Show if 0 RICE T IUS sporting life He may be chec check T TIllS 1 ei el d dizzy and dumb but it IS w never can cantell cantell never wholly tolly dull One tell from what direction the harpoon will be thrown Here Is a double example A few lew weeks ago the Louis Louis Louis-Conn Conn party w was s sto to be the season seasons 3 s greatest thriller At Phil that time the Phillies Phil lies were t the he joke sporting f of the A. A world They had a been tagged as 85 the ems eternal occupants of baseballs baseball's dog dog- house They were 1 supposed to be imbedded imbedded im bedded in the cement cement ce ce- k ment of the cellar All this sounded Grantland RIce i e reasonable bl e en enas enough ough as we looked over the chart Then with little warning a cloud no larger larg larg- thumb er than a mans man's hand or worked into a western twister while the Louis Louis-Conn tight fight broke all records records records rec rec- rec- rec as a monumental an flop flop an all- all time record About the same time the lowly Phillies began their upsurge Within With With- in two weeks they stole the glory of baseball They became more talked about than the Rod Red Sox orthe or orthe orthe the Yankees than the Dodgers or orthe orthe orthe the Cardinals They have made the Louis Louis-Conn dull round merry look loo k like a taffy pulling exhibition The Phillies have emerged from the grottoes and the underground Into the open They finally see the light of the sun again They can see the summer dawn and feel the rain Challengers Challengers- Now Through the combined efforts of owner Bob Carpenter general manager manager man man- ager alter Herb Pennock and manager Ben Chapman one of the most liberal liberal liberal lib lib- eral and one of the ablest combinations combinations combi combi- nations in n baseball the Phillies no longer are baseballs baseball's doormat They no longer belong to the tribe of Gods green footstools At last they are a real baseball team For several weeks now the Phillies Phillies Phil Phil- lies have been playing the best ball In the National league This may be no high tribute but It Is an amazing tribute to a team that has defended the cellar with record- record breaking stubbornness for a long time It should go as a high tribute to tol Carpenter Pennock and Chapman who have ha combined to turn out the best job In baseball for tor 1946 1916 The Phillies of 1946 have carried us back baek to the Boston Braves o ot of 1914 That happens to be some 32 years ago Around this date the Braves were in last place George Stallings the fiery flery Braves manager from Georgia was wearing out a asuit asuit asuit suit a week moving up and down the bench There have been many losing hard managers in baseball baseball- most of them are but are but Stallings holds bolds the record Then around the first of July the Braves began their move from the bottom They had Rabbit Maranville l at short and Johnny Evers at second Great field smart field smart brain brain big big heart no no hit They had Hank Gowdy the old Sarge back of the bat But above all they had three great pitchers pitchers Dick Dick Rudolph George Ty Ty- ler Ier and Bill James James- Day after day game after game we saw these three pitchers In the box score score- Rudolph Tyler and James This trio proved to us that three pitchers working every third or fourth day are all a ball club needs Working that often a pitcher gets control and confidence Im I'm not referring to the sore arm boys to the week once pitchers of ot the modern modern mod mod- ern era where it takes three or four pitchers to finish a ball game Rudolph Tyler and James started started start start- ed and finished their own games working at least twice a week They were not Dot pampered as the modern pitchers are barring such men as Feller and a few others From Fro Bottom to Top So the Braves moved from to place then to They moved from into the first division divi divi- division sion then headed for the top They made the top top and and they didn't need eight or ten pitchers to carry them along They needed only three- three Rudolph Tyler and James The light hitting overlooked Braves only murdered the Athletics Athletics ics in four tour straight games They outplayed and and out out- pitched and one of Connie Macks Mack's greatest teams Hank Gowdy Gow Gow- dy hit over ver in that series But the main malO answer again was Rudolph Ru Ru- dolph Tyler and James who had been seasoned under fire for over three months who had been worked often enough to know their trade Any pitcher who cant can't start and finish over 20 games who cant can't work in over innings Innings or or Inn Inn- isn't ings-isn't much of a pitcher What baseball n needs ds today is a tion of Rudolph Tyler and James who can ean handle a three months months' schedule practically unaided Modern Mod Mod- ern pitchers need far tar more work than they are getting No set of ot arms arIs ms can be that fan fragile fragUe that futile that weak It If Chapman only had mother Bother R Ru Ru- dolph Tyler and James he would wOul br breeze eze through this 1940 1916 race It wouldn't pennant even be a contest |