Show I- I Sports ports M. M Mirror I r r 0 r JOHN MOONEY By Telegram Sports Editor There are arc many figures in sports who have reached the heights of achievement in more than one field men and women who have made a name for themselves in a chosen form of competition and then kept climbing to attain new honors in a vastly different field Among this group of all around stars one readily recalls Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb two of baseballs baseball's immortals who play golf in the low Mildred Babe Didrickson who I i excelled in track events and then took up golf successfully successfully successfully success- success fully Gene Tunney heavyweight boxing champion who became a minor authority in the classic literature field Bill Tilden the tennis impresario who tried acting for a time and Sam Bird ex- ex exY Yankee ex-Yankee Y anke outfielder who has been up in the money in pro golf circles recently But Wilbur Shaw isn't generally known except for his skill in piloting racing cars nota notably ly at the Indianapolis Speedway classic class c Memorial day where he has won three track grinds Shaw takes the track May 30 this year seeking his fourth triumph in what will be his thirteenth attempt at defying death on the soaked oil-soaked bricks Dig a little deeper into the history of this dapper little daredevil and one discovers 1 Shaw plays golf Consistently consistently consistently con Con- in the low seventies 2 has a case full of marksmanship marksmanship marksmanship marks marks- manship trophies that would make a marine sergeant green with envy 3 sits a a. horse like a veteran jockey 4 can fly his own plane with the best of pilots 5 rates as a witty and capable dinner after-dinner speaker 6 once acted as a successful Boy Scout master 7 casts a fly like a nephew of Izaak Walton and last but not least 8 can manipulate a throbbing racing car around the oval with the best of them Although independently wealthy Shaw still drives for forthe the love of competition even to the extent of defying the No 13 jinx which hangs over this most superstitious of racing racing bowls But it itis s not Shaws Shaw's desire for competition alone that spurs him on to risk his neck annually since I hes he's po possessed with the dream of becoming the first racer I j in history to win the four times Shaws Shaw's triumphs have been tinged with drama and andI I pathos from the time he won his first championship at Indi Indianapolis in 1937 by nosing out Ralph Hepburn by two seconds Hepburn had been receiving assistance from a relief driver a good share of the race and Ted Horn had just returned from a pit stop and a checkover as the three roared into the thelast thelast last hundred miles of the race all even in laps i t Shaw had been forced to make an early repair stop and with the the-r therace ce so nearly over he felt he couldn't afford to lose the time necessary to check the car even though an oil leak was dropping the pressure dangerously low and hot oil was scalding his le legs s. s With tires doubtful fuel low and his legs scorching from their oil bath Shaw calmly mapped the rest of the race He reasoned that it would be dangerous to risk his starved oil-starved motor on high speed turns so he decided to b back ck t up his rivals on the curves and drive all out on n the I straightaways where his meager oil supply would do his mot motor r the most good His strategy worked completely and 5 he nosed over the line the winner by less than half a aU U minute i I Shaw and Louie Meyer a time three-time winner fought it out in 1939 with Shaw finally wearing Old Master Meyer down Wilbur's win of last year yeal carried a tinge of of disappointment for the crowd and the racers alike since the last miles mile were driven under a slow down I flag which h thwarted Rex Mays' Mays chance to make a last minute duel of ff the race Incidentally Shaw was the first driver to introduce metal crash helmets at Indianapolis and he stuck with his innovation on despite the ribbing of the other drivers in 1932 Now iSlow the tile helmets are compulsory and many a a. a r racer Fer owes owes his life to S Shaws Shaw's aws farsightedness I 4 S 7 I S. S Franny Morris the Be Bees Bees' s' s new catcher is only starting I his second season as a receiver having played third base V up p until untila a year ago Morris played winter baseball on the same cub that S Eddie Stutz San Francisco Seal hurler pitched for but butI I Franny was an infielder until Stutz with the regular catcher hurt for the umpteenth time drafted Morris for a battery m mate te The club won and Morris stayed behind the plate I The Seals offered Morris a contract and like a smart kid t S he turned it down demanding a bonus No one was more surprised surprised surprised sur sur- than Fran when the Seals his every request and so o now hes he's a catcher Morris and Manager Tom are the only married men amen on the 1941 Bee r roster ster J I |