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Show 3 LLt..,M,,,,' TpHERE are many details or lm-portant lm-portant Items In sport that are beyond all human understanding. And this doesn't only mean horses that run last in one F . race and then win ' -' : a the next time out. It I . doesn't mean a w ' Billy Conn, who I ' "!! ' w a s completely j fearless in his first , ' Louis meeting, who jj, had been complete- I " ly fearless through A ' I ! his entire ring ca-' ca-' ' (; "u I i! reer, who was 1A i ' i known as dead C. Keller game and yet appeared ap-peared to be in terror ter-ror in the recent heavyweight title fiasco. Suppose we take up the case of the New York Yankees. I happened to be in the immediate vicinity of the Yankees, the Red Sox and the Tigers for several weeks In Florida this spring. Everyone figured, and this included includ-ed Joe McCarthy, Bill Dickey and Larry MacPhail, that the one possible pos-sible weak spot in the Yankee lineup line-up should be their pitching. Spud Chandler and then who did they have? Their defensive fielding was an established fact. This part couldn't miss. What about the Yankee offense? Now you must admit that Joe McCarthy, Mc-Carthy, Larry MacPhail and Bill Dickey are three rather smart operators op-erators as far as baseball Is concerned. con-cerned. Offense? With Joe DiMag-gio, DiMag-gio, Charlie Keller, Tommy Hen-rich, Hen-rich, Snuffy Stirnweiss, Joe Gordon, Nick Etten, Phil Rizzuto, Johnny Lindell, Bill Johnson, Aaron Robinson, Robin-son, Bill Dickey here was the last and least worry. The Yankees had their full share of fielding defense. But above all they had something more Important their attack their offense their power at the plate. McCarthy, MacPhail and Dickey all admitted this. Nothing to worry about in the way of a run-making attack. Stirnweiss had led the American Amer-ican league at bat a year ago .309. DiMaggio was a normal .340 hitter. hit-ter. Etten, Gordon and Henricb were at least .285 hitters. Keller was a .300 hitter. Rizzuto had been a '.310 hitter. The team average should have been around .280 or .285. Mystery of the Yankees So what happens? Nearing the end of July the team batting average aver-age of the Yankees Is under .238. They are far below the Athletics and the White Sox. Outside of Charlie Char-lie Keller they stand with a flock of .233 hitters, taken as an average. Yet most of these players were once dangerous each time they moved to the plate. They were batters to be feared. Today almost any one with a right or a left arm still hanging on can stop them cold. What has happened to the old-fashioned old-fashioned Yankee attack? Practically Practi-cally every member of the squad is a friend of mine. It isn't a matter of dissipation or lack of determination. determina-tion. They are giving the game all they have. On a general average they are smart, intelligent, hustling ball players. play-ers. They feel lower than MacPhail or Bill Dickey feel. Their reputations, repu-tations, which means their living, is at stake. But they can't hit. You can understand one or two men moving into a batting slump. How can anyone explain practically an entire team taking the soapy chute at bat? There Is no longer any question but that the tropical trip to Panama took a heavy toll. Those who went to Panama reported report-ed to St. Petersburg early in March in July condition. They were too far ahead of any training schedule. I don't believe this mistake will ever be repeated. Anyway it is only a part of the answer. It can't explain the entire story. When 11 ball players, who should range somewhere between .280 and .340. drop below .240 experienced, veteran stars who have been . through the fire before you wade right up to your neck in what is technically known as a quandary whatever a quandary is trying to find the answer. Look at the Red Sox! You can't blame this on war years because in the same spring and summer interim, the Red Sox have placed five hitters among the first ten. The Yankees have had only one hitter Charlie Keller among the first 10. 'Hie Yankees have been down slightly lower than the White Sox were in 190G, when they were known as the "Hitless Wonders." But the "Hitless Wonders" had Ed Walsh, Nick Altrock and Doc White who were pitching four and five-hit games. Ji any three of the 11 Yankee hitters hit-ters expected to bat from .280 to .340 had only moved up In the .280 class, many a ball game, now lost, could have been saved. This amazing amaz-ing reversal of form has the usually sane and able Bill Dickey baffled. Bill, being a veteran who has always al-ways used his head, can understand two or three members of a team in a three-months slump. But jj he shakes his Arkansas head, he can't quite understand 10 or 11 from one squad forgetting what the old ash furniture means, and how it should be used. |