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Show STRONG PITCHING STAFF OF ROBINS No Fault of Hurlers That Dodgers Are Low. If you can't understand . why the Brooklyn Dodgers are hovering so close to the tirst division, consider their pitching staff. If -t isn't the best in th-- National League it will do until a better oue com s aijng. I'iiching has beii carrying the Dodgers along in the face of some of the must weird Melding ever seen on a major league diamond. Harvey llendrick, an outlitlder, s playing third base. Babe Herman, a first baseman, is playing in the outfield. Rube Bressler, sometime pitcher .nd first base'i.an, is holding down another outfiel- post. So the Dodger: '-ink sixth In the National league .. .aing averages with a uediocre oercentage of .IMS. Manager Wilbert Robinson made those shifts in the hope of developing develop-ing a more potent attack. But Brooklyn's Brook-lyn's clubbing is nothing to get enthusiastic en-thusiastic about. That brings us to the pitchers. First, there is Dazzy Vance. So many have sung the saga of the Dazzler that his fame is established wherever baseball is known. He is the sort of a pitcher around whom legends grow. Twenty years from now when baise-ball baise-ball experts call the role of the great pitchers of our generation they are likely to name three Johnson, Alexander Alex-ander and Vance. Next to Vance comes Jess Petty, whose hair is streaked with gray bul whose arm is strong and cunning. Petty, temperamental and erratic, pushed himself nto the big leagues by virtue of bis peerless pitching fr." Indianapolis in the American association. associa-tion. He has bad his troubles with club discipline but is a lot of help to the Robins. On paper Doug McWeeny seems the best man on the staff. So far this year he has registered at a .GG7 rate. The Robins seem to hit harder for McWeeny than they do for any other pitcher. The only reason Do- cannot can-not be listed among the best pitchers pitch-ers of all time is that occasionally he allows his Irish temper to get away from him. Jumbo Elliott is the big disappointment. disap-pointment. Robinson was banking heavily o- him at the start of the season, but Elliott simply has failed to win regularly. Wa: on Clark, responding to some careful coaching, is on tiie winning side of tlK ledger and is hurling consistent con-sistent ball. The strangest case of all is that of Old Bill . Doak. Robinson carries him largely to pitch against just one team the Cincinnati Reds. Doak can beat the Reds anytime he chooses .but is often ineffective against other tennis. Ehrhardt, Koupal and Moss are being be-ing used chiefly for relief work. Back of the success of the Dodgers' Dodg-ers' pitchers is Uncle Wilbert Robinson, Robin-son, who has no peer when it comes to handling hurlers. |