Evening star., 1942-10-07
Al Series Gave
Tipoff Decline
Was al Hand
Champions Out|ucked
Dodgers; Diekey's
Sovereignty Ends
BY JOHN LARDNER,
Special Correspondent of The Star

AAAS val uAlAdAo dllu dIlhccS pldycu
what may have been the last World
Series for some time, and they gave
us a good one. It wouldn't have
been so good if the Yankees had
won by the same margin, four
games to one. for half of the ap-
peal and excitement of this par
ticular classic came from the fact
that a team sof lean and hungry
underdogs was upsetting a team of
champions. But all the games were
well and hotly played, just the
same. and those who saw them or
heard them by radio, including SOL
diers and sailors abroad, probably
will remember them for long time.
whatever the next few years may
bring to us.
1t was a good series partly be-
cause the Yankees, though they
never managed to fail themselves
into a real, do-or-die state of
mind, and lacked the old keenness
from start to finish, were a strong
enough ball club intrinsically to
make a contest of every game they
lost, just on natural ability. de-
void of the hustle and BURNING
zeal that marked the Cardinals.
Knew Fire Was Dying.
The Yanks realized from the
start that something of the ancient
incentive was missing. They did
their best at first to fake" it, to
work themselves into synthetic
lather. They ranted and beefed and
cussed in the first three games.
hoping that maybe an imitation of
Durocher-Dodger tactics would light
the spark and set them on fire. They
squawked on decisions that were as
obvious as the nose on Joe Di
Maggio's face. Mr.. Joe Mccarthy al
most quibbled himself into apoplexv.
1t was silly to watch. and a poor
Imitation. and it didn't work. So in
the last two games the Yanks gave
it up, held their peace, and played
the best ball they could under the
circumstances. It wasn't good enough
mot good enough to beat club
that had genuine ability apart from
lIS HlSplTd tlOnal urge.
The Cardinals were a sound COM
blnaton of good pitching, tight de-
tense. and speed, with just enough
hitting power to start the engine
In motion. Enos Slaughter was
the only consistent power hitter
on the club, and he was no match
for Charley keller or Di Maggie or
even Joe Gordon at this trade, over
seasons play. The Cards had half
dozen hitters who could belt the
ball on line when it was absolutely
necessary. And when they couldn't
find the ball at all, to hit it squarelv.
they always could bunt the enemy
off balance.
Yanks Outlucked Dodgers.
There were signs last autumn
that the spell of the Yankees over
the National League might be COM
ing to an end. They lost only one
game to Brooklyn in the 1941 series,
but the way it was played they
easily might have lost three or even
four. The Dodgers soundly were
outlucked-and most of the world
outside of Brooklyn, including per-
haps the Yanks themselves, re-
fused to recognize that fact. The
series went down in the book as
another easy Yankee win. It wasn't
any such thing, in cold truth. The
writing was there on the wallpaper
for any one to see.
The team which went into this
years World Series favored at 2 to l
or better was not even as good a
team as the Yanks of last fall. Its
best southpaw pitcher, Marius
Russo, was out of action. And Roy
Cullenbine. though he played well
the last few days, is not the ball
player that Tommy Heinrich was.
Perhaps the most important
factor was that Bill Dickey, still
the king of catchers a year ago,
definitely abdicated his title in
1912. Bill suffered from pollen
fever throughout the recent series,
but apart from that, and at his
normal best, he is no longer the
champion. He was overhauled this
year by two younger men, Walker
Cooper Of st. Louis and Mickey
Owen of Brooklyn; overhauled and
passed.
That's as good = symbol as any
OF the present situation in big
league baseball, for I think Cooper
and Owen now stand in the same
relation to Dickey as their ball
clubs do to the Yankees. I have
an idea that the Dodgers, too,
might have beaten the Yanks this
year, even with pitching less effec-
tive than the Cards possess.
But the Cardinals won the right
to do the job, and they did it bril-
liantly and thoroughly.