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Show I SPORTUGHT- Mighty Casey Hasn't Struck Out Bv GRANTLAND RICE WHEN Casey Stengel came back to New York from St. Petersburg Peters-burg just a month ago, he was almost al-most in a complete daze. He was listening to funny noises in his block. He knew Joe DiMaggio was out indefinitely. He knew that Frank Shea's arm was out - I V J of kilter again. And then, in quick succession, suc-cession, Charlie Keller ripptd a new muscle loose in his back. Johnny Lin-d Lin-d e 1 1 sprained an ankle. SnuHy Stirn-weiss Stirn-weiss was ailing. Bob Porterf i e 1 d delivering together." This latter seems to be most of the answer. The Yankees always had good pitching. But it is even better than it looked to be. A staff that carries Vic Easchi, Bob Por-terfield, Por-terfield, Tommy Byrne, Allie Reynolds, Rey-nolds, Joe Page, etc., is a standout. stand-out. This doesn't mean the Yankees are due to break up the American league. But it does mean they are a far stronger ball club than any one thought they would be. They can bit and field and they have able pitching. And they have, in manager Stengel, a leader who no longer fears to look fate in the face. 1 Casey would have received bis share of razzing if the team had blown up. Why not slip him the loud huzzas for his place in the standings stand-ings today? I ' ' Early Checkup May is still too early in the campaign cam-paign to start any checking. The big surprise in the National league has been Giant pitching, , especially Hartung's pitching. Dur- Grantland Rice appea a ligament m his pitching arm. By this point, Casey had reached the spot where nothing else could happen. Some experts were beginning begin-ning to look for some place lower than eighth where the team could finish. The ' lowly Browns had a new rival. But the Casey of early April and the Casey of today are two entirely different men. The staggering Casey of early April is 'the mighty Casey of late May. "There is ease in Casey's manner man-ner and a sneer on Casey's lips. There is scorn in Casey's bearing bear-ing as he moves his swinging hips. And when he looks around the field to call his rival's bluff Not a rooter in the place can doubt that Casey knows his stuff." x In any event young Jerry Coleman, Cole-man, at second, suddenly turned into a star. So did young Dick Kry-hoski Kry-hoski at first. His pitching staff became the best in either league, and his batsmen started ripping the cover off the ball. Above all, when something was needed. Tommy Henrich would hit a home run or a triple or make a killing play in the outfield. Bobby Brown and Billy Johnson began driving in runs. Who would have said on the 17th of April that the Yankees would be something like six games ahead of the Red Sox on May 10? As one Yankee veteran explained ex-plained it, "When our batters fall down our pitchers step in. When our pitchers blow, our batters come to life. But most of the time, both our pitchers and our batters are on the job. ochers staff has more than held its own. The team has also been hitting. So far, no club has settled down to any consistent play. The pitching pitch-ing has been spotty. The Dodgers have held their own more through speed and youth than through expected ex-pected good pitching. The team is also hitting better than it figured to hit. The Giants have been up around the front even with Larry Jansen, their star pitcher, off to a ragged start. He is due to be much better from now on. The National league race has proved to be as even as it figured from the start. At the end of the third week of the season, a gap of only four games separate the eight clubs. The Pirates and Cardinals are due to move up with long home visits ahead. Especially the Pirates. The slump of Johnny Sain has cut heavily into the Braves' shot at a good early lead. Like Jansen, he got away badly, but you can't rate him that far down. Washington, after a ragged start, has bounded back in the American League with a spectacular rush. Chicago's White Sox have been a big improvement over expected doom. You will see the Red Sox and Athletics start moving soon. |