Evening star., 1963-02-21

ne was IN J1e DdUJlnB cage.
At first 1t appeared that Ct
cussing Sonny Liston or some /
body from his fight camp about
30 miles south of the Senator's
training quarters.
.McKenna said he had seen
the big guy knock out q player
with one punch. Cheney said
he had watched Don flatten
another, plus two more who
tried to stop the fight.
'I'll tell you one thing"
Cheney said. hes not going to
walk away from anybody"
It turned out they were talk
ing about Leppert, who was
purchased from the Pirates In |
mid-December.
Don looks as though he can |
take care Of himself. He is a
6-feet-2 and O solid 220. He |
was the first Of the Senator's
four receivers TO catch batting |
practice and his uniform was
the dirtiest. He has heavy, |
black eyebrows and while he |
was working he wore a slight |
scowl.
But after practice and q
leisurely shower. Leppert was
pleasant to engage in con-
servation.
Don brushed off the refer
ence to his pugilistic ability.
"Once In a while something |
comes UP where you have to
take care Of yourself" he said.
Il guess I've had q couple of
little scuffles, but sometimes
those things happen awfully
quick"
Leppert was q bit late break
ing into the majors, for three
reasons.
One was that he was in the
Air Force from 1851 through
1854.
Another was that he was in
the Milwaukee chain, and with
Del Crandall and Del Rice as
their No. / and No. 2 backstops.
the Braves weren't interested
in any catchers in the minors.
And the third was that when
the Braves traded him to the
Pirates, Pittsburgh brought
him up to play behind Smokey
Burgess.
Smokey has the highest
lifetime batting average of any
catcher in the big leagues and
you just don't play much when
you're on the same ball club
with him." Leppert said.
-
Leppert was batting 1886 for
Columbus, q Pittsburgh farm,
when the Pirates brought him
up in 1861. For the rest of that
season and in 1862 he caught
some when the Pirates faced
lefthanders. He saw occasional
pinch-hitting service and was
q late-inning defensive re-
placement for Burgess when
Smokey would 60 out for q
pinch-runner.
Don batted .267 in go times
at bat in 1851 and .259 in
l30 at bats last year.
The National League is sup
posed to be a five-club race,
with the Pirates in the thick
Of 1t, but Leppert said he has
no regrets about being traded.
He can't see the Pirates as PEN
nant winners, in the first place,
and in the second he's glad to
get away from Burgess.
I'm not saying anything
against the Washington catch
ers," he said, "but at least I
think I'll have a chance to
make the club. I know /
wouldn't have been anything
except Burgess caddie II I had
stayed with Pittsburgh"
-
ILeppert added some Of his
muscles in college. He played
football for two years with
Wabash and was the small col
lege discus and javelin cham
pion in 1850. He was q four
sport man in high school in
Indianapolis.
Don played under George
Selkirk. the Senator's general
manager. at Wichita In 1856
when that club was in the
American Association. Selkirk
remembers him as a good right
handed power hitter and a
good defensive catcher. He also
is Selkirk's kind Of ball player.
.Leppert signed up for win
ter ball in Puerto Rico and
two weeks after the season
started the manager Of his
team was fired. He was named
manager.
Don doesn't claim to be a
miracle man. I'VE didn't have
many players and we finished
last" he said. But we won a
few games after / took over
and the owners and the fans
we're pretty decent"