Evening star., 1963-01-23
SEGH Ar LARGE
Any Promotions
Better Than None
BY MORRIS sIEcEL

ONE OF THE MOST WELCOME bits Of news to come
along in the last few days the announcement that
Clinton Davidson Courtney had gotten little promotion.
The elevation big deal, but when you're almost
So and have kicked around much Brother Courtney
has in baseball you don't expect citations Just being
remembered every contract year accomplishment in
itself.
Frankly, thought Old Scrap Iron had been assigned
TO tt" scrap heap for some time. SO 1t double
peasu4 read he's still among and thriving relatively
speaking.
This year he'll be drawing his pay from the San
Antonio team Of the Texas League San Antonio may not
be much but I'll gamble it's more fun than Durham,
c. where old Scraps remained in obscurty last season.
catching in Class League.
IT'S LIKE THE description Dick McCann offers about
living conditions in Canton Ohio where he is resident
of the Pro Football Hall Of Fame Canton might
not swing" McCann says, 'but it's more exciting than
Alliance, Ohio" That's what mean about Durham VS..
San Antonio.
I've never been to San Antonio, but have been to
Durham. I'll take Antoine, sight They've got
the Alamo at least and that in John Waynes movie
Even without echncolor and the wide screen it's preter
than the Town Square in Durham.
But let's get with Scraps Courtney and leave the
aesthetic merits of Durham San Antonio to their
respective Chambers of Commerce who also probably
looking for something to keep them busy these days
PAUL RICHARDS, WHO has spent large part of his
major league traffckng in Courtney switched the
little catcher in Of those intramural deals where the
parent team is suspected of owning stock in airline
This time scraps belongs to Houston where Richards Is
trying to become Texas millionaire general managing
the Colts who owned by slew Of Texas mlonaires
At San Antonio the story said Scraps will be first
string catcher pitching coach 1t strikes Of being
minor league version Of something the Yankees have IN
mind for Yogi Berra another catcher who also isn't built
like catcher Maybe that's why Scraps stuck with
the Yankees for long He's built too much like Yogi except
the where nobody is built like Yogi except
Jake LaMota, who doesn't have much OF neck either
hear ole Scraps coaching his pitchers now, bark
ing at them in the tongue Of his native Coushata, La
which is real native. Don't tell me about siders or
balls that hang" Scraps will say through his mask
which is very becoming him. Just get that damn ball
over the plate you ee-jut."
"Ee-ut" is the way they say idiot in Coushatta, La,
according to Scraps and I'll take his word for it because
don't banker to visit Coushata and find out for myself
for the I'm not Dustin my eotardS wanting
to off to Durham to If anythngs new down there
SCRAPS MAY NOT HAVE the scientific approach to
coaching and I'm sure not too hep about the latest
technques either Scraps basic guy basebas fore
most do-tyourSef fellow He demonstrated this all too
painfully mostly to himself in the training camp OF the
old Senators in Orlando Fla.
He bounced up one day with sore pinky on his
throwing hand which bad for any catcher particularly
who has trouble throwing when his pnky not on the
bum Scraps turned down all medical aid though ne was
qualified member Calvin Griffiths private on-the-
spot Medcare program. He'd had busted pnKy before
and he also had the remedy.
1t entailed biting hole in lemon, which was wrong
in the first place in Orlando citrus belt they push
oranges lemons Scraps just stuck the finger In the
fruit and was willing to bet sixtwo-and-even he'd be
finger ckin good quickly Fortunately he got no
takers because he would have lost
THE FINGER BAILooNED up so high they ordered
Scraps into the hospital He checked in at noon but at
43O am when the security force wasn't watching the
store Scraps walked out Later that morning the orderly
or whoever holds muster noted Of his patients
missing and it Scraps of course, who truant
"A man in the next room" he explained, dying Of
heart attack They had lot of doctors and lot Of
machines working him and figured II they couldn't
nothing for him with all that help they couldn't do
nothing for me either, so upped and left"