The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1941-03-27

can honestly say I've never faced a
season with the keenness feel now"
'Td like to bet somebody" Mac
Phail said, ''that Brooklyn will show
you the finest spirit in either league.
Every man on the club knows we
are all shooting for a pennant, and
that we have a first-class chance to
win"
''What about those Red pitchers?"
! asked MacPhail. Meaning Wal
tiers, Derringer and Thompson, to
mention only few"
They may not be as tough this
season as they were the last two
years." MacPhail said. paul Der
ringer is still a great pitcher, but
he isn't any rookie.
For that matter you are going
to see much better pitching this sea-
son on the Brooklyn side of the
fence. Much better. Higbe alone
will make big difference. 1 think
he'll do better than 20 wins. He
may even reach Is with his share
of the breaks. Hamlin will be more
than useful. So will Wyatt. Out of
the lot Wen get at least four good
starting pitchers, with others who
can help lot.
"And don't forget what I told you
about Reese. He means a lot to
ball club"
Brooklyn is still the peoples
choice" No other club in baseball
has so many far-f1ung hamlets work
ing along Rooters' Row, pulling for
Brooklyn to win.
The answer is that Brooklyn is
basebalTs dafiest baseball town,
with the lone exception of Detroit.
Baseball to Brooklyn is something
more than pleasant way to kill off
summer afternoon. II is a big
part of the soul of the old city,
where the average fanatic begins
practicing quick starts for the bug
house early in March.
And now Brooklyn has Snowman
and ball club that carry an even
deeper appeal than usual. Both Reds
and Cardinals will have to be strong
er than they were last summer to
keep these Dodgers from boiling
over.
Their Main Problem
According to most of the master
minds connected with the Dodgers,
their main problem is center field.
eff we get this spot fixed up in
the right way don't think any club
can beat u.s." one of them told me.
eff we don't, the job win be a lot
tougher. You know how important
center field play is to any champion
ship club. The line of winning
strength runs through the middle
catcher pitcher second base and
center. Both shortstop and second
baseman are concerned with second
base play. / think Wen get this
fixed up. But it is the only spot
now that is giving us any worry"
Larry MacPhail has worked out a
Dodger spring schedule that will
keep his earnest athletes hard at
work until opening day.
"It's not as tough, however, as it
looks" he said. We've split the
work up among two or three teams
to give everyone a chance to show
what he has under fire. No one
will be overworked and / don't be-
lieve there is any chance that Wen
hit the old home yard tired or stale.
This part of our training viii be
closely watched. We have enough
reserve strength this time to send in
relief when it is needed"
SCI honestly believe our ball club
is now about ready to go out and
win. had no such hope last spring,
as ! told you year ago." MacPhail
recalled.
"But this is another year and the
entire spirit of the ball club is diff
ferent. The Reds will still be tough
enough. If the Cardinals get the
pitching they hope to get, they will
be up there punching. But neither
Reds nor Cardinals have a better
all-around outfit than we have
and that takes In the pitching. Any
way, it should be one of the best
races we've had in years."