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Show SPORTLIGHT : ; These Hitters Will Bear Watching By GIANTLAND RICE It S 16 MAJOR league clues move "off under full steam, there will De more than one or two high spots lo watch as the campaign rolls along. It is only natural that most of Ihese elevated notches will take in Sniim'iirminffif fa twu m the stars of 1948, such as Stan Musial, Lou Bou- dreau, Ted Wil-f. Wil-f. liams, Joe DiMag-s DiMag-s gio, Harry Bre- cheen, Gene Bear-1 Bear-1 den, the home-run I duel between Ralph I Kiner and Johnny Mize, plus such od- star, won 24 games to lead both leagues. Hal Newhouser, possibly the best pitcher in baseball today at least he is one of the best three is another contender who hopes to lead both leagues in games won, even with only an average outfit. Newhouser would roll home working work-ing with the Red Sox or Indians. Sain, Newhouser and Vic Raschi should lead the pitchers with Bre-cheen, Bre-cheen, Bearden and Lemon close. The Home-Run Picture The section or sector allotted to home-run hitters will be a highly-interesting highly-interesting compartment this season. sea-son. First of all, it is high time the Johnny Mize-Ralph' Kiner deadlock was broken. The two tied in 1947 and they remained tied in '48. They each struck off 51 homers in 1947 and 40 last year, making a total of 91. This can't go on forever. It is due to be snapped this new season. Last season both Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial hit 39 home runs each. "Here's the odd part about this count," Stan Musial told me this spring. "I actually hit 41 homers. Two were credited only as two-base-hits. Tet certain cer-tain umpires stated they were home runs. They really were." "There's no question of a doubt about this fact," manager Eddie Dyer cut in. "Stan actually ac-tually had 41 homers last year, which would have given him the triple crown." Umpires make few mistakes. But apparently two blew a pair of four-baggers in the Musial case. Musial rarely complains. The fact that he was supported by Eddie Dyer and a number of umpires is proof enough that he was right. No one can say yet whether Ted Williams will go out for right field swinging into the home-run zones, or fight for the batting leadership of his league. Williams and Musial are two all-star hitters. The condition of Joe DiMag-gio's DiMag-gio's heel may eliminate one of the strong contenders. Mize, Kiner, Musial and Williams should provide most of the four-base artillery. But there is one more entry Sid Gordon of the Giants. Gordon blasted 30 home runs last season. He is far in front of the pack this spring, with a March and early April record that takes you back to the big years of Babe Ruth. This home-run scramble should be one of the most interesting features fea-tures of the new season. ',r:lntl;mrl Rice dities as Larry "Yogi" Berra's catching improve-nent. improve-nent. With Joe DiMagglo's wounded aeel in such a precarious state, the :hree holdover leaders from 1948 will be Musial, Williams and Bou-Ireau. Bou-Ireau. Boudreau is the mystery man. His batting average for 10 seasons .s now .299. It was well below this mark at this date last season. Yet ihe Cleveland pilot lifted his batting :ount to .355, a phenomenal upward up-ward leap. Lou is now 32 years old. rhe question is: Will the Cleveland itar keep in the general neighbor-lood neighbor-lood of .355 this season, or drop Dack to his lifetime average, around 299? Boudreau's 1949 career will write an important chapter in the lew American league race. What about the duel between Williams and Musial? Last year Musial struck for .376, Williams for .369. Musial hit 39 home runs, Williams 25. Musial drove home 131 runs, Williams 127. The Cardinal slugger had a fair sdge in every department of hit-;ing, hit-;ing, but it will be interesting to lee whether he can repeat this tri-imph tri-imph against one of the greatest litters of all time. On the other side of the question, t might be noted that Stan Musial ;an also handle the old ash rather ieftly. His lifetime big league av-;rage av-;rage is .348, Williams' being .354. These are the two top men today, vith no one else close. What about the big league pitching duel between Harry Brecheen and Gene Bearden? Last year each won 20 and dropped 7 for a mark of .741. Brecheen allowed 2.24 earned runs per game, Bearden 2.43. This is about as close as the count can be. Johnny Sain, the Brave's able |