first base for Brooklyn, the Yankees
will go into the approaching World
Series with better infield than
either Of their prospective rivals.
That might sound a trifie dog
matte, but If an article Of this sort
is going to be OF any real service to
fan who still finds himself fuzzy
on the subject this late In the sea-
son, 1t needs to be fortnight. Any
failure to meet the issue sQuarely
only would tend to confuse said fan
further.
The three inf1elds still concerned
with the classic, therefore, may be
rated in this order: % The Yankees,
% the Brooklyn Dodgers and 80
the ST Louis Cardinals. Neither
Brooklyn nor St. Louis supporters
likely will agree whole-heartedly
" I'LL ILLS dlIlls, Oul C'Cll Jl1Cy lil1Sl1b
be sWayed if they had seen the
Yankee inf1eld in action regularly
this year
Gordon Wizard at Second.
There Is an infield! 1t has a
rookie, Phil Rizzuto, at shortstop,
and there is another freshman.
Johnny Sturm. on first 1t has a
veteran with a collapsible stomach,
Red Rolfe, on third-when he isn't
in the hospital. And it has Joe Cor
don. perhaps the most brilliant de-
fensive second baseman the game
has seen, to pull this queer aggrega-
ton together and make 1t something
almost sublime.
1t would be difficult to eXaggerate
Gordon's fielding wiZardry or his i'm
portance to the American League
champions. Old-timers who have
seen them all in the so-called mod
ern era say he makes stops and
throws that they only family imag-
ined before, and that he never has
had an equal as a pivot man on dou-
BILE plays. The fact that the Yankees
virtually are cinch to break the
major league record for double plays
would seem to bear them out.
Brooklyn has a fine, steady sec
ond-sacker in Billy Herman, who
has the added advantage of having
played in three previous World
Series, and the Cardinals possess one
of the years outstanding rockies in
their keystoner, Frank Crespi But
neither, frankly. is quite in Gordon S
class. either as player or as an in
spirational force.
In other words. when players OF
rival clubs talk about the Yankees
they almost invariably start in on
Gordon and cusS him admiringly for
the hits he has stolen from them
They say 1t is little short Of murder
Only later, after they have ex-
hausted the subject of Gordon. dc
they get around to Joe Di Maggie.
Yanks Stingy With Runs.
ANY time you score a run on
those Yankees it's gilt-edge." re-
Gently commented Billy Sullivan OF
Detroit. Those guys never give you
a thing"
Because of this impregnable de-
fense, the Yanks' inner works must
be rated tops in the series. even
though it has no slugger in the class
with Camilli. with his "a home runs
and 118 runs knocked in, or q
third baseman quite as good as
Jimmy Brown of the Cardinals
Camilli can come up only every SC
often with his dangerous bat
whereas the Yankee defense will be
operating through every inning of
the series, choking off rallies and
making very few mistakes.
They are better than fair at dis
/ tance hitting. too. The Yank quar-
tet up to today had biffed 36 home
runs. only four fewer than Brook
lyn's infielders. Gordon himself
had % and Rolfe 8. Home runs
have played an extravagantly i'm
portant part in deciding recent
| World Series.
If Brooklyn gets into the series. as
now appears likely, its weakest point
threatens to be at shortstop. Pee
Wee Reese is a fine boy, game little
fighter and fast as a streak. But
he has made entirely too many
errors in recent crucial games, and
it wouldn't be surprising to see
Manager Leo Durocher take the job
over from Pee Wee before the series
ends.
Rizzuto Makes Good.
Rizzuto has fulfilled every expec-
tation of the Yankees, both afield
and at bat. After being benched
early in the season, he came back
to powder the ball at better than a
300 clip in the closing months of
the race and to team sensationally
with Gordon.
If Rolfe's stomach should keep
him out of the series the Yanks
infield superiority would be some
what reduced, though Gerald Priddy
the rookie from Kansas City, hasn't
looked at all bad at the hot corner
Brooklyn's Cookie Lavagetto would
have it over him by a considerable
margin, and Brown of st. Louis by
an even wider one.
Here are the figures, including
Sundays games, ON the respective
infields.
! First Base.
| Bat
PLAYER. Club. G. ABB r H RBI. avg
| Sturm. Yankees 120 500 So 124 81 -
| Camilli. Dodgers LA SIS SO l49 Is .2S!
! Mize. Cardinals 126 473 IS $50 100 3l1
| Second Base.
| Gordon. Yankees $50 56S lQ2 159 81 .21e
] Herman. Dodgers 139 556 80 16I 40 go
/ Crespi Cardinals 140 $50 SO 153 45 2S1
| Shortstop.