OCR Text |
Show LEO DUROCHER hasn't the easiest eas-iest Job In sport next year. He takes over, rightfully, a ball club that had its greatest year last season. sea-son. The Dodgers have won pennants pen-nants before, but they never won a flag with so many spectacular thrusts, they never played to as many people and they never looked as good in any past world series. Since Larry MacPhail and Branch Rickey were under fire last spring, not Durocher, his year's suspension was out of order There was little Rickey could right-fully right-fully do except give Durocher another chance. The Dodgers Dodg-ers were supposed to be pennant winners win-ners in 1948 not in 1947, according to Rickey's sched-Durocher sched-Durocher ule. Burt Shotton beat the gun by a year. The Dodgers should be better bet-ter in 1948 than they were in 1947. Durocher has the same team with a year's more experience. This can be a big help to the Dodger pitching pitch-ing staff which Is packed with young talent that only needed a few pitching pitch-ing angles and better control It takes a year or longer for a thrower to become a pitcher, but the Dodger's raw material has been exceptional Durocher should have five or six winning pitchers nexl spring, including Ralph Branca who may reach the 25-game spot Durocher also discovered through his year's rest that even blgget crowds will come oat If there Is less umpire-baiting, which Is no longer required. No one cares how hard the teams and the manageri fight one another. Crowds today are 1 no longer interested in argument? with umpires. Has Fire and Color Billy Southworth, one of the greatest great-est of all managers, has proved this for years. So has Joe McCarthy, another an-other member of the all-time greats. Shotton proved this case beyond all argument. The crowd comes out to see a ball game not to listen tc a dull and dumb debate between some manager and some umpire. A fighting manager is all right-but right-but why fight with umpires? Thii type of baseball belongs with th Dodo and the Great Auk. Being s pretty smart fellow, Durocher ha sensed the big change, I believe. No one can question the fact that Durocher isn't smart. He has firs and color and a scrappy, hustling ball club. He also has one or twc tough ball clubs to beat, including the Braves and Cardinals. Also the Giants, if Mel Ott can get any pitching. The Giants have everything every-thing else. The Cards, who made a brilliant showing last year by forging lntc second place after a dismal start, again will be a threat. The pitch- ing staff will be the main worry, coupled with the advanced age ol players. Only a small Improvement on thi part of Braves and Cardinals can make a big difference, especially 11 the Dodger pitching staff doesn't move up and locate, in a vagus way, the general direction of th home plate. Lack of Control Along this line, we've just received re-ceived a letter from our all-tim favorite pitcher Grover Cleveland Cleve-land (Old Pete) Alexander, whe isn't far from being the greatest all-around all-around pitcher that ever threw s ball. And this includes Cy Young, Walter Johnson and Christy Math-ewson; Math-ewson; also Carl Hubbell and Lefty Grove. Here is Alexander's letter: "Dear Grant, I just finished reading read-ing your article on what is wrong' with present day pitchers, and thought I would drop a few lines, No, I am not looking for anything. I am just trying to figure why they never have taken some old-timeri on during spring training to work with these young throwers, as yon aptly termed them. They teach hitting hit-ting and about everything else, but not pitching. "When I first came, to Phllly, Pal Moran was the coach, and about the first thing he said to me wai this: 'Kid, you have a good arm, but a heck of a lot to learn.' He took me in hand and he sure did teach me. Pat was smart. Of course, 11 took work. Hard work. "I never have been able to find out just what I did that put me on baseball's blacklist I tried several times to get back, and even wrots Mr. Chandler for almost anything to do. I had a nice letter from him, and then another one saying thai there was no opening and they did not expect any. I was just out "Pitching means control. By control con-trol I don't mean the plate I mean one or two Inches of the plate, A real pitcher ought to be able U get the ball one or two Inches from where he wants It not one of two feet. But pitchers need Instruction, Instruc-tion, which few ever get What good Is stuff, the greatest stuff evei thrown, that can't cross the plate? This means hard work hard worl and instruction learning how maybe the bard way, which Is generally gen-erally the only way. G. C. Alexander, Wood Elver, Di." |