Evening star., 1942-01-25
Big Leagues Have Few
Bachelors Subject
To Service Call
More Than go Per Cent
Of HurIers Exempted
By Current Ruling
BY GAYLE TALBOT,
Wide World Sports Writer.

NEW YORK, Jan. 24.-Blg league
baseball, now that it has been given
the go-ahead by President Roose-
welt, should sail almost normally
through the coming year, at least
largely because ballplayers as q
class are about the marryingest
young men there are.
For the time being, until Uncle
Sam starts digging much deeper
into his bag, the draft is going to
touch the bulk of diamond stars
very lightly. 1t will not be until
the Army begins taking married
men in a big way that the game
will feel a serious crimp and the
calbGr of play will deteriorate
mari. IDLY.
ave just looked up the marital
sta. S of 100 big league players.
men who were regulars last year.
Thu were chosen at random. Only
20 Of them were unmarried a year
ago and some of those doubtless
have taken the plunge since then.
Five of the 20 have joined the
service since the World Series.
That leaves, at the outside, only
Is Of the original 100 who face
possible conscription in the imme-
diate future. and probably half Of
those have dependents.
Pitchers Are Marrying Lot.
Few ballplayerS come from fam
tfles with money. The composite
big Lacquer, as a matter of fact,
would come close to being a young
man who bought his mother and
father and two sisters a home with
his first seasons salary and then
got married some time during his
second year in the majors.
Even a higher percentage of
pitchers are married than the play
ers of other categories, probably
because their pay is a little better
The average salary for the curvers
must be around $4,000 a season,
which is marrying" money. Of n
regular pitchers whose private lives
were pried into Ct were married
men at last official account. OF
the remaining 10 one, Bob Feller,
Is in the service, and another, Alley
Donald of the Yankees, failed to
pass his physical exam because of
back trouble.
So it is apparent that pitching will
present no serious problem this year.
For instance. every regular on the
staff of the champion Yankees is
married, except Donald. Ofhand
1t appears that only one club, Cleve-
land. has had its hurting corps
ruined by the loss of Feller.
American League Suffers.
Some clubs, naturally, will be hit
much harder than others, and up
to this point the American League
has taken a beating out of all pro-
portion to that suffered by the rival
National. The American has lost
its greatest pitcher, Feller; its lead
ing batter, Ted Williams of the
Boston Red Sox, and it's No. bat
ter for 1941, Cecil Travis of WASH
ington. The Detroit Tigers lost
Hank Greenberg, their great $50,-
900 slugger, last summer. 1t was
for their respective clubs a sad CO.
incidence that these four top men
had evaded matrimony.
The National League thus far has
lost practically none of its star tai
ent, and there is no immediate
prospect that it will until the draft
boards make some important re-
visions In their claSSifications.
Thus far players with dependents
have received deferred rating, but
there are indications this will not
last forever.
Brooklyn officials, for instance,
are nervous about the status of their
outstanding star, Centerfielder Pete
Reiser, and about Shortstop Peewee
Reese. Some baseball men, IN fact,
are leaning toward the Cincinnati
Reds as probable National League
champions because they come nearer
to being a completely married,
settled club than either Brooklyn
or the st. Louis Cardinals.
Big Chance for Veterans.
About the only serious worry the
Yankees have is the possibility of
losing their clever little shortstop,
Phil Rizutto, who is the main sup
port of his family. They already
have lost Johnny Sturm, their first
baseman, but they have Buddy Has
sett on deck for the job.
In time, as more and more big
leaguers are called up, the war will
prove a boon to a large group Of
veteran players who either were
barely hanging on in the majors
or already had dropped back into
double A" company for a final few
years of competition.
Eventually good, sound 40-year-
old pitcher like Freddie Fitzsim-
mons or Ted Lyons is likely to be
regarded as especially valuable
property, and a first baseman like
Dolf Camilli, with a wife and five
children, worth his weight In auto
tires.
Am interesting possibility lies in
the necessity for conserving rubber,
even the small amount used IN
baseballs. Whether league presi-
dents make it an official order or
merely tell their umpires under the
grandstand, it Is likely that balls
will be made to last longer and will
not be tossed out of the game be-
cause of the merest scratch.
The older pitchers in particular
will like that. They cam do things
ILL. ~ e1inl,&lIr 11cod hacaho1 that