Evening star., 1949-10-05
Only Raschi Can
Check Dodgers,
.HornsbySays
Wants Yunks to Win,
But Thinks They'll
Lose in Six Games
By John P. Carmichael

NEW YORK, OCT. D (CDN) -
Baseball folk stood around in little
buzzing knots in the hotel lobby.
The two men over by the cigar
counter were Rogers Hornsby and
Max Carey. Hornsby, as a Car
dinal, specialized in driving pitch
ers to the showers. Carey, as a
Pirate, stole the catcher of his
day blind.
The Dodgers in six games"
said Hornsby I'D like to see the
Yanks win and I think they got
the better manager in Casey STEM
gel. But Brooklyn will run Yogi
Berra crazy-Jackie Robinson,
Reese and those guys"
Carey nodded. "Robinson1l
probably steal home a couple Of
times" he said. Don't think he
wouldn't like to and thing
like that can start a panic just
like a cry of fire"
Praise for Raschi.
Hornsby thinks that the only
Yank hurler who can stop the
Dodgers at all is Vic Raschi.
He knows how to pitch and
has good stuff" said the Rajah.
A listener asked: What about
Joe Page?" Hornsby shifted.
by the time they can get him in
there, the game'll be lost" he
said.
aside from Phil Rizzuto at
short, the Dodgers have better
men at every position. Campanel-
las the best catcher in either
league. Gotta give the guy credit.
And Newcombe is the only pitcher
on either team who throws like
the real good pitchers in the old
days"
The sentimental rapture over
the gallant Yank finish is giving
way to critical observation. IF
the Red Sox didn't have those two
pitchers (Kinder and ParnelD
they would have finished fifth"
said Ted McGrew, the veteran
Pirate scout.
Harold Pie) Traynor, one Of
the all-time great third-sackers
and current Pirate official, said:
That Boston infield was a sieve.
Doerr,s legs are gone. Pesky has
to play in too close at third be-
cause he can't throw. Stephens
isn't a shortstop anyway. Boston
lost lot of games in those spots"
And so it went; from pillar to
post, whatever past and present
big leaguers leaned against, the
good wishes were with Stengel and
the Yanks but the choice was
Brooklyn. The Dodgers never have
won a World Series and they'll
never have better chance. Even
President Branch Hickey said:
We're fielding a better team than
in 1947."
That was a Yank- Dodgers series
to be remembered. No Dodger
hurler went past the fifth inning
through seven games. Pete Reiser
was running in circles in the out
field. Berra had to be yanked out
from behind the plate and put in
right field so as to keep his bat in
the lineup.
Red Sox Didn't Win.
Sometimes. however. it is futile
to stand on comparisons. The
Red Sox proved that so thor
oughly this season. Two men,
Ted Williams and Stephens, had
80 home runs. They drove in
more than $50 runs as q unit.
The Yanks as team hit only
lis homers.
But the Yanks won. The Red
Sox didn't.
The Dodgers have stolen 119
bases to only 81 for the Yanks.
The Dodgers have hit more home
runs, l52. than any Brooklyn
team in almost 20 years, going
back to the days when Babe Her
man led the pack with IS in q
single season. But maybe Yankee
pitching is better than the
Dodgers faced to win the flag.
Once in while one standout
player will come along and take
charge of Series, like Pepper"
Martin did in 1880. Mostly, how
ever, the Series is a team affair
=. and some of Casey Stengel's
last words in the wake of his
up-off -the-floor pennant victory
may be prophetic.
We'll manage. all right" he
said, with fire in his wise old eyes.
ttyXya al I,oro ,,,, - ,,1r,