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Show SPORT LIGHT llo One Can Change Dizzy Dean By GRANTLAND RICE : THERE IS ONE other thing you can say about Dizzy Dean he has changed less in the last 20 years than anyone I ever knew through that length of time. I don't believe anyone has had ss much fun out of life and living as Dizzy Dean has had. This has been one of his main traits. When he first joined the Cardinals in Florida Flor-ida around 1930 or 1931, he was just a trifle more than Gabby Street could hanHlp T)i77V Tlpv. Rolfe and Sawyer Last March, along the western coast of Florida, there were two managers who felt their teams had been overplayed. They were Rolfe of the Tigers and Sawyer of the Phillies. . "I think we have been placed too high," Red Rolfe said one March afternoon. "I know Jerry Jer-ry Priddy will help a lot, but we have many more problems." One was Hal Newhouser who couldn't lift his left arm. Rolfe had no idea how Groth would come along, as he hadn't been too hot the year before. The Tigers had no catcher to talk about. No one could figure then that Kell or Evers would have such a good season. "I think we rate fourth place-possibly place-possibly third place but third place seems too high. After all, we have the Red Sox, Yankees and Indians In-dians to beat." It might be remembered the Red Sox looked better then than they have looked since. The American league race is sure to be a hot one. So far the Tigers have been the most consistent squad in the league where consistency applies to pitching and hitting and pretty fair fielding defense. My guess would be that if any one team beats them out it will be Cleveland's Indians. The Indians have better pitching than the Yankees Yan-kees can show. The case of the Phillies has been about the same. Sawyer, a smart manager, one of the best in either league, wasn't sure his young team could finish third again. At that time he didn't know too much about Miller, his young pitcher, and he wasn't too sure that Curt Simmons would be ready after two or three soggy seasons. Waitkus still had to prove he could handle the wear and tear of a long campaign. Kiner's Place With the injury to Ted Williams it isn't likely that anyone left is going to beat Ralph Kiner to the home-run wire. Ted Williams was the one best equipped to give Kiner a good fight but the Red Sox star will hit a few more home runs this season. For all of that Williams fared better in the All-Star game than Dizzy Dean. The All-Star game practically drove Dean out of baseball. After being hit on the toe by a line smash. Dizzy attempted to come back too quickly. But he was unable to finish fin-ish his usual hurling motion on his left toe so he attempted to handle his speed and curve ball with an exclusive arm action. This put a heavy strain on his right shoulder. Grantland Riceer drank. He was in no sense a bad actor. He was never surly or mean. "I first tried fining him," Gabby said once. "That did no good. I tried bawling him out. He merely grinned. It took some time to find the answer. That was to bar him from the ball park. That was something Dizzy couldn't stand. He had to play ball every day. When 1 threatened to keep him away , from the park he was always easy to handle. "I knew I had a 28 or 30 game winner," Gabby said, "a year or two before he came up. But he was also drawing big crowds in Houston. Hous-ton. And I thought maybe he would grow up. In one way he never did. There was the time, just after he had his tonsils taken out, we were playing the Athletics- They had the bases full with nobody out. " 'I wish I was out there pitchin' to those bums,' Diz said. "Batters like Simmons, Cochrane Coch-rane and Foxx were coming up. Three big hitters. Wilson winked at me and I nodded. We sent Diz in. He retired the side with no runs. His belief in himself was amazing." Pat Moulton, pitching for Shreve-port, Shreve-port, lost to Dizzy five straight times. Pat was naturally a trifle peeved. He wasn't cooled off when Dizzy said to him after the fifth defeat: "Pat, you're the luckiest pitcher ever saw. You've lost five times :o me but nobody ever roasts you. They don't expect you to beat Ole Diz." Now 20 years later Diz is having even more fun than he had as a pitching star. Or at least just as tnuch. Life to him is one big play-jround play-jround with plenty to laugh at. ifou hear reports or rumors that ihey are trying to change him here and there to smooth him off a uttle. My tip is they'd better leave lim just the way he is. I doubt if anybody could change him anyway. |