Evening star., 1953-12-27
Pittsburgh Gets
Gordon ,Surkont
For |nfie|der
Ex-Fort Myer Stor
Is Expected to PIoy
Second Base in "a
By the Associated Press

By the Associoted Press
MILWAUKEE,, Dec. 26.-The
Braves today gave six players
and an undisclosed amount of
cash to the Pittsburgh Pirates
for Danny O'Connell, aggressive
26-year-old infielder who is one
of the most highly regarded
young players in the major
leagues.
O'Connell, who rejoined the
Pirates last season after a bril-
liant service baseball career at
Fort Myer. Va, hit .294 in 149
games, batting in SIS runs and
hitting seven homers.
To get him. the Braves gave
up Sid Gordon. veteran leftfield-
er: Pitcher Max Surkont, 81
year-old right-hander; Outf1eld-
er Sam Jethroe. who never lived
up to his early promise, and
three farm club pitchers.
The Pirates get Larry Lassalle.
a Southpaw who had a 1875
record last season with Jackson
vile; Curt Raydon. a right
handler who had an lit mark
with the same club. and Fred
Waters, left-hander who had
a 1910 record with Lincoln of
the Western League. Raydon
will report to the New Orleans
club.
Due to Play Second.
O'Connell is expected to play
second base for the Braves. Jack
Dittmer, 25-year-old left
handed batter who broke into
the lineup in 1852, gave the club
a fair job at second base last
season but doesn't figure to beat
out Danny.
Dittmer hit ,266 in 1853, get
ting % doubles, a triple and nine
homers and driving in So runs.
The rest of the infield was
composed of Ed Mathews (.302)
at third, Johnny Logan (.273) at
shortstop and Joe Adcocks (.285)
at first.
John Quinn. Braves general
manager, completed the deal
with Branch Hickey, head of the
Pirates, by telephone. Quinn
called the deal one of the biggest
in the Braves history.
Quinn said Manager Charlie
Grimm did not want to part with
Gordon, but that Hickey insisted
Sid be included in the deal to
replace O'Connell at third base.
Deal Hinged on Gordon.
II dickered with Hickey for
two days." Quinn said, "but IL
was that or no deal"
Gordon, 35, has been in the
National League since 1943. In
1949. he came to the Braves from
New York in the deal for Eddie
Stanky and Alvin Dark. He hit
.274 last season in 140 games,
batting in IS runs and hitting 10
home runs.
Surkont has been with the
Braves since 1850. He had an
lis record in 1853 after a SEN
sational start in which he won
nine and lost only one up to
June 16. On May 25, he broke
a major league record which had
stood since 1900 by striking out
eight Cincinnati batters in sue
ceSSion.
Jethroe, 80, cost the Braves
100000 when the club bought
him in 1949 from Montreal, in
the Brooklyn farm system. His
best season with the Braves was
1851, when he batted .280. He
fell to .232 in 1852 and hit .3O9
for Toledo last season, leading
the te-cuit with 1877 runs, 109
walks and 100 StrikeoutS.
Hickey Well Satisfied.
In Pittsburgh, Hickey said he
was very well satisfied with the
DEAL" declaring:
Usually in my trades where
a number of players have been
involved, I've made out in a
satisfactory manner. Perhaps
this time ] will not do so well.
but on the face of things / be-
lieve the deal is a good one for
the Pirates.
Il am particularly pleased with
the three young pitchers we
picked up. AS for Gordon, ! be-
lieve he will play good ball for
US for at least a year or two.
Surkont should do well. I'm not
counting too much on Jethroe."
Jethroe is the second Negro
on the Pittsburgh roster.
Whether he will remain with the
Pirates is problematical.
The first Negro brought up by
the Pirates is Curtis Roberts. a
young infielder purchased about
three months ago from Denver
Of the Western Association.
IT'S Going to Take Time
To Figure Out Surkont Saws
PROVIDENCE, RI. Dec. .s
(R.-Pitcher Max Surkont said.
It's going to take little time
to figure this out" when told he
had been traded to the Pitts
burgh Pirates today by the Mil
waukee Braves.
Il liked Milwaukee very
Surkont added from his
home in Pawtucket. He expressed
surprise when he learned that
Sid Gordon also had been traded.
Asked how he liked the iGea
Of going to Pittsburgh. he re-
piled, II don't know what to say.
It's such q surprise. But the