Show Dem Dem iem Bums' Bums Classiest Nine in Play By GRANTLAND RICE RICE- miE ME four lour years ago back In the fearly early earty winter of ot 1947 two emit emi- emi t baseball diagnosticians Harry linger lager Inger the Detroit historian of ot oft ott rt t and Toots Shor w were re discus discus- w- w i the two pennant races hey ey were talking about the 1 There will be little to It in the anal onal League for tor some time to toe tos s e but the Dodgers ery cry little to it Toots replied ey ley have all the ballplayers they d and they have others coming lust as good t is the list of young players lug Ing on said This ger gee team is almost sure to get nger mger and stronger By 19 1950 O or It will be at Its best hard to tot t for several seasons Shor eed fully tully e Dodgers won In 1947 They again in 1949 They should have easily in 1950 Now as inger iager and Shor said four years they are approaching a new r. r Rickey built much too atoo well the remainder of ot the National igue pie gue race Especially his Pirates are currently far tar behind the gers Isn't only for 1951 that this Brooklyn shadow will hang the rest of ot the league This g might go on for tor several campaigns campaigns campaigns cam cam- as it did for tor forthe forthe the Yankees some years back w when hen they U won six out of ot s seven eve n conse consecutive pennants i I cant can't see how i any other team can get enough extra help or add added e d strength to move within a furlong of tI I Rice Rici the NL N-L- leaders They had all aU the theof theof theof of it until they added Schmidt and this merely id d crushing strength on both the theand naive and defensive side Gently the Dodgers moved ugh a heavy batting slump yet kept on winning with better g than anyone looked for the long hit needed in a pinch overconfidence or sheer lazi- lazi can stop this squad f Sting For the Punch t ears ago Stanford had seven who deserved to make any AU All team Among them were Topping Benes Genes Hamilton and andy b by y Grayson let et they kept winning games by Id ild goal We knew we could win tine time we felt like It Topping tt Ine So wed we'd fool around and II 17 someone would say Aw J lick kick dc a field goal This Dodger team is much the same way They seem to fool around until the eighth or ninth Inning and you can almost hear Dressen or someone else say Aw lets let's have havea a home run And Snider or Hodges or Campanella Campanella Campanella Cam- Cam panella or Furillo or Robinson will promptly oblige oblige even even with two out in the ninth With now added every man on the team down to the pitcher is dangerous The Red So SoE have Ted Williams Vern Stephens Bobby Doerr and maybe one or two more who can upset upset upset up up- set the apple cart on a moments moment's no m no- no tice But the Red Sox have no such array of ot bombs A-bombs as the Dodgers have The Yankees in this respect are not even in their class or close to their class The Cardinals have Stan and and who else The Giants Glants have one or two fair distance distance distance dis dis- tance hitters Pittsburgh has Kiner liner The White Sox have Robinson But what other team has Snider Hodges Campanella Furillo Robinson Robinson Robinson Rob Rob- inson and now and then a fellow known as Pee Wee Reese The Test of Oakmont Oakland Hills always a first-class first test was up for the recent US U.S. Open Apparently it Is impossible to soup up a course beyond Ben Hogans Hogan's play But no one has to soup up Oakmont a bunkered fortress fortress fortress for for- tress just outside of Pittsburgh where the holds championship champion ship at match play Tommy Armour a brilliant golfer in his day tied Harry Cooper at Oakmont in the 1927 US U.S. Open with witha a score and then won the playoff playoff play play- off 76 70 to 79 Armour was good goodenough goodenough goodenough enough to be US U.S. British and champion Sam Parks won the US U.S. Open at Oakmont in 1935 with Par at Oakmont is 73 So the last two winners there needed an average average average av av- av- av of 8 over par After all was good enough to win or tie at Oakland Hills mils This was 13 strokes under the Oakmont test test and and at Oakmont the stroke-saving stroke wedge was just coming into use According to Armour the wedge means a saving of 2 strokes a round or 8 strokes in a hole 72 test Oakmont the dream terror of Bill BlU Fownes is a test for tor either match or medal play but its main pressure comes from the medal side Merion Merlon and Oakland Hills are re the two toughest courses the Open has known mown In recent years But neither neither nei net ther is quite up to Oakmont with its ridged bunkers and its slippery greens In match play Oakmont lends it itself itself It it- self to birdies as well as to bogies |