Evening star., 1945-04-15
Play Ball! There's Victory at the Home Plate!
Bv Lewis F. AtchiSon.

may play shortstop for Brooklyn this
season and 43-year-old Clyde Sukeforth
may do the catching One-armed Pete
Gray probably will be in the ST. Louis
Browns outfield and one-legged Bill
Shepard may get a chance to do some
relief pitching for Washington. There,
in nutshell, are few good reasons
for the avid interest in baseball as 1t
approaches the start of another season.
despite an appalling lack of seasoned
material.
Baseball ballyhoo rises as naturally
as the sap each spring and l945 was no
different. Club owners judiciously re-
fused to rush ahead recklessly without
an approving governmental nod. War
Manpower Commissioner Paul McNutt's S
decision that players could leave war
plants paved the way for full season.
The Senates rejection of the manpower
bill strengthened the games position.
McNutt's pronouncement was the
signal for publicity organ-grinders to
pull out all stops. What mattered that
the clubs could not go South for spring
training? Even nature helped pump in
terest into the game, contributing
brand of weather either Florida or Cali
fornia would find it difficult to surpass.
Baseball Takes Hold
War or not, baseball took firm hold
on the fans. The approaching climax
of the European war only served to
heighten this interest for it could mean
the return from military service of many
established stars and stay the induc-
ton of others.
Can the Browns repeat as American
League champions? Have the Yankees
regained any of their old cannonading
power? Will the Mats be able to better
their last-place standing? How many
games will Hal Neuhouser and Dizzy"
enough to win the pannant? Who will
lead the home-run hitters, the base
stealers? Fans asked the traditional
questions, knowing full we'll the artistry
and power of prewar seasons would be
lacking.
Preseason ballyhoo was akin to light
cruel. not entirely satisfying but nour-
ishing. Baseball didn't have its GUS
tomary shoutin' brand of balyhoo to
dispense, but it made the most of what
1t had.
Girl Ushers
At Chicago, for example, Andy Frain's
-..sz l..u x,.I L.
Their first season in that capacity, the
girls are certain to attract as much at
tention as the ballplayers.
is
But the preseason buildup did smack
of prewar stuff. Larry MacPhail moved
into the Yankees front Office as CO.
owner and everybody settled back ex-
pectantly for his first verbal explosion.
A f1are-up narrowly was averted when
Yankee-hating, suspicious Clark Griffith
scented a MacPhail plot to kidnap
Shepard and drew bead on MacPhail's
ample britches. But 1t was purely
mistake MacPhail had borrowed the
young Army officer with the Army's
official blessing and when Shepard re-
appeared in a Washington uniform
Griffith's trigger finger relaxed.
A Few Deals
There were even a few deals. The
Phillies bought Whitlow Wyatt, 36-year-
old Brooklyn pitcher, for $4,000, and
picked up bespectacled Vince Di Maggie
from Pittsburgh when he refused to
report to the Pirates.
Bible-reading Branch Hickey had
Outfielder Dixie Walker baked at terms
and finally signed a compromise con-
tract for s18.500. Then Hickey called
Manager Leo Durocher on the carpet
for devoting too much time to radio
at the expense of his managerial duties.
The Phillies came up with the newest
brother act in the majors, 17-year- -old
Granville Hammer at shortstop and his
2l-year-old frere, Garvin, at second.
Whether they will match the feats or
win the fame of the Traynors, Deans,
Ferrells and Di Maggios is conjectural.
But they had one distinction few could
claim. At first base their teammate
would be 38year-old Jimmy Foxx,
major Lacquer before either Hammer
was born.
Familiar Names
Old, familiar names dotted sports
pages. A reporter at the Boston Red
Sox camp wrote that the squads best
looking player was Frisco Joe Cronin,
39-year-old manager. The Yankees
Hank Borowy arrived in camp with a
new "screwball' pitch, and Manager
Charley Grimm of the Cubs announced
he pmight try Heinz Becker on first,
shifting Phil Cavarretta to the outfield.
Detroit, a pennant contender until the
final putout of 1914, considered its
chances bolstered by the return of
Pitcher Les Mueller. an Army veteran,
and the addition of Pitcher Walter
Wilson, 29-year-old recruit up from
Buffalo A burning question was how
badly the Tigers would miss Outfielder
Dick Wakefield, whose 1856 average
topped the American League last year.
Bob Quinn, with e-quarters OF q