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Show I SPORTLICHT Home Run Competition Is Keen I By GRANTLAND RICE ' i MASS PRODUCTION in home runs will be a hustling business this, season, with keener competition competi-tion than we've known in some years. In past seasons it has been the custom of Ralph Kiner, the Pirate's big first baseman, to take charge. In his last five years with the Pirates, Kiner has struck off 23, 51, 40, 54, and 47 four-baggers. This leaves him all alone in any five- year group. But thing's are quite different In thii new season of 1951. Kiner's main challenger for the new campaign should be Gil Hodges, the powerful Dodger. Hodges is only 27 years old. He Is six feet one, and weighs 200 winning year in 1947. He had a bad year in 1948. He came back with another big winner in 1949. He fell apart once more in 1950. So far in 1951 he has had a hard time winning win-ning for Kansas City. Page worked in 60 tough games in 1949 which is more than the average aver-age arm can carry when you consider con-sider the long hours one spends in the bull pen. The same fact has now apparently apparent-ly overtaken Jim Konstanty, the 1950 iron man of the Phillies. Konstanty worked in 74 games last year. This means he was in the bull pen every day, warming warm-ing up for almost every game. There was considerable doubt last winter that the Phillies relief re-lief star could return with anything any-thing like the same stuff he bad last season. He may have had a rubber arm or an iron arm last year, but there is always a limit. Without Konstanty Kon-stanty last season, Eddie Sawyer's team could never have won. Kon-stanty's Kon-stanty's inability to hit his 1950 pace has been one of the main Philly drawbacks, plus the loss of Curt Simmons. This is like losing two star pitchers. Any team that catches and holds the Dodgers this season will need everything it can reach for. If you picked an all-star team from the National League, outside out-side of the Dodgers, few could break into the Brooklyn payroll. pay-roll. Who In the older circuit Is better than Campanella, Hodges, Robinson, Reese, Abrams, Snider and Furillo? Musial could get into this group, but not many others. The All-Star game this summer IS tlllMIIMfflllf-lhltlll j pounds. It seems ! that big Gil has set an increasing home-j home-j run tempo year by ; year. In his first full season with the Dodgers in 1948, he hit only 11 homers. In 1949 he lifted this mark to 23. In 1950 1 he moved it up to Grantland Rict 32. So far as 1951 is concerned, Hodges is off flying well ahead of Kiner, Ted Williams and other leading sluggers from past years. If Hodges could hold his opening clip steadily through the summer, he would have the best chance yet of reaching Babe Ruth's famous landmark 60 in one season. Gil was born in Princeton, Indiana, Indi-ana, not New Jersey, where he could have made the Tiger squad one of its best tackles or guards. He Is normally a .285 hitter but he expects to do better this season. Hodges is a leading part of the powerful Dodger attack. Any pitcher who has to face Abrams, well over .400, Reese, Snider, Robinson and Hodges (with Furillo due later) might as well stand with his back to the wall facing a firing squad. They can all pulverize any ball thrown in reach. As fine a home-run hitter as Ra'ph Kiner is, the big Pirate can't afford to lose too much ground to a hitter of Hodges' standing. And while Ted Williams is hitting poorly, poor-ly, so far as his batting average is concerned, be still retains his old power. Westlake has been giving Hodges his closest run. Westlake hit 23 home runs in 1949 end 24 in 1950. He is moving well beyond this pace in 1951. The Relief Handicap Pitchers working overtime In relief re-lief roles can have a year or two of glory, but they pay heavily. Joe Page had a terrific pennant- is imeiy 10 De me jjoagers vs. me American League unless some drastic dras-tic changes take place in the next few weeks. Racing's Boom Golf is facing one of Its greatest spectator seasons. The Masters at Augusta broke all past records. "I have never seen such crowds," Bobby Jones told me. "They were beyond belief." But actually racing appears to be the sport that is enjoying the greatest great-est boom. Crowds at Jamaica have been well above last year's gathering and the same increase is promised at Belmont and Aqueduct. In 1949 racing drew 23,813,890 visitors to various mutuel windows. win-dows. In 1950 the crowds numbered num-bered 24,121,233, only a slight gain. But In 1951 the jump has - been amazing. The rise started at Santa Anita. This forward movement took a neat leap in Florida and it began to spread this spring when the northern tracks opened. |
