The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-03-20
HARTNETT BITTER BUT HOPES FOR
 ANOTHER BREAK
Gabby, With Giants Passed Up Red SOx and More
 Money
By JOE WILLIAMS

or Charles Leo Hartnett, otherwise known as Gabby. He can't miss helping a ball club that apparently can stand at the help 1t can get.
 As everybody knows, Hartnett is @ catcher Clark Griffith calls him the greatest catcher he ever saw, and MT. Griffith goes back at least four centuries in baseball. Up to this spring, Hartnett had spent all his time with the Chicago Cubs He f1nally'wound up managing them
 You probably are familiar with much of the story. He replaced Charley Grimm in mid-season in 1888 and personally won the cham pionship that year for the Cubs. He hit home run against Pittsburgh in the ninth inning with the count three and two to win the pay-ofi game. This was hit was heard round the baseball world. It liter ally and dramatically decided a pennant race.
 Got The Air
 Last year Hartnett was deposed as the Cuhs' manager. whether he was a good or bad manager is open to speculation. More than one team has won q pernant In spite of its manager. But In this case one should not be nasty in returning a verdict against Hartnett. The front office policy of the Cubs Is notorious for It's eccentricity and unpredictability It seems to be more than idle rumor that the manager out there rever knows exactly where he stands. All he knows Is where he falls.
 The fact that such a situation exists undoubtedly explains one of the strangest transformations in temperament and disposition sports has every known. As a player Hart. nett was the sunshine boy of the big leagues. He was gay, ebullient, Ltlsty and completely human. As a manager he became the vinegar puss contrast of all these amiable qualities. The smile on his kisser froze into a formidable frown. The great Gabby became the great Crabby.
 We bumped into him the other night and were delightfully."- surpris- ed for the moment, anyhow. The old beaming smile was back where 1t used to be. There was rowdy laughter in his voice. There was the gripping warmth of friendship in his handclasp. We said to him "jeepers, it's good to see you looking yourself again." Then we made the mistake, as we so often do of try ing to run the other fellows busi- ness. We said: "You weren't made to carray responsibilities. You should never have been a manager"
 It was tactleSs remark. Hart nett didn't say much in response nothing in fact, that gave you clew to the wounds he still carries, But his attitude, his expression and what he did say, which at no time involved personalities, convinced us he took a kicking around. By now We were able to understand what had happened to him, why he had changed 50 sharply, why the sheer had replaced the smile. He had become disillusioned and embitter- ed. For years he had lived in a world made up entirely of gay, generous souls; overnight he found himself In a different world made up of sharp tongues, envious, and In many instances, in competent critics. Hartnett had never played the game that way and he couldn't bring himself to believe that any body would ever play 1t that way. Something snapped in him and he became @ different person.
 Goes "All Out"
 Outwardly these days he's the Old Gabby but the wounds haven't healed ard probably never will. He's making a brave front in his very secondary position as player-coach of the Giants. And at that, you can be sure he's going to give the as- signment everything he's got. That's the only way he knows. It's been several years since we saw him look trimmer. Nobody seems to know what MT. Bill Terry, the Giants manager, is going u do with or without Harry Danning, the head catcher who for some fantastic reason, has been sent to the out field. This much Is sure: If Dam ming doesn't catch Hartnett will do e lot of catching. He doesn't mind: in fact, he seems enthusiastic about the prospects. He has already made one valuable contribution to the Giants. He has taken hold of Cliff Melton, & potentially greet pitcher, snd made him believe in himself. You'd be surprised how childish and sophomoric some fthese so- called big leaguers are. Hartnett, of course, wouldn't. He's lived with them all his life. Melton needed someone to drive him, to pamper him, to teach him the advanced techr ique in pitching. Hartnett was just what the doctor ordered. The Giants aren't so bad they can't go places, especially with the uncer- tainity of the draft, which in the end is liable to throw both big league races wide open. But If they are to go places Melton must be the big surprise. Hartnett thinks Melton will win from eighteen to twenty games. If that happens MT. Terry may well have arother junior size miracle to tell his white face cattle about down in Memphis.
 Manager?
 The whole Giants picture is SO scrambled it's hard to tell heads or tails about it. Hartnett figures in it. We happen to know he could have gone to the Boston Red Sox for more money. Why did he decide several over-a-hundred strings that were responsible for her team win.