OCR Text |
Show COMEONE called Dick Bartell, 0 now with the New York Giants, "a ball player's ball player." The Irrepressible Bartell is something more than that. He is "everybody's ball player." Born 35 years ago in Chicago, now in his 16th big league season, Bartell Bar-tell is still traveling at his top speed, as full of flame and smoke as he was ten years agrv If all ball players play-ers hustled up to the Bartell standard stand-ard the game would pick up a much faster pace. They've moved him around from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to New York to Chicago to Detroit and back to New York again in this 16-sea- . w car f r ! J DICK BAETELL son pilgrimage, but they haven't removed re-moved any of the old pep that packs his 148-pound system. The veteran Giant still spells aggressive ag-gressive with a capital A. It's all quite simple when you talk to BartelL "I happen to love baseball," he says, "and I like to bustle. Once in a while I find the old legs are not what they used to be, but a short rest always takes care of that. It's the legs that get you, not the batting eye. Last year in my 15th season I still batted .303 in 104 games, a few points above my all-time average. I hope to beat .300 again this season with any luck. e e Pastors Two Records Whatever morbid fate may attack Bob Pastor in his next start, probably prob-ably against Joe Louis, you can still hand him two records. No. 1 He deserves some brand of woodland chaplet for leading all ex-collegians in the heavyweight group. No other campus-educated dome has yet matched Pastor's place among the major leather chuckers. Ex-collegians have found few happy hunting grounds in the ring. No. 2 A near record from the prophet's corner. Pastor informed your correspondent last summer that he would win at least ten straight fights and thereby get his third crack at Joe Louis a somewhat some-what strange ambition. The rubbery heavyweight has more than kept his promise. A combination of gameness, smartness, smart-ness, speed and experience has lifted the ex-Violet more than once from near oblivion. We are not quite sure, however, how smart a fellow is who spends most of his career trying to spend his evenings in the same pit with Joe Louis. e e A Big Show Paul V. McNutty federal security administrator, has suggested a set of American Olympic games, with the 48 states in a hot scramble for supremacy. This would be a home-grown, homemade show of unusual interest, loaded with arguments and intersec-tional intersec-tional debates. It would have to be something more than a state-for-state contest, where the job of handling han-dling California in track and field might be more than any other single state could handle. California, with Dean Cromwell and others handling unlimited talent, would have a decided de-cided margin. But this isn't the nnlv nnplo that miphl he worked nut. First there could be a state by state racking. Also, there could be an Intersectlonal battle bringing East against West, or North against South. Or there could be other subdivisions sub-divisions East, Midwest, Far West, and South. The main McNutt idea has unlimited un-limited possibilities. It could be worked into a matter of state pride and sectional pride, on a par with any college football rivalry. And it would be a big lift for nation-wide interest in harder, keener training. Here is an idea that should be worked out under proper direction without too much waste of time. e e e The Rookie Crop Unless the draft scythe operates shortly the rookie crop of 1942 will be high above the harvest ef last year. Oscar Jndd, Yank Terry and Johnny Pesky of the Bed Sox; Nanny Nan-ny Fernandes of the Braves; Wil-Urd Wil-Urd Marshall of the Giants; Stan Mnsial of the Cards; Hal White of the Tigers; Bert Baas of the Beds; Vera Stephens of the Browns these are only a few who have at least shown they belong in big league harness. |