| Show Something on the fall Ball Ball- His His Eyes dyes By GRANTLAND RICE H HITTING A BASEBALL like hitting hitting hit hit- ting ball is a golf gol a combination tion of many details working to to- to gether Bill Dickey was talking about Ted Williams If It you have ever caught b back n c k of Williams Dickey said you could understand why he hc heis heis is such a great hit hit- i ter In the first place lace he has a remarkable remarkable remarkable re re- pair of eyes He can usually usual usual- ly tell whether the 0 ball baIl will pass just Grantland Rice over the corner comer or oran oran oran an inch or two away when it is still moving towards the plate It is really amazing how he can call these balls and strikes in advance But even more remarkable remarkable remarkable remark remark- able Dickey continued is the speed of his bis hands bands and wrists Many hitters might wait as long as Williams does to decide decide decide de de- cide whether the thc pitch will be bc bea a ball or a strike But if It was to be a strike they could never get the bat into action quick enough I recall there was many a time when I would practically feel the ball in hi my glove only to hear the crack of Williams William's bat meeting the ball and the ball upon its way Williams is a great concentrator tor Dickey says He follows the ball from the split second it leaves the pitchers pitcher's hand He never makes the mistake of taking his eye aUthe off aU the ball or taking his mind off oU the ball Once he decides it will be a astrike astrike astrike strike his hands move with a rattlers rattler's rattlers rattler's rattlers rattler's rat rat- speed Tall Ted came to the Red Sox in 1939 He De lost three years of baseball in the thc naval air force so 1949 1919 Is his eighth season To show how consistent he is Williams Williams Williams Wil Wil- liams year seven-year average is just about what he has been hitting this season lie He got away slowly this spring but has bas been the thc games game's best around all-around hitter to date His lIis lowest nark mark markwas was his first year ear year Ills His top mark was his third year car 1911 1951 when he reached Check back on all these statistics and you'll find the Boston has done a pretty fair job of at hitting hitting hitting hit hit- ting a base ball Lou Little and Hickman Lou Little of Columbia and Herman Herman Her Her- man Hickman of Yale are without any question two of the ablest coaches football has known But this season they are caught In the strongest highest ranking grid-ranking Ivy league the venerable Ivy green has known in many generations This Is no advance alibi for Herman Herman Herman Her Her- man and Lou for far Yale and Colum Colum- bia The raw facts are that Yale and Columbia material doesn't measure up to the manpower power possibilities possibilities possibilities pos pos- of at Cornell Dartmouth Pennsylvania Brown Princeton Harvard Army and maybe even Navys Navy's young squad But I have a feeling that both Yale and Columbia are going to lose more than a few tew games to better better better bet bet- ter football teams A fine coach Is Isa Isa isa a big help but fine material is an even bigger jump towards football fame Now It is quite possible that Yale and Columbia will move into action with better material than one might look for But Columbia has lost practically her entire first string siring including such brilliants as Ros- Ros sides and Kusserow No one can say yet what Lou Little has Hickman lacked theman the theman theman man power the material that most of his bis rivals had last fall LevI Lev Jackson Yale's captain is a good player but in no sense a a. great one He De was injured in spring practice and no one cansay can cansay cansay say how v useful he will be He Dc was not up to many star caster east cast eastern eastern ern er backs last fall Young Spears son of the f famous Doc Spears may be bc a Yale life- life saver But one one man isn't enough Not in in a conference conference- that has Cornell Dartmouth louth and Pennsylvania plus Pennsylvania plus Brown Princeton and Harvard It may be that Herman Hickman and Lou Little will wave the magic wand of Merlin and overturn the football dope But the point is that football after all Is a college game and not a matter of at life lite and death The game is packed with able working hard-working coaches who lack the material to compete with other coaches who are no better The Mile No one can say definitely what mile runner will be the first to reach the 4 minute spot for the mile The Swedes have run within a stride or two of this mark and they may be the first to hit it The horse that could beat the present mark of Is the horse that holds this mark His name Is Coaltown Given the proper track which means lightning fast fast tast- Coaltown can beat He may not quite reach but he wont won't be far tar away |
