The Lincoln times., 1955-03-10
OR, THE LEMOkS??
Who II Be The Prize
Rockies Of The Major
Loops In 1855?

VINO among new major league
players are going to be the peaches
of the 1855 crop? Or the lemons?
No one, says The Sporting News,
can say with any certainty at this
stage of the year. But. even so,
some major club front offices and
their farm officials put out bold
statements about this young man
OF that.
Sometimes. says The Sporting
News, the magnates don't even
know what they've got. Take last
year, for example. The prize rook-
les of 1854 were Wally Moon in
the National League and B O b
Grim in the American. Yet, while
other young players were getting
big buildupS a year ago, Moon and
Grim weren't being mentioned -
weren't. in fact, even on big league
rosters. The Cardinals didn't buy
Moon from Rochester until April
12. and that was on second
guess. Grim. from Binghampton,
didn't win his Yankee varsity uni
form until April.
This season. says The Sporting
News, the Cardinals are saying
that their new outfielder, Bill
Virdon, Just can't miss. But will
he be another Moon? The Yam
KEGS are sold on Elston Howard.
But is he as sure shot this year
as the unknown Grim was year
ago?
Figuring rockies, says The
Sporting News, is risky business.
All of us remember the young men
who had one blazing year, then
faded away. They looked like
Cobbs. FellerS, Ruths, bound sure
" for their eventual niche in the
Hall of Fame. But their stars fell
almost as fast as they shot up.
Right now, Willie Mays looks like
one of the finest players in the
business. with his sensational
catches, his home runs, his aver
age of .345. But suppose he hits
only 800 this year. He'll probably
be considered bust.
Look back after some of the up
and-coming sensations. A few
years ago the Yankees thought
they had another Joe DiMagglo IN
a young man named Mickey Man.
tie. He gave big and spectacular
promise the first season, but
hasn't lived up to that promise
since. In 1941. Pete Reiser was a
sensation, but not after that. Gene
Bearden and Johnny Beazley
seemed certain 20-game winners
for years to come, but they had II
for only one season.
Two others who were among the
heaviest ballyhooed prospects were
Johnny Rucker and Clint Hartung
of the Giants. Bill Terry thought
he saw a second Ty Cobb in Ruck-
er, but the young man hit .296
couldn't steal bases like Cobb, and
soon faded. Hartung was fabu-
lous-in advance. He didn't hold
up. Lou Novikoff of the Cubs was
another who came to the majors
amid widespread ballyhoo after he
had been hitting sensation in the
minors. But he failed to hit big
time pitching with any consisten-
cy. Then there was Pitcher John.
nv Gee, for whom the Pirates paio
$75,O in 1889. But after coming
up from Syracuse, Gee hurt hi'
arm. When he finally wound ur
his major league career, he hac
won seven games but lost IL.
For every one of the highly bal
lyhooed. says The Sporting News
there's a kid like Jerry Coleman
who walks in without notice ane
becomes a candidate for rookie o.
the year. Nobody saw much IL
Phil Rizzuto, either. at the begin
ming.
Right now, before the new sea-
son gets under way. who can sa!
which of the highly-touted rook.
les will come through, if any? Anl
who can pick from the others an
other Moon or Grim? 1t might b'
much more profitable, says Th'
Sporting News. trying to pick {
three-horse parlay.