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Show (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) THERE'S a touch of silver In the dark cloud hovering over the tribal home of the Cleveland Indiansthey In-diansthey haven't been picked to win the American league pennant. And for good reason. No one knows for sure Just how muck the absence of Rapid Robert Feller will Influence the Indians' destiny in 1942. If the slack created by his enlistment In the navy Is taken np by other pitchers, the team will cause plenty of trouble. Most sports fans want the Indians to come through this year. Lou Boudreau, putting in his first year as manager, seems to have won the complete confidence of his men. That, in itself, is a major achievement. achieve-ment. The 24-year-old Boudreau is little more than a youngster in the baseball world, yet he has the calm confidence of a veteran pilot. And the Indians aren't known as a group of Pollyannas. Good Judgment Baseball men appreciate Bou-drcau's Bou-drcau's smartness in selecting a pair of veterans like Burt Shotten and Oscar Melillo to be bis coaches. They are capable subordinates and can provide plenty of assistance. Feller's absence isn't the only Indian In-dian problem. That is proved by the fact that the Tribe was lucky to LOU BOUDREAU N finish In a fourth place tie with Detroit De-troit in 1941 when Bob won 25. It Isn't logical to talk about possible pos-sible Improvement In the Tribe until It's proved that other pitchers have a good chance of winning most of the 25 games which would have been Feller's. Boudreau is fairly optimistic opti-mistic about his hurlers both veterans vet-erans and newcomers. Among the former are Al Milnar, Al Smith, Jim Bagby, Harry Eisenstat and Mel Harder. The latter group Includes such artists as Ray Poat, Red Em-bree, Em-bree, Fete Center and Tom Ferrlck. Poat played ball with Boudreau at the University of Illinois. A righthander, right-hander, he was a star in the Three-Eye Three-Eye league last season, winning 17 while losing 6 games. He stands high with the Indians not because of his past record but because he looked consistently good in spring training camp. He has a fast ball, sharp curve and at least average control, perhaps better than that Ferrick won 8 and lost 10 for Philadelphia last year, but the Indians In-dians look to him for his share of wins, either in a starting or relief role. Embree, bought from Wilkes-Barre, Wilkes-Barre, boasts a sensational minor league record. He won 21 and lost 5 in 1941. Job for Veterans Center, recalled from Wilkes-Barre, Wilkes-Barre, won 14 and lost 8 last season. sea-son. For some reason he hasn't been ranked as high as Embree, Ferrick or Poat, but on the basis of his early season showing he'll have a good chance to prove himself. While the newcomers will have a big job on their hands, a good share of Boudreau's pitching this season will come from Harder, Bagby, Smith, Eisenstat, Milnar and Joe Heving. Others on the roster who may give additional aid are Dewey Adkins, Millard Howell, Vernon Kennedy, Joe Krakauskas, Chubby Dean and Clint Brown. Another performer who will bear watching is Steve Gromek, who came up from Flint, Mich., with a 1941 record of 14 wins and 2 losses. In the opinion of Gordon Cobbledick, Cleveland sports writer, "If there's 'another Feller' in sight it would be Gromek." It's entirely possible that Cleveland Cleve-land may finish out of the first division. divi-sion. On papet, Lou doesn't have the team that Oscar Vitt had in 1940, or Roger Peckinpaugh had in 1941. But Lou won't be downed without with-out a bitter struggle. He has the spirit and intelligence necessary for a manager. What's just as important, impor-tant, at least in Cleveland, is his ability to get along with fellow ball players. The Indians' catching leaves something to be desired. At the present writing Gene Desautels looks like the No. 1 boy behind the plate. However, he can't take anything any-thing for granted. Otto Denning, bought from Minneapolis, is crowding crowd-ing Desautels through his ability to hit. Neither of them will lead American league hitters. Desautels hit .201 last season with the Indians while Denning hit .260 for Minneapolis. Minneapo-lis. Jim Hcgan, another possibility, also came up from the minors, hit .212 in 1941. Much will depend on the eventual catching strength. |