OCR Text |
Show pM J Released by Western Newspaper tnion. pHAr fine old National league custom of dusting off the opposition oppo-sition with a well-placed bean ball finally has drawn down the wrath of League President Ford Frick. League officials were somewhat embarrassed recently when Larry MacPbail, the exceedingly loquacious loqua-cious president of the battling Brooklyn Dodgers, actually threatened threat-ened an increasing usage of the skuller. Aroused by a disgraceful bean ball duel indulged in by Whit Wyatt of the Dodgers and Manuel Salvo of the rTyl Braves, President I Frick announced f v that future dusters would result in $200 . fines for managers f and separate action s - Ki against offending i pitchers. f t f-. I MacPhail was 1A f 1 equally aroused. 1 Calling a meeting r"""" ---i.4a of his own ball ford Frick players with press representatives in attendance, MacPhail Mac-Phail declared that "If other pitchers pitch-ers throw at our players we'll toss right back at them two for one. And I don't care what it costs. No $200 fine by Mr. Frick is going to stop us." Four Vendettas The Dodgers have been involved in four duster vendettas, with the Giants, Cardinals, Cubs and Braves. It was the latter game which resulted re-sulted in Frick' s ruling. He fined Wyatt $75 and Salvo $50. MacPhail charged that the president's presi-dent's decision made it look as if the Dodgers were responsible for the bean ball hurling. He asked that Frick hold an open hearing on the senior circuit bean ball situation. In refusing his request, the league chief said: "For the good of baseball, I don't want this discussion to be dragged before the public again, with accusations, accu-sations, charges, counter-charges, and who-started-it business. I believe be-lieve the order to umpires that managers man-agers are to be fined $200 when, in their judgment, a pitcher has thrown a deliberate bean ball, is sufficient to handle the situation." MacPbail's answer wasn't long in coming. "Let's put away the black whiskers and bring F'lTSL "1 e thins out in pub-lic" pub-lic" he told Frick. V "Have the umpires j f: read their report at I Ss S5? 1 an Pen meeti"g H and find out who V really started this A bean ball stuff. I'm :' W .J J sick and tired of ' M naving e Dodgers N ji J sM branded as the cul-m. cul-m. MaM prits. I may not be Larry m baseball more MacPhail than a month (MacPhail (Mac-Phail is reportedly going into armed service) and while I'm still in it I'm going to find out who is to blame. I'm not trying to run the league but you can bet I'm going to keep after Frick to hold this meeting." Punishment The bean ball is an unusual commodity com-modity in the American league. There the punitive action consists of a $500 fine, immediate eviction from the game and a 10-day suspension. MacPhail, evidently in a burst of self-sympathy, announced that the whole world is against Brooklyn. The Flatbush firecracker knows better bet-ter than that. He knows the fans of the United States want to see the Dodgers repeat. They like their aggressive ag-gressive scrappiness. They want to see Mickey Owen redeem himself, and they want to see the mighty Yankees clouted from their throne. End in Sight But the fans want the bean-ball operation brought to a halt and fast. The paying customer likes fighting ball players, but he doesn't like dirty ball players nor managers manag-ers who condone, even encourage, dirty tactics. In spite of MacPhail's outburst, the new edict by Frick likely will bring an end to the duster. Two hundred dollars means no more to the average manager than his right arm, even though said fine would come from the club treasury. If everything else fails which isn't exactly impossible then President Presi-dent Frick will be forced to follow the American league plan. That's almost a sure cure because very, very few pitchers become angry enough to toss $500 at the head of any batsman. SPORT SHORTS C. An engineer has designed a pitching pitch-ing machine that delivers the ball at a speed of 204 miles an hour. C. When the Chicago Cubs were allowed al-lowed to play poker, Bill Lee and Claude Passeau were co-champs, fl. AI Simmons will start work at the Willow Run bombing plant as soon as the current baseball season ends. C. Ted McGraw, scout for the Dodgers, says that two Class C and two Class D Dodger farms have folded with their respective Uagues due to the war. |