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Show (Released by Western Newspaper Union.! JUST year ago Rookie Lou Novl-ko(T, Novl-ko(T, publicized as one of the most devastating hitters of all times, was assigned to the third spot in the Chicago Cubs' batting order. There, according to a training camp communique, com-munique, he was to remain. Today, Novikoff comes close to being the forgotten man. When the Cubs started batting practice this season, the name of Novikoff was listed among the reserves There were no Interviewers swarming about him. Press photographers didn't And It necessary to overwork their Imagination to get novel shots of him. Remember the articles in slick ' paper magazines last year? According Accord-ing to them, Lou was going to blast his way through the National league with all the power of a heavy duty tank. j Thorny Trail He had hit .363 for Los Angeles to I lead the Pacific Coast league. To summarize his past record, he led the sluggers In three out of the four j minor leagues In which he played. But big league pitching proved altogether al-together different. So different, In fact, that Lou ended the season In Milwaukee. Charley Root claims that Novikoff j is murder against a wild pitch, but j not so goorfagainst a curve ball over j LOU NOVIKOFF the plate. Several other National league pitchers agree that Lou is helpless against a fast ball, inside, neck high. Root doesn't hold with this theory. But Lou admits that he was too fat last year that he car-" ried too much weight around the chest and shoulders. "They were throwing balls around the shoulders that I used to kill, but I just couldn't get that bat around." Lou definitely is worried. He has taken off 14 pounds and is deadly serious about the coming season. He knows he can't afford to blow his chances in 1942. Baseball fans in general are pulling pull-ing for the Mad Russian. When be failed to deliver for the Cubs last season, a large number of self-appointed self-appointed analysts claimed he was over-publicized. Too many lavishly worded newspaper clippings, they said, caused him to become cocksure cock-sure and careless. Never Careless Lou. may have been cocky but he was never careless. One of his faults was that he tried too hard. He was determined to live up to his topnotch minor league ranking. When things went wrong he tightened tight-ened up. On the West coast it was thought that Lou was a better natural hitter than Ted Williams of the Red Sox. A year ago they thought Novikoff was a sure .300 maybe .350 hitter. Williams hit .406 with the Red Sox, Lou hit .241 during his stay with the Cubs. Jimmy Wilson, Cub leader, is extremely ex-tremely anxious to park his club in a first division berth. In addition, his gratitude would know no bounds if he could knock over a few favorites favor-ites on the way up. The team has its chance. His boys were picking up sped when the 1941 season ended. Novikoff's case will be one of the most interesting 1942 experiments. experi-ments. What he can do this year will mean a lot to the Cubs. They need power at the plate. With Lou meeting his previously established standards the Cubs would be an immeasurably im-measurably strengthened ball club. Buy Defense Bonds SPORT SHORTS ft Seventeen of the 66 horses which have won the Kentucky Derby still are alive. Of the 17, Gallahadion and Whirlaway still are racing, ft Private Joe Louis, stationed at ; Camp Dix, does not lack for sparring partners. Some of the army boys are plenty rugged for Joe's needs, ft Joe Marty of the Phils, former Cub, is going into the marines, ft Joe and Dom DiMaggio had 16 assists each last season. Dom had 385 putouts and Joe had 385. ft Teams in the National Football leagues scored 99 touchdowns on forward for-ward passes in 1939, 98 in 1940, and 99 in 1941. ft Average cost of room and meals for a big league ball player in spring training is $7 a day. ft Gene Flick, Minnesota center who was drafted by the Packers, has taken the coaching job at Red Wing, Minn., high school, instead. |