Show MIGHT PO cellar may be their destiny by GRANTLAND RICE A 1 BASEBALL community extended Is like any other big community there Is wealth and poverty living fairly close together on either side of the opulent first division yankees and cardinals in st petersburg there are two strong tall end contenders at tampa and clearwater they are the reds reda and the phillies there Is a broad rumor to the effect t that h a t chi cagos cubs expect to leave their old pals this season and move higher up into fourth fifth or sixth place if this happens the reds at tampa and phillies Phil lles at clearwater should be the logical candi bandl grantland Giant land rice bice d dates a t e s for the bottom spot this seems to be rather a shame eddie sawyer of the phillies rd bucky walters of the reds are popular managers and they have a number of good ballplayers ex cellena ballplayers here are area a few who could help any bau ball clu club b reds ewell blackwell johnny vander meer ken ger herman Weh and harry gumbert au all good pitchers ray lamanno ray mueller virgil stallcup johnny hank bank sauer danny litwhiler and Fra fraenkle Inkle baumholtz all good ballplayers the phillies robin roberts schoolboy rowe bux blix donnelly curt simmons ken heintzelman hank borowy pretty good pitchers ed dick G gran ran ville villa hamner richie ashburn del ennis johnny blatnik and bert haas pretty prett good ballplayers baB players this do aan include a number of lively looking rookies who could help quite a bit apt but unfortunately tor for the reds ewell well blackwell their crack pitcher Is just recovering from a sore arm and a kidney operation the have too many young pitchers pitcher who still need more experience Blackw eUs early absence and wit his dubious fate la Is a heavy blow to the reds since the six toot six inch star to is one of base baWs best he would be good tor ford between 22 and 25 victories even evea with the he pitchers wh who a need experience pitchers of f this typed type are arc just a arille rarer thui this a green areen rhinoceros or ft a blue tiger branch rickey sold said privately last summer that he feared the phillies youth around 1950 or 1951 since sinca owner bob carpenter is quite willing to spend any amount to get the Red Phillies finish neither bucky walters of the reds nor eddie sawyer of the phillies care to be la belled a tail end contender but what teams can they beat out the phillies have a possible and even probable star in young richie rachle ashburn who batted last a season ea and was the fastest man the league has seen in some years ashburn was injured after playing games but he is 0 K now in ow and more than deev deeo to prove his first year was no fluke the second year ts Is always the hardest lie he easily may be one of the games future stars the phillies have another kid in curt simmons an expensive left hander who is only 19 years old simmons won seven and dropped 13 games last season robin roberts won seven and dropped nine roberts only 22 is another possible star maybe better than simmons Walt kus from the cubs will strengthen the philly infield this team can be dangerous it if it gets better pitching than it picked up through 1943 1948 it is the type of team that wont win any pennant or finish in the first tour four but it can beat a lot of ball clubs and should be an improvement over last year the reds have bave a great ballplayer and one of baseballs finest citizens in ducky bucky walters waiters but bat like the Ph phillies lilles their strength la Is too spotty it could be a different story 11 blackwell could hook up with vander meer Weh gumbert and ger they have a good power hitter in hank sauer with 35 home runs to his credit lost last year and a good third baseman in grady hatton both the reds and phillies s have good ballplayers scattered here and there but too many others who are ard not too able but the fact that teams as good as the reds beds and phillies should be scrapping it out for last place proves the balance of the national league you think that thai six clubs will beat out this pa irand maybe six elx clubs club wont only the way it looks as march buds ire are waiting to show and march winds are getting sotter in the sun |