Salt Lake Telegram | 1937-02-16 | Page 28 | Backseat Driving

- J - FRANK. K- BAKE R j I TELEGRAM SPORTS E0ITOR. fr rj SO i From no less an authority than Kid Davis comes the word that Billy Barnes, the former South high school : leather pusher, is apt to go a long, long way in the welterweight welter-weight ranks. Davis, just back from a tour of California fight centers with his heavyweight protege, Lee Robinson of the Denver and Rio Grande railroad shops, says that Barnes is already in tremendous tremen-dous demand. Nearly 7000 fans turned out recently to see Barnes fight Abie Miller in a 10-rounder that had most of the spectators on their feet for the last four rounds. In fact, the Kid says he had twelfth row seat himself and you know he's not so tall he had to stand on his chair to see over the heads of those standing In front of him. Barnes has developed powerful right hand since he left Salt Lake City and be'i a much mora courageous fighter than he used to be, the Kid noticed. Moreover, he Is In the hands of an extremely shrewd manager, Harry (Bumps) Sherry, and the Kid believes that Barnes will win the Pacific Pa-cific coast title and get a crack at still bigger laurels In the east. uavlTTsconslderlng anotheFlrip to the coast withRobinson, the former Price husky, who first rose to attention in the A. A. U. amateur bouts here a year ago. Robinson did some sparring against Lee Ramage and King Levlnsky, the noisy fish peddler from Chicago, on the last trip. He got only one crack at Levinsky, however, for the next day the King's brother, Sam, told Kid Davis that it was all off. "Your fighter has such an awkward style, the King can't hit him," Sam said in trying to explain Levinsky'a failure to look good even against the inexperienced Robinson. According to Davis, the King does all Us fighting on his heels and Is well on his way to his fihal curtain call as a fighter. Robinson, the Kid felt, made a good impression with fight critics along the coast and can get plenty of bookings book-ings right away If he's willing to take a six-rounder, but Kid feels that the Rio Grande puncher needs a little more seasoning and training before he tackles the more experienced expe-rienced boys ever that long a route. Robinson now weighs 195 pounds. Baseball fans have been wondering why Frankie Frisch, the Fordham Flash, is so insistent upon playing second base for the St. Louis Cradinals again this sum- mer, and the answer may lie in the explanation that Frankie needs but 127 more hits to reach the 3000-hit mark. Only four other men have piled up this many safeties In modern times. They are Ty Cobb, Trig Speaker, Hana Wagner and Larry Lajoie. One can understand how Frisch would like to bat his way ; Into this tiny hall of fame. He hadn't planned to play regularly regular-ly this season, but la said to be planning more and more activity ac-tivity for himself because of the recent illness of Stuart Mar- tin. Frisch recently told diamond scribes at a midwinter base-I base-I ball meeting that he would play in a hundred games next sum- mer. Upon being pinned down more definitely, he cut it to j 90 games. And bad as Frankie would like to get those 127 ; blows, he can be counted upon to bench himself if he finds he is jeopardizing the chances of the Gashouse gang really going places in the National league. For, although he isn't admitting it pu6llcly, Frisch knows he is approaching the end of his topnotch playing days, for he's on the verge of beginning his nineteenth major league campaign.