The Wilmington morning star., 1946-12-12
As Pegler Sees 1t
By PEGLER

er, the manager OF the Brooklyn ball club,
again was a house guest in California OF his
friend, George Raft, the moving picture actor
gangSter and member in good standing of the
underworld Of Hollywood and Broadway. l
was surprised, because only a few days before
I learned On excellent authority that when
Durocher conferred with Branch Hickey, the
general manager of the Brooklyn base
ball firm, in Columbus, O., preliminary to
Durocher's retention as the team manager for
1947, he promised Mr.. Hickey that he would
divorce himself from his old associations in
Guiding Raft and Rats dear friend, Buggy
Siegal. Buggy is a blue-book boy, meaning
that he is listed in the social register of the
bureau of narcotics of the Treasury. Mr..
Hickey has an unfavorable opinion of Raft,
and only Monday he told me that in 1947
Raft will be excluded not only from Duroch-
er's dressing room and the dressing rooms Of
the Brooklyn players but from the Brooklyn
ball park as well.
Enlarging on Durocher's social problems. it
will be recalled that Durocher loaned his New
York apartment to Raft for a dicing party in
which a chump named Martin Shurin lost
$18, 500 to Raft, according to the early returns,
reduced to $13, 500 in Shurin's closing state
straight passes by Raft, all tours and tens and
most Of them the hard way a truly mirac-
ulous streak of luck, if that was what it was.
Mr.. Shurin later was told by the wife of me
of his fellow-guests at the dicing that ner hus-
band had conspired with others to set a trap
for him and that the dice used in the opera
ton contained unconventional markings which
would have made it not merely easy for
the dicer to sling tours and tens in sets of twos
and fives all night long, but very difficult tor
him to throw anything else. The lady had
quarrelled with her husband at the time, but
later they patched it up and she became reti'
cent. The complaint naturally caused an Off
cial investigation, however, in which it was
discovered that Raft, although apparently not
a tough guy in the pugnacious and daring
meaning Of the term, but merely noisy and
nasty, nevertheless was an associate Of Siegal,
who is honest-to-God tough, with an %interna-
tional police rating; Joe Adonis, the current
One man in the eastern territory; and
Longie Zwillman, a veteran New Jersey and
Broadway bootlegger, hoodlum, gambler and
g~angster, also with a record.
Two days after Miss Hopper reported that
again was a guest Of Raft in a
much frequented by gang
sters, Hickey and Durocher met the baseball
writer's in one of those formal press confer
ences in Brooklyn to announce that Durocher
had signed the 1947 contract. The impression
given that Hickey had exacted no promis-
es or assurances. That version is incorrect for
the fact is that Hickey discussed little else in
the Columbus meeting, and that Durocher, as
a condition prior to the actual he gotiations as
to his salary and other terms. promised TO
keep out of questionable company.
Hickey said Durocher was entirely honest in
baseball matters and would not knowingly give
to gangsters on which they might
arrange betting coups, but dumb as hell when
it comes to figuring the consequences Of an
association"
He has lined up with us 100 per cent"
Hickey said, meaning that Durocher had
promised to avoid the appearances OF evil.
an old baseball man, Mr.. Hickey knows
angles, known also to the criminal I'M
derworld, by which a manager who is dumb
as HELP that way could give underworld COM
panions a strong betting advantage through
advance information without any guilty i'll
tent.
Although Hickey says Raft has been barred
from the Dodgers or Buns dressing-rooms
from Ebbets field, that does not mean,
Of course, that Raft is socially undesirable
everywhere else in baseball. Al one OF the
games OF the late World Series he
accompanied Larry MacPhail, the business
Of the New York Yankees, and ice
Maggie.
The publicity Of the press recently extended
in generous measure has elected anus
ing discussion concerning his cherished friend
bodyguard known as Killer Gray, whose
actual name is Max <Greenberg. The office
bodyguard to a tough-guy is an interesting
INSTITUTION IN 1tSeL, Tile ~ -
the police records contain no data on any
homicides by Killer Gray nor even an arrest
.or so amiable an offense as wife-beating. IN
case, it is still more so because authorl-
ties who claim to know Killer Gray, person
allv. assert that in his case the name kill
far from it's formidable suggestion, actu-
ally is a corruption of a Jewish word "kilah,"
meaning rupture or hernia" My authori-
ty on such matters, George Sokolsky, tells
me that in the sly Jewish humor "kilah
means something even more which, in a fami-
ly newspaper, must be approached only with
great d~elicacy.
"You might say" Mr.. Sokolsky said, shat
it is a term never selected by a man as a
boast but Invariably applied by others and
without complimentary intent. I: means that
a man has had a very sad misfortune. A
very amusing derivation of the name killer
FOR the bodyguard of a Hollywood tough guy.
l am laughing to myself"
If Miss Hopper was correctly informed, IN
her report of the renewed association of Du-
rocher with Raft. then Durocher is fellow.
in the off-season with a man whom
his employer, patron, spiritual guardian and
boss has decided to exclude in season for the
good Of the game. However. that need not
serious consequences just yet. There is
plenty OF time. There is, Of course, appre-
hension Of interesting consequences from a di-
rect and fragrant line Of association between
professioal baseball, once the cleanest Of
professional sports, and the Underworld and
its gambling syndicates. for the first time
since the fake World Series " 1919. The death