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Show - Baseball Outlook ' , nST 21 MILWON spectators i AUIOS1 " leagUe ball rlU" a' tgwill 1949 "f In increase or a drop? ' fffLrfntly. the astute athletes f 6 "king lor any increase . ar Sey sm to be shy about ' rne the 1948 roundup. They Z hying away from bonuses ar-;;:;cdyon ar-;;:;cdyon attendance figures You c;lebSayermean see a dollar 1 fn about as far as any-- or a pa) "'6 Is ol - - 1 ! i one else, including the owners. He recalls re-calls the American League had a race that is not likely to be duplicated with Cleveland, Boston and New York neck and neck or nose and nose at the wire. This meant terrific bus- Crlotiand Rice iness for the three t top teams and also for many of i t ;T.tntS.U Probable that 1 team, possibly Cleveland, - p'u out several lengths in Zi and stay there. Or it may . v Tthe Red Sox or Yankees. But odds are we'll have no such ! M-for-leather riding down the stretch next September. 1 There Is the chance, of course, " that the Athletics may Improve 1 tea the Tigers might move'ab-' move'ab-' ruptly challenging posi-1 posi-1 lion under Red Rolfe. This oight make the bonus angle e,en better, but It isn't an even chance and the player I would rather let the club owner own-er take the gamble. As, a result, re-sult, over 30 ballplayers are ' balking at terms, especially ""' those terms Involving attendance attend-ance and gate receipts. What about the National league i race? This can be closer that i the American, what with the ' Braves, Dodgers, Cardinals, Giants, Pirates and the improved ' Cubs a rather uncertain medley ol scrambled talent. At this spot, the Dodgers and the Braves have the edge, but it isn't ;' a killing edge. Any one of five ! teams can win this race and most J' ot them can also finish in the sec-"!' sec-"!' ond division. ' 1 Reports of winter injuries and ailments to Carl Furillo and Rex Barney haven't helped j the Dodger outlook, but the -month of May is still a long ' way olf. iii But once again the earnest ath-w ath-w lete doesn't seem to be too inter- ested in National league attendance, especially as it might concern a 1949 contract. We think he is right, jty Racing is taking a 15 to 20 per cent n decline and the chances are base-' base-' , ball will lace a drop of a million or ' so, perhaps more. !It would be no surprise to see the total attendance- slip from 21 million mil-lion to 19 million this next season. 'R " c. Ben Hogan 1 Ben H?an had just reached the Peak ! brilliant career when his - accident cut him down for months to come No other game could have suffered such a loss from the absence ab-sence of one player. Ranking Hogan as a golfer of M and a competitor of high rank, J ' he undoubtedly belongs on level term, with Bobby Jones, Walter Baser, and Gene Sarazen. And you i ndd Harry Vardon. Outside of Vardon, he was a more V rate club-swinger than any of J 'utst mentioned. He had few-US few-US h T, ,'eS- Bth Jones and Hgen S.J pend on brilliant recover-; recover-; n marvelous putting to win en U ampi0nshiPs' Gene-Sara- n was a golfer of moods, of sud- 'sions Plrati0ns and sud" depres- j ll on par as Hogan. As great n ' W"ei neith" Bobby sno ater ' ''al : i, 0 vera 69 strokes t year laments In a iff wfc M fine 8 swinger as U j It worker' undoubtedly. Z, and " hard worker Wm- ' hm? Ed 31 Hogan' in" ielmina on h-CnCentration and abS 18 wiIIingness to E,, back. "ung and keep coming 1'onISorenfherorkforan hur I nd ov. 'not-over and over Vk evei 8Way' His idea was l Few know L Pv.PraCh snot dead-i dead-i rch th ne beating he took to f beforPr!(fection he naUy A I tore his accident. A Before th. i U 8"5an had l AngeIes Pen' i rCSt fr hme u- ' wanted 'o be at n Ih. gettinS s'ck of e !a'i as k marfe a mistake," A "'ned. ..y."1' Los AngeWs Open V """"hi and k Can,t stay away two t' a be any good " |
