Evening star., 1942-03-24
litt|e.Hera|ded
S|abman Rated
As Top Rookie
Former SoIIy Looper
FoiIs Major Botters;
Error Helps Browns
BY BURTON HAWKINS,
Star staff Corresnondent.

Os YIN 1IA w AAI$0S
Star staff Correspondent.
DELAND, Fla, March 24.-One
of the more pleasant surprises in
the Mats training camp is the pitch
ing of burly Phil Mccullough, q
huge right-hander who is taking the
tremendous leap from the Sally
League to the big time In impress
sive fashion. Little was expected
of the checked, 2l0-pounder,
but he has been supplying the Mats
with some of their more expert
hurting in exhibition engagements.
Phil was reluctant to leave a
steady job in Atlanta to report here
several weeks ago, but his reluc-
tance waned when Mr.. Ford's sup
ply of right front tenders neared
the point Of exhaustion. McCul-
Tough now Is convinced he made the
correct decision and so is Manager
Bucky Harris.
Mccullough is purchasing a home
in Atlanta and his $1.25-an-hour
job on a Ford assembly line ap-
peared attractive. He was putting
lis right front tenders in position
each day in a c. I. o. job that also
required him to place the right
front headlight wires In their proper
hooks.
II didn't want to give 1t up," con-
fesses Phil, but baseball is in my
blood, guess, so decided to give
1t another whirl. I was discouraged
last season because I didn't seem to
be getting anywhere and I wasn't
making any money. but things are
looking up now.
II won II games and lost Is with
Greenville, S. c., last year and I
honestly felt I could have done
better except for the bunch Of
fellows with that club. Most Of
them were interested in nothing
more than a good time and we lost
a lot OF games we should have won.
The club wasn't in condition. 1t was
tough, because I keep myself In
good shape-dont drink or smoke
and I'm married and want to get
somewhere"
Flashy Against Browns.
Virtue is triumphing, or some
thing, here in the Citrus Circuit,
for the 6-foot 4-inch, 23-year-old
McC cCuflough is as hot as a blast
furnace. He has pitched nine In
nings against an assortment OF
major league teams that includes
Cleveland, Brooklyn, the New York
Giants and St. Louis Browns and
he's permitted three hits, walked
only three and struck out six.
He was the bright spot In Wash
ington's 81 defeat by the Browns
yesterday at Orlando, for McCul-
Tough labored four innings and
yielded no hits. He walked two
and succeeded in embarrassing the
Browns, who belted only one ball
past the infield.
Barring complete reversal Of form,
Mccullough will stick. He has been
graduated to the top Of the rookie
pitching corps, which also has cul-
tivated outstanding candidates in
towering Hardin Cathey and slim,
nonchalant Bill Kennedy. Bill
Zinser and Ray Scarborough are less
likely to survive pruning, although
Harris may expose Zinser to further
| tests.
McCullough, though, looms ls
prize package chiefly because OF
the element of complete surprise.
He was labeled lazy and unenthu-
siastic, but he's been toiling like q
ditch digger and his fast ball is
stirring up small cyclones. Fasci-
mating Harris, too, is Phil's control,
for which he was noted with Green
vile.
Mccullough was the "toss-in" on
a deal that brought Zinser into
WaShington's small farm system.
Scout Joe Cambria requested Phil
be included when he bought Zinser
two years ago and zinser now is
overshadowed as the object Of Cam
bria's affections.
Mats Held to Five Hits.
1t was on an athletic scholarship
that Mccullough went to Oglethorpe
University. He had attracted modest
attention at Stockbridge (Ga) High
School and lacked only few credits
of obtaining a physical education
degree at Oglethorpe, where he also
performed at end on the football
team.
He was staked a chance to serve
as physical education instructor at
the Atlanta Y. M. c. A., SO he quit
Oglethorpe in his senior year, ar
ranging to complete his course by
mail. Somehow, he never got
around to getting that degree, drift
ing into baseball and devoting his
do-re-mi toward paying for a house.
He's suffered through several sea-
sons of minor league bus rides and
blue plate dinners apparently with
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