Evening star., 1942-10-03
Critics See Edge
For St. Louis in
Mccarthy Makes Rore
Change in Lineup to
Combat Southpows
BY FRANCIS E. STAN,
Star Staff Correspondent,

NEW YORK, Oct. 3.-As the cur
tin rose for the second act Of the
World Series, the playgoers still
were without any inkling as to the
outcome Of the lively plot. But two
questions were being asked as often
as any and they were these:
How will the young Cardinals,
many of whom never have seen
Yankee Stadium, react to the tower
ing house that Ruth-built, with its
triple le-decker stands and tricky fall
shadows?
How will the Yankees react when
they face first-class southpaw
pitching-if not from Ernie White,
then from Max Lanier and, possibly,
Howard Pollett?
Where Few Clubs Look Good.
Very few ball clubs, including the
American League teams which play
regularly in Yankee Stadium, look
their best in the big park. To vast
majority Of the Cards, the new
theater Of operations will be utterly
new, something about which they
heard, or perhaps saw in the news
reels.
Most critics are inclined to think
that the Yankees, who are almost
as familiar with the St. Louis park
as the Cards (they play the Browns
IL games season on the same
fleld), hold big edge. This could
be so, but 1t will remain for the next
three games to tell.
AS for the Yankees reactions to
the left-handed pitching, time also
Will tell. According to Manager
Billy Southworth, the fast-ballinp
White was to oppose the champs
today, and Southworth indicated
that Lanier will go tomorrow.
Both Clubs Are Confident.
The Yanks and the Cards, who
Travelled on the same train from st.
Louis (although separated by sew
eral cars, arrived here too late YES
terday to hold workout. 1t was
dusk when their train pulled into
the station and by the time they
checked into their hotels and apart
ments the New York dim-out was
in effect.
But both sides were confident and
the baseball historians, digging back
IN the records, discovered a parallel.
In the hectic 1926 series. in which
the Cards defeated the Yanks in a
seven-game set, New York won the
flrst game. st. Louis the second. and
neither club appeared awed or at
a disadvantage in the rival city.
Indeed, the Cards lost two out of
the three games played in st. Louis
but, after bowing in the opener at
Yankee Stadium, they bounced back
and took three straight in the big
house.
Old Yanks Had Pennock, Ruether.
What happened 16 years ago and
what will happen now is something
else. The Cards of 1926 were a
bunch that had never won a pen
nant before, either, but on the
whole they were older and more ma
tured than Billy the Kid South
worth's youngsters"
There are some similarities be-
tween the 26 and the AZ Cards.
but there also are some points of
difference. Going back to the 1926
series, the Yankees had the balance
OF left-handed pitching power. They
mad Herb Pennock, one of the
greatest, and another guy who was
better than green hand, Dutch
Ruether. The Cards lone southpaw
ace, Willie Sherdel, lost two heart
breakers both times he pitched.
Now the better left-handed pitch
ing seems to belong to the Cards
because neither Lefty Gomez nor
Marlus Ugo Russo has done much
to justify a World Series start.
mccarthy Changes Batting Order.
Normally a manager who makes
few changes, Joe Mccarthy of the
Yankees announced his intentions
OF shaking up his batting order to
meet the Cards portsiders. Joe
Gordon, right-handed hitting sec
ond baseman, was to move to the
No. 5 spot, exchanging positions with
King Kong Keller, who was to have
dropped down notch to No. 6. This
is logical but it remains unusual:
Mccarthy usually doesn't f1atter an
enemy.
If there is a final parallel to date
between the '26 and AZ series it
is the way Enos Country Slaugh-
ter, the rightfielder who soon will
join the Army Air Forces, Is be-
having. True, Slaughter was a gilt
horned goat in the opener when he
dropped a hard line drive that ret
IN two runs. But the next game he
became hero with his hitting, field
ing and throwing.
That's the way it was in 1926, too,
when Slaughters present boss,
Southworth, played right field. Billy
the Kid wound up with .345 aver
age for the series. 1t was his three
run homer in the second game that
evened the series, and from then on
the Cards went to victory, but that
was 16 years ago.