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Show SATURDAY, THE JOURNAL Page 6 OCTORER 13, 19- - 1 FARM TOPICS SPORTLIGHT Case of Salvatore Maglie Strange One GRANTLAND RICE Is replete with queer BASEBALL angles, mystery and In but nothing that quite tangles, the strange case of one approaches Salvatore Maglie, star pitcher of the Giants and possibly the star pitcher of both leagues. IIow could it all happen? Up until midsummer last year, Sal Maglie, born in Niagara Falls 84 years ago, was just another with the unknown pitcher Giants. He had been in baseball for 12 years, starting with Buffalo in 1938, and yet by 1950 had won only 46 games in organized baseball an average of four games a year. Then suddenly Maglie starts last summer, wins 18 games and drops four for an average of .818. Thats what you call pitching. This season Maglie moves into with 20 victories and six defeats for a mark of By mid-Septemb- over the plate. It often means pitchspot, low or high, ing into a two-inc- h inside or out. There are certain batters who can hit anything. But there arent too many. By hard work I found the control I needed, and I knew pretty well what a flock of hitters could hit and what they couldnt hit. Most of them have weaknesses. Thats what made Grover Cleveland Alexander such a great pitcher, I suggested. A lot of hitters felt like crying when they had to bat against Old Pete. Control can do you a lot of good, Maglie said. "Around 1943 I had almost given up. I didnt seem to be going anywhere. I was certainly glad to get a chance to work in turn last summer. That makes a big difference to a pitcher. By the time he came back to the Leo said. Sal was around 32 years old. He had been with the Mexican League and I knew little about him. You could see that he had kept himelf in condition, but I had other pitchers I knew more about. Then suddenly we began to run shy of pitchers. Outside of Jansen, the staff we had didnt look so hot. So we bought Jim Hearn and put Maglie to work. You know what happened after that. We played the best ball in the league. Maglie was a wonder. It was a question at 34 how hed go this season. His record answers that. Ill admit Maglies case is one of the strangest in baseball the case of a pitcher who started when he was 21 and didnt begin winning until he was 33. Maybe you can figure that one out. I cant. Giants, Leaves, Grass, Straw Are Good Materials for Winter Mulching Even though many gardeners have used mulches for years and more fats available and possibly a are aware of its value, they are weaker lard market. As a result this will mean more not sure of their reasons for mulchdifferential for type in live ing. It is not to prevent plants price that are too heavy or too Hogs hogs. from freezing, as often thought, will fat and probably have to take a but to prevent quick freezing discount than last year. larger thawing. believe farmers should Specialists It prevents drying out of plant feed out now 180 pounds. under hogs tissues, and freezing and thaw- Discounts on are such lightweights ing from heaving plants out of the that farmers can afford hardly not ground. It also prevents plant de- to feed them out. velopment too early in the spring With so many hogs starting to when buds might be harmed by market, packers can be rather late frost. about the type of hog for The gardener looking for mulch- choosey which they pay top prices. Both uning materials could try leaves derfinished and overfinished aniwhen available in quantity. They mals will sell at a disadvantage. Try to sell as many as possible between 200 and 240 pounds. Filling Up er .768. THE THE TRAP FICTION CORNER By Maglies three-yea- r record with Howie called again, Buffalo was no wins ffrnrist! Trist! Over here! and one loss, three Tristam Olds set the rake against and seven, nothing and seven four wins against 14 set- the barn and ran over the knoll to the orchard. backs, a rather fuzzy setup. Howie was bun- He retired in 1943 and 1944, in &ed against a 1945 he won five games for the trussed wrist Giants and dropped four, before deSMimifo tree, and ankle, very parting to the Mexican League pale. where he worked four years. Then whooshed Goodncsh, Boss-sh- ! suddenly in the last two seasons he has a combined mark of 38 victories from Trists dry, thin lips as he against ten defeats, a mark well undid the bonds. There, thats good enough. Ill above .750. finish by myself. Get to the barn How could this happen? I asked It fast. may be ablaze by now. I the quiet, likeable Giant star. Trist, amazement on his whiskercouldnt tell you, he said, with a framed face, jounced his aging slow smile. I honestly couldnt. and came up the Incline Six feet two, weighing above 190 bones breathing hard. pounds, he has an ideal build for the Flame licked over the haymow. pitching job. He swept up two pails and raced Everyone took me for granted as dowrn to the pump. Howie came runpitcher just another second-rat- e too. and I couldnt seem to win enough ning They scampered around for half games to change things. I kept try- an hour. At last the smoke began to ing to learn, and I had a chance to trail away. work out several ideas while pitchThats for now, said Howie, ing in Mexico. I had a chance to but well have to keep a sharp pitch regularly down there and that lookout. helped. It helped a lot. When Sheriff Gunfrey arrived, Howie had changed clothes and was Control the Factor rocking on the porch. Whats all this about burnin Just what did you learn that counted most? I asked. barns down? Hasnt been anything Control, Maglie said. I have like this since I copped the eleca fairly fast ball, but I dont bank tion." on my speed to win. Im no burn-em-b- y They tried it right enough, said Know of any strangers in Howie. and Control curves pitcher. Contown? are enough if you have both. said Gunfrey. trol doesnt mean getting a ball Nope, 1 y S1PD3SC1PE Joe MAHONEY PAUL RICHARDS THE WHITE SOX HUSTLING MANAGER SET SOME SORT OF A WORLD'S RECORD WHEN HE WAS PITCHING FOR WAXAHACHIE, TEXAS, HIGH. HE HURLED THE FIRST GAME OF A DOUBLE HEADER RIGHT' HAHOSD ANO THE SECOND ONE teFT-MND6- THE FIRST TIME IN PGA HISTORY THERE WAS A THREE-WATIE FOR LOW MEDAL HONORS. LLOYD MANGRUM, PETE COOPER AND CLAUDE HARMON WOUND UP WITH 142 FOR 36 HOLES. HARMON WON ON THE THIRD HOLE OF THC SUDDEN DEATH 'PLAYOFF. Daniel Shifren Well, little matter. Theyre from somewheres round here. But I guess either Sholl or Long is the guilty party either one or both. Gunfrey fired the crusty cake in his pipe and puffed. How you figure that, Howie? Theyre neighbors, man. In the last couple weeks they tried to buy out my farm. Kept upping the price, but I told em No. I got no yen to sell this place. Did they make any threats? They sure wasnt pleased. Hm. Ill hunt around town and ask em some questions. Ring me anything turns up. ttOWIE and Trist alternated on lookout. Chores were left undone. Then, during the night before Howie told Trist to discontinue the watches, he slipped out to the barn and emerged with a shovel and trowel. He worked and as light gray rose over the horizon, he laid out the last strips of straw and grass, returned the tools to the barn and came back. He led a coil of black wire through deep grass until he reached the pine tree. He wound the wire around and attached the house bell he had in his back pocket. The next morning he said to Trist, No use to keep up the watches. Theyre not likely to come back. Trist grunted. Sure. Mightsh well get back to work. The unexpected shrill of the house jell came that night. Howie rushed out without donning trousers, Trist behind him crying, Whats that bell for! But Howie did not answer. He swept the pit with a powerful flash, picking up their figures. Ones bandanna slipped as he tried to escape the slippery pit and he recognized Jerry, Trists youngest son. The boys eyes, large with fright, lit on Trist and he cried out, Dad! Howies flash wrent out then. He heard them stumbling away. The telephone rang before Howie could make his call. It was Gunfrey. Which one of em was it bought out Trists boys to fire my barn, Gunfrey? Gunfrey said, You were right, Howie. I didnt know I mean about Trist. More the boys. They wanted the money bad. Trist couldnt do nothing with em. Afraid theyd get caught so he kept his mouth shut. Howie, I broke Long down. He tried to blame Sholl, but I got him to admit something like what he was up to. I was thinkin Id hate to prosecute anyone seeins no harm done. . . "I dont want you to, Sheriff, only Yeh, I thought about that. Gunfrey laughed his cackle. "Long wont be around after tomorrow. Im lettin him leave town. ... Mulching is natures way of providing plant protection. Leaves, grass, straw, peat moss and ground corn cobs are all good mulching material. for perennials are satisfactory borders and beds, rock gardens and around evergreens and shrubs. Straw Is another good material, good for strawberry especially beds. Oat straw Is preferred over wheat and others. Peat Moss is often used and does an excellent job of preventing temperature fluctuations, but has a tendency to crust on top. Grass clippings are good, too, if available in large quantity. Ground corn cobs have recently come into use as a mulch, especially for roses. This material is reported to also improve the soil by stimulating the growth of micro- organisms. Pound Hogs Will Bring the Best Price 200-24- 0 According to livestock specialists, both underfinished and overfinished hogs are likely to sell at larger than-usudiscounts this fall. The 1951 pig crop of about 105 million head is the second largest on record, and there no longer is the strong world demand for fats and oils of a year ago. So there will be al Restored pens of the Kansas City stockyards begin to fill up as cattle flow in again after the great flood. More than 20 feet of flood water covered this area. The job of rehabilitation has been hailed as an outstanding feat by livestock men throughout the midwest. Cattle Grubs Cause Big Meat and Hide Losses Not less than 12 million pounds of the most valuable part of the are trimmed out holes from cattle slaughtered in the U. S., according to livestock specialists. The trimming detracts from the carcass appearance, resulting in a lower price per pound. It has also been estimated that grubs cause $20 million damage to hides each year, enough to make a million shoes. beef carcass around grub Korean History China annexed Korea in 108 B.C. Howto HAROLD ARNETT PREVENT CLOSET HOOKS from DENTING BY HATS AND DRAWING THEM OUT OF SHAPE BY FORCING SPONGE RUBBER BALLS OVER THE HOOKS. THE SPONGE WILL HOLD THE HATS MORE FIRMLY. |