Evening star., 1952-03-25
Right Handed Hitfers
Are Sought 10 Offset
Reserves Weakness
BY Burton Howkins
sfor s,aff Core sspcudes,.

~ 91t4Jf1{ykf&S, . H., MaTs 20 ~ m
Mats have put In claims for sever
fright handed hitters who have ap,
lpeared on various waiver lists re.
GENTLY. doing 50 la an attempt y,
|fortify one Of the weakest grouy
LOT reserves from a batting stand.
point lever indicted on q rnajo1
league manager. 81
The washington clubs bose.
will learn soon whether they'll bt
liable to get. anybody via waiver.
Eor whether the players they've
claimed viii be withdrawn. Mean.
while, they have reason to be ap-
lprehensive about q club that's be.
come topheayy with left-handet
lhitterS.
The Mats are destined to set
every left-handed pitcher oppos.
ling managers can save for them
ION the theory that the Mats right
handed hitters Eddie Yost, San
Mele. Cass Michaels and Clyde
lKluttz aren't likely to be as dan.
Igerons as Gil Coan, Irv Noren
Mickey Vernon and Pete Runnels
who swing left-handed.
Right handlers Not Hitting.
Based on what's happened In
exhibition games, left-handed
pitchers are calculated to bother
the Mats, for. the aboye-mentioned
ieft-handed hitters among the
Mats regulars are hitting ESQ
against southpaws.
That leaves it up to the Mats
regular right-handed hitters tc
take up the slack. They're sup
posed to feast on eft-handed
pitching. but Yost. Mele, .Michaels
and Kluttz are batting a COM
bined .183 against left-handers.
They figure to improve on that
effort, but Bucky Harris doesn't
have TO be psychic to anticipate
trouble when his club is up against
left-handers. Bucky plays per-
|centage like most managers, be-
heving right-handed hitters have
the edge on left-handed pitchers
and vice versa. 81
Whenever Harris looks for a
|right-handed pinch-hitter his Sc
lection will be limited. The only
candidates at present are Mickey
|Grasso. .206 with the Mats last
season; Tommy Upton, 1893 with
the Browns. and Orlando Eche-
|varria. .282 with Erie. Grasso and
Upton combined hit one home run
last season and Echevarria
smashed five in Glass C sur
roundings. It's a trio unlikely to
strike fear into a pitchers heart.
One Dangerous Hitter.
AT the moment. the Mats have
one pinch-hitting prospect likely
to be dangerous. Frank Campos
and Mele probably will alternate
IN rightfield and the inactive one
VIII be handy to have on the
bench for emergency duty. Other
wise, among the left-hand swing
ers. there's Floyd Baker, 1858 with
the White Sox; Sherry Robertson,
.189 with the Mats, and Fred Tay-
lor, .29l with Chattanooga.
That Setup gives Harris virtual
~ no chance to maneuver. He
is, in effect, restricted to the ad-
yantageous employment of a
pinch-hitter once game. If
either Mele or Campos were in
jured, the situation would be that
much worse.
Thus the Mats are searching
desperately among the potential
castof1s Of other clubs to remedy
things. It's well-picked field
they're glancing at, but still their
most probable source of supply.
The failure of Don Crate came
as a particularly distressing blow
to Bucky, who gave the big right
handed hitter good shot at max
ing the grade. But the former
Ohio State All-America basketball
player, who batted $50 at Chat
tanooga last season. was pit
hitter in exhibition games and
has been returned to the Lookouts
along with Pitcher Darrah Stone.
Mickey Harris was to make his
spring debut today. following Bob
Porterfield to the mound as the
Mats entertained the Phillies. The
National Leaguers were due tof
counter with Ken HeintzelmanI
and Karl Drews. The Mats will
travel to Lakeland tomorrow to-
meet the. Tigers. :