The Daily Alaska empire., 1941-04-08
Joost Due For Testinq
 This Season
Reds FuII-time Shortsfop May Make or Break
 Cineinndti's Bid
Ev DILLON GRAHAM
 Sports Editor, AP Feature Service

TAMPA, Fla, April 8.-Eddie Joost, the young infielder who some say ssavedv the 1889 Ma tional League pennant for Cin- cinnati, may make or break the Reds bid for third successive flag.
 Two years ago when the Reds were battling the St. Louis Cardi- nals down the stretch, second baseman Linus Frey was forced out of the lineup. A poor replace ment around the keystone sack might have handicapped the Reds just enough to let the Cardinals slip in ahead.
 But Joost came up off the
 bench to show some sensational
 iielding and timely hitting that
 filled the gap securely.
 This spring Eddie finds himself asked to fill slot regular y throughout the whole season. Man ager Bill McKechnie has broken up the infield quartet that twice car- ried the Reds to victory. Shortstop Billy Myers was traded to the Chi cago Cubs and Joost has been nom mated as the full-time shortfielier.
 Played S8 in 40
 This is Eddie's first chance as a daily player since he came up to the Reds in 1a39 from Kansas City. He played in only 42 games his first season but saw almost as much action last years as Myers, appearing in 88 contests.
 Joost is thin, 5-foot-11, and weighs 162 pounds. Some say he is too frail, can't go the full season. Eddie disagrees: I've got plenty of strength,' he says, and I'll show those fellows that I can play good ball through the hot months" !" Eddie thought he had a regular job when he first came up. He was being used at second, with Myers at short and Frey at third. Then Cincinnati bought Bill Werber from the Athletics. Werber took third, Frey moved to second and Joost got the utility role.
 Sure hell be all right. he's
 better than Myers ever was and
 don't forget he played more
 than half of last season."
 Eddie is pretty fast but his hit- ting is weak. He hit only .216 last season, batted in two dozen runs. He's never hit better than 2S9 m eight years of minor and major league ball. But the Reds aren't losing any power. Myers was never in the 300 class and hit just 2C2 last season.
 Mattick Also Used
 In the spring exhibition games McKechnie is also using Bob Mat tick, who came from the Cubs in the Myers deal, at shortstop. Some of the rockies have worked there, too. It seems that McKechnie has almost decided to go with Joost, but isn't sure. Mattick played in 128 games for the Cubs last year and some regard him as better than JOost.
 One rival manager, who
 doubts JOost's ability to go the
 distance and isn't so high on
 Mattick figures that McKcchnie
 plans a trade for new short
 stop.
 The rest of the Reds infield is carry-over and stacks up with the best in the league--hard-h hit ting Frank Mccormick at first, Frey at second and Werber at third. The only other change in the ReGs lineup may come in the outfield. Mike Mccormick is a cer- tainty and Ival Goodman likely will start in right But left field still is open. There's fast-fielding, poor hitting Harry Craft; Jim Ripple, a stretch player who starred last season, and Jim Gleason, who came from the Cubs and hit .316.
 It's a stronger ball club than the Reds won with last year. And it's going to be hard to keep them from another flag.