The Wilmington morning star., 1947-03-26

pea DUNE elbow ana Marty Mar
Ion, MIR. S~ho-tstop himself, and
HOWE Pollet, ace southpaw, lame
backs. But despite their aches
and pains they were good enough
to win with the aid Of such stel-
Lar performers as Stan Musial.
Enos Slaughter, Harry Walker.
Joe Garagiola, Harry Brecheen,
hurry Dickson and George Chg
Red) Munger.
ALI of these key men are back
again and on them ride the Car
dinal pennant hopes. There still
is some doubt whether Moore's
knee will be ali right, but Ku.
rowski, Marion and Pollet ap-
peared completely recovered and
ready for full-time duty again.
There isn't much new blood on
Eddie Dyer's second edition Of
the Cardinals, but despite the
lack Of it they still are a fairly
young club and the wear and
tear Of last year should not exact
too great. a toll. This is why
Dyer. although he has the high.
est respect for the Dodgers, Cubs
and Braves, believes the Redbirds
are the team to beat.
my club will be stronger be.
cause we will have Garagiola and
Munger with us all season." Dyer
pointed out. "And it looks like
Johnny Grodzicki will help out.
too. We will need him because
I am afraid that we can't coun,
on Johnny Beazley. His arm is
real bad and I'm afraid there
isn't much hope for him."
Garagiola got out of service
mid-season last year and lived UP
to the promise he displayed be-
fore he went to war. With that
experience, Dyer believes he will
be one Of the top catchers in the
league.
Munger Joined the team just
before the season closed, got in
condition quickly and was an i'm
portant factor in the Cardinal
drive to the playoH victory over
Brooklyn for the pennant and the
World Series triumph. In Dyer's
book, he should be a 20-game
winner.
With Beazley apparently out,
Moore is Dyer's only worry.
1--WE need Terry in there and
I'm hoping for the best" he said.
Moore feels he will be all right,
saying that although he hasn't
given the knee a real test, it
feels fine and has not panied
him.
If Moore is in there, left field
is the only spot Dyer has in
doubt and he is hoping that Walk.
er will continue the brilliant play.
ing he did in the World Series
to win that spot. Otherwise it
will be either Erwin Dusak or
Dick Sisler. Slaughter, of course,
will be in right.
The infield is all set with Mu-
sial at first, Red Schoendienst at
second, Marion at short and Ku.
rowski at third with jeff Cross
and Tom Glaviano, a c~lassy-look-
ing rookie, in the utility roles.
Del Rice and Del WILDER will
round out the catching staff.
The starting pitchers will be
Pollet, Brecheen, Munger and
Dickson with Al Brazle, Ted Wilks
and Ken Burkhart working in
spots and relief. 'Wilks will be
the No. / relief man.
Grodzicki also promises to be-
come a starter and then there
is Al Papai, a freshman who won
Is games with L%ynchburg last
season, who probably will stick.
Fred Schmidt will be the 10th
man if B~eazley's arm fails to
come around.
The big thing missing from
what the Cards started with last
year will be Max Lanier's strong
left arm. He won eight games
for the Redbirds before he jump
ed to the Mexican league, but
Dyer feels that Munger will be
able to take up that slack.
So do most Of the other Ma
tional League managers. They
would like to think that that wear
and tear Of last years campaign
might start showing on the Card
inals, but are betting it won't.
That's the way Dyer feels about
it, too.