Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-01-08
WIN, LOSE OR
DRAW !. FRANCE, ,,.uu
KeH q Real Pro

THERE WAS THIS MEMORY Of George Kell who has
announced his retirement from baseball II the final
game of the and the Tigers with whom Kell was
playing faced the old Philadelphia Athletics booper fell
safely and 1t was hit for Kell
That was in l949 and Kell became the American
League batting champion He finished with 343 and did
Ted Williams Only the mathematcans carried the
ngures and Kel was acclaimed the winner
Il was good hitter this year" Kell murmured on a
chartered bus en- route to railroad station But I'm not
the hitter that Williams is-and will be- very
lucky guy"
Which was typical of George KEN real nice guy
whose departure from the won't help any He could
hit the batted 800 for nine of his Is years.
was on five An-Star teams and times he the
American Leagues best fielding third baseman
He had manager" stamped all him. The pity Of
1t is there was no opening Maybe there will be later
MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN. and properly laudatory,
OF Bill Heinz novel The Professional" It is beaut
profound study by who knows and obviously loves
boxing
Whom he sketched with his precise portraits Of Doc
Carroll the manager and Eddie Brown the fighter Bill
Heinz secret But one is permitted couple of guesses,
here it would be Jack Hurley and that reteaded middle
weight Of a few years ago. Harry kid Matthews
That a superb job Of fight manager getting the
most mileage Of athlete Indeed Hurley always called
Matthews The Athlete" which he He no young
ster when Hurley began his propaganda campaign the
West Coast carried his bleat to the halls of Congress and
finally got his tiger match with Rocky Marciano.
Soaking wet, Matthews more than a light
heavy and aside from knowing about fighting than
Marcano. he had no chance. Rocky bigger and
younger and packed the most potent punch
THE ATHLETE LASTED Just a little more than one
round That one-the full round-he 1t a strange
fight, msmatch. 1t turned out. but still one you
remember For Matthews had been able to maintain the
sheer perfection he showed in the first round he land
Hurley could have pulled it OF.
Everything that Hurley could teach fighter he taught
his Athlete. The Kid-so-called-mad all the proper
He suckered Marcano and stabbed at him and his
footwork superb But all the time there tension
One mistake you kept saying and he's gone.
He won't shake OF one Of Marcianos good punches
like Wacott had done in their FIRST nght like Ezzard
Charles Roland LaStarza This one you felt would
all apart.
And he did in the second round. Matthews made a
single mistake Just as Marcano was throwing bomb.
THE ATHLETE WAS KNOCKED halfway across the
ring His head struck the lower strands near rngpost
with fearful impact The referee began counting but he
only going through the motions.
In the dressing room Matthews unmarked as
many Of Marciano's knockout victims unmarked
and toidy he took shower and spoke to newspapemen
who visited.
II made mistake" Kid Matthews said. "You are not
allowed any mistakes when you fight Marcano"
In another corner Of the dressing room Hurley was
saying: The Athlete turned amateur for minute And
that's too long"
That just about 1t for Matthews Jack Hurley is
still around the West Coast In fact he had hand in
the Floyd PattersonPet Rademacher meeting last year
If these two-Jack Hurley and Kid Matthews-wcre
not the patterns for Bill Heinz fine book I'll read it again