Evening star., 1942-04-12
Baseball

South with rookie John Pesky at
shortstop filling out a fine infield
and Ted Williams leading danger
Gus hitting outfield combine. How
ever, Pesky Is class IA and Catcher
Frank Pytlak already is headed for
the Navy. The pitching seems bet
ter than at this time last year.
Chicago-Fne pitching is the
hallmark of the White Sox and
should be good enough for third
place, the same as last year, and
might squeeze them into second.
Wally Moses will be a new face in
the outfield and may help Chicago's
puny attack.
Cleveland-Lou Boudreau, "a
year-old shortstop-manager, has in
stilled a new spirit in the Indians
and Is shooting for the first division.
Whether the Tribe makes it de-
pends on how pitchers like Jim
Bagby, old Mel Harder, AL Milnar
and others make out trying to take
up the slack of Bob Feller's enlist
ment in the Navy, and on rockies
Les Fleming at first and Oris Hook
EFT In rightfield.
st. Louis-The Browns have been
tagged hard by the draft and are
In tight financial position that
may force them to sell talent as
they have done IN the past, But
Manager Luke Sewell has a good
balance OF pitching and hitting and
his club will be troublesome. Rookie
vernon Stephens at short, replacing
John Berardino, who has entered
the service, still is a question mark.
Detroit The Tigers have been
1alternig ever since Hank Green
berg was drafted last season and
now are in the process of wide
spread reorganization. There will
be new faces at second base, short
stop and In two outfleld positions
this year. Buck Newsom, who
pitched them to a pennant two
years ago. has been sold to WASH
ington. The club is riding a Sec
ond-division ticket.
Mats Still Need Aid at Third.
Washington - Cecil Travis. the
second leading hitter in the Amer
lcan League last year. and Buddy
Lewis are among a dozen contri-
buttons the Nationals have sent
to the war. Newcomers will be at
second, short, third and in two
outfield berths. The pitching is ade-
quate and the club is angling for
a third baseman. If he is OBJ
tanned the Mats would be in the
midst Of the middle-class scrap
pers. but they are slated for seventh
now.
Philadelphia-Old Connie Mack,
who seems to have been building
and rebuilding all his life, still is
at 1t. Same Chapman, Benny Mccoy.
Al Brancato, Rankin johnson and
others have gone into the service,
leaving vast holes in the AS, who
finished last even with these fel-
lows last year. Their doom is OBJ
vious.
National League.
Brooklyn-The Dodgers are a well
balanced collection of veterans with
Arky Vaughan, Augie Galan, John
Rizzo. Larry French and Billy Sui
ivan-all old and time-tested-
added to the cast which copped the
1941 pennant. Vaughan, transferred
to third from shortstop, where he
starred for 10 years with the Pirates,
has added to the lustre of the team
immeasurably. However, Pete Rel
ser. last years National League bat
ting champion and the rookie SEN
sation of the season, has been re-
classified from ga to la and there
is some doubt whether the pitching
will be as effective as 1t was a year
ago.
Cards Lack Only Experience.
ST. Louis-The Cardinals are
mostly young and all fast. Their
pitching Is as good or better than
any other big league club and they
can hit, even though they will miss
the authority John Mize used to
carry to the plate. Rookie Stan
Musial will be in leftfield and an
other recruit, Ray Sanders, is likely
to open at first base. The kids will
be up there around the TOP all
season and have the equipment to
win, although lacking the expert
ence and power of the Dodgers.
Cincinnati-The stock in trade of
the Reds still is pitching and they
have plenty. They recently bought
Gerald Walker to take care of left
field and Ival Goodman looks a new
man in right. In addition, Rollie
Hemsley figures to improve their
catching But no one knows whether
Frank Mccormick is out of the bat
ting slump that wrecked his 1941
season and Rookie Bert Haas, re-
placing Bill Werber at third, must
yet prove himself.
Pittsburgh - Manager Frank
Frisch still is experimenting. Pete
Coscarart, a weak-hitting second
baseman for the Dodgers, will be at
short. Jim Wasdell, a reserve for
Brooklyn. will open in right. And
Outf1elder Bob Elliott will be at
third. Anything can happen to the
Pirates-and usually does.
Cubs Are Jigsaw Puzzle.
Chicago-The Cubs shape up
about the same as they finished last
year, which was better than they
started. They have fair pitching,
real punch in Bill Nicholson and
Babe Dahlgren, and the best third
baseman in baseball in Stan Hack.
But they are a jigsaw with several
pieces missing.
New York-The Giants have done
an extensive reconstruction Job
under the guidance of a new man
ager, Mel OFT. Since last year they
have acquired Mize, Werber, Connie
Ryan, Hank Leiber, Willard Mar
shall, Babe Barna, Tom Sunkel and
others. Their pitching is made
quate and there is some question
whether the veterans still can hit.
If they can, the Giants have enough
power to make a battle for first
division.
BoStOn-The Braves have sent
Bill Posedel and Carvell Rowell to
the service and have added Catcher
Ernie lombard and a rookie out