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Show Marvin Owen . . . best fielding third sacker FRANK K. BAKER ' TELEGRAM .PORTS EDITOR - DickeyAverages391 as Backstop for Yankees By PAT ROBINSON International News Sports Writer NEW YORK, Dec. IS Fielding averages can be, and very often are, deceivinsr. Such, for instance vtm the averages ne year that showed S t u f fy Maclnnia well nigh perfect as a fielder when, as a matter of fact, he was playing play-ing first base on a dime. O c c a s 1 onally, the figures do reveal re-veal a player's real worth. A case in point is found in the official American league fielding averages For the first time in a long while, the name of Jerome Je-rome Hanner Dean, "Dizzy" to the baseball world in general, gen-eral, has not been mentioned in a trade or sale prospect during the hot stove season. Last winter, and the year before, Dean was very much in demand. Only 12 months ago the Chicago Cubs were willinK to pay out $100, 00Q, so they said, for the eccentric pitcher of the St. Louis Cardinals. Things are much different now, however. There are absolutely abso-lutely no offers. "Dizzy" has lost all market value, due to a combination of things, including a sore arm and his penchant for getting himself too frequently into the headlines for reasons other than winning ball games. As Henry McLemore, the United Press sports writer, pointed cut recently while here in Salt Lake City, the Car-. Car-. dlnals now are the only team that would have "Dizzy." The rest of the National leaguers wouldn't take a chance on him. The talkative star, for all his escapades, has toiled mighty hard en the mound for the Cardinals. For thai reason his ence great pitching arm may not respond to rest and treatment treat-ment It may be finished so far as consistently good chocking chock-ing Is concerned. All that remains to be seen in spring training and the 1938 campaign. Te forecast that Dean will be able te come back or that he won't, would be a guess pure and simple. One wonders how "Dizzy" will react to his new position. po-sition. No longer a pampered star whose performance " Dickey released today which reveal that Harland Cllft, the Brownies' third baseman, can do something more than slug a ball. Although Marvin Owen of the Tigers led the third sackers with an average of .970, Cllft created a new major league record for the hot comer by accepting 603 chances and made a new record for assists with 405. He also set a new record by taking part in 50 double plays and tied a league record by making nine assists in one game. The Tigers again led the league for the fourth straight year with a .976 mark, two points ahead of Cleveland and four ahead of the Browns, Senators and Yanks. The Tigers made only 147 errors, or less brings forth exorbitant offers, the Great One has become be-come one of the big question marks of the big leagues. Will he cut out his temperamental capers and work diligently in an attempt to recapture the prowess that enabled en-abled him to cast spells of impotency over rival batters? Or will be continue to swagger, pick fights with everybody every-body on the team and boast of his performances even in the face of a declining trail? Once again, the answer cannot be forecast. Pampered star are hard to cure of their temperament, though. Their ; I Indeed a pitiful plight. Accustomed to the hutzahs, elated with their ability to call their shot, they find their swagger- Ing customs a deep-set habit. They grasp for any little thing that will enable them to continue their braggadiccio fashion. If that should bo Dean's fate, he's apt to boast as much of bow ho struck out Jo Doakes with the base empty . a ho one did about stopping the Giant with three blow in a whole game. So while baseball await the answer to these ejueitlons, perhaps Sam Breadon, president of the Cardinals, Car-dinals, probably wishe now that he had taken some of those excessive offer for hi star before the bottom dropped out of the market than one a game, while accepting 6106 chances. Resides Owen, the Tigers placed Charlie tiehringrr, the league's leading hitter, at the top of the second basemen with a .9M average aver-age and Billy Rogrll at the head of the shortstops with .968. It waa the fourth atraight time that Gehringer ha led his rivals In fielding. This was another ease wherein the average bespoke a player's true caliber. Jimmy Foxx of the Red Sox led the first basemen with .994. while Lou Gehrig of the Yanks and Zcke Bonura of the White Sox were tied for last with .989, only .005 separating separat-ing top and bottom. Bill Dickey of the Yanks led the catchers with a snappy .991 and Mike Kreevich of the White Sox topped the outfielders with .988, one point ahead of the Browns' Sammy West. Joe DiMaggio of the Yanks had the most outfield putouts 413. Several pitchers had perfect fielding records, the most noteworthy note-worthy being that of the White Sox veteran, Ted Lyons, who went through his third complete season without an error. Ted made hi last miwue August 5. 1934. and since then he has played in SI game, makin- sn putotit and 126 aMftlKt without an error. |