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Show SPEAKING OFi SPORTS By ROBERT McSHANE 1 lad by Western Newspaper Union IT COULDN'T have happened to a better guy. That was the unanimous opinion expressed around Detroit not long ago when Walter O. Briggs' Detroit Tigers won the American league pennant For Walter Briggs is Mr. Baseball to the thousands of wild-eyed fans who assisted vocally in the scalping of the Cleveland Indians. Briggs Is unique In the annals of big league baseball. He has pledged his word that he does not want to make money out of the game. One of the nation's greatest sportsmen, he Is not financially dependent upon his ball club. The customers that keep the turnstiles clicking in Briggs stadium are not paying for his groceries gro-ceries and rent. All the money that comes In the gate Is turned back to the club treasury for the betterment of Detroit baseball. Born into a family of no more than average circumstances, Walter played baseball in the sandlots from the time he was big enough to wrap his handi'i arotrnd a bat. Later on, when he was able to get away from worn, ne speni nis auernoons in a 25-cent bleacher seat. Becomes Part Owner The acquisition of money didn't change Walter Briggs. His love for baseball never cooled. When Bill Yawkey and John Kelsey died, he took over their interest in the ball club. He didn't want to make money mon-ey out of it he didn't need it he merely wanted to be a part of baseball. base-ball. Finally Briggs and Frank Navin were left as owners of the club. Navin Nav-in depended on it for his livelihood. Then along came the 1933 season when Navin was so disgusted he was ready to fold chances of ever getting get-ting together a winning combination seemed far too remote for all practical prac-tical purposes. Briggs offered the solution. They would hire Mickey Cochrane to take over. Navin vetoed the suggestion, declaring de-claring that it would be too expensive. expen-sive. Connie Mack wanted more than $100,000 for him and the club couldn't stand it. Then Walter gave Detroit baseball its biggest boost. He wrote a personal check for the full amount. Pennant Winners Cochrane came to the Tigers, and the smartness of Briggs' move was demonstrated when they won the American league pennant in '34 and 35 and the World Series in '35. Navin's death a short time later t sole owner ICli aa 1-. . v. . , and Number One fan of the Tigers. But if Briggs doesn't care to make money out of the Tigers, he does want a winning team. There's a curious cu-rious story behind his greater than ordinary desire for winners, and that story was related recently by "Iffy," a veteran Detroit sports writer. Tiger officials, that writer says, have been criticized because they have bought so many ball players with established records-players who are no longer improving. Not enough attention has been paid to up and coming youngsters-lads who need three or four years of season- ing. The reason, according to "Iffy. Is that Walter Briggs Is a sick man. He feels that he may not be around long enough to watch young, untried players develop into championship material. That's why Briggs wants Manager Del Baker to buy players who are established-men who can be depended on when the chips are down and who have been to the wars so often that the big league fight holds no terrors for them. The Big Reason? Maybe that's the reason why the Tigers came through this year. Certainly Cer-tainly the early-season dopestev didn't pick the elderly gentlemen from Detroit as a team to watch. Baker started the present season with no illusions. He expected I no flip-flop in the flag race. The Yanks in his book, were supreme When the Tigers were in iranis land, Fla.. in March, Manager Baker Ba-ker was quoted as saying: "The Yankees have a chance this year to prove they are an even greater club than they were last fear They may have been penalised Tb by the league for winning too maVy pennants, but they'll Jake a lot of beating In this one too. To Detroit fans it was more than Js Mother victory A club .flgur ed no better than third or tour place came through at the right tuje. waa a Frank Merriwell flmsh-jusi Z 'kW f hat would delight the heart of Mr. Baseball. Sport Shorts TbeNew York Yankees won , seven World Series in 31 games, from 192 until 1939. inclusive . . Bape hit 5 home runs in six series He championslnp. |