Show a 0 G SPICE HAPPY APPY CHANDLER the new baseball ll commissioner was a first-class first Kentucky governor and a first-class first Kentucky U. U S. S senator He has been a good around all-around athlete athlete athlete ath ath- lete in many sports including football football football foot foot- ball baseball and basketball He has been a sportsman at heart heart heart-a a clean honest shooter But he may not be as happy as he heis heis heis is today or has been through the years when the present and the postwar problems of baseball falls fall across his neck s For these problems probe problems e yam lems will be many and varied and tough They Happy Chandler will wm require not only sound judgment judgment judgment judg judg- ment on Commissioner Chandlers Chandler's part but also the ability to face more than a few club owners who are going going go go- ing to look largely to their side of the argument They have the money invested and that's always a big point in most human debates It isn't any question of crookedness that Happy will have to face but now and then a matter of craft and cunning I can tell Happy that practically every club owner and ball player had so much respect for Judge LantUs Lan- Lan ills flis that it amounted almost to fear They wanted no part of the fiery aggressive judge After the war there will be over of these ball players shedding shedding shed shed- ding their fighting uniforms for baseball baseball baseball base base- ball clothes These men had contracts contracts contracts con con- tracts before they left varying in financial amounts up to Hank Greenberg's top of around A majority of these may not be as asgood asgood asgood good as they were after two or three- three years service in army and navy But those who return return and and many wont won't will will expect to get what they received received received re re- re- re or were guaranteed before moving into war They wont won't expect to take any cut until they have had at least a year to prove their places in the game It may be that every club owner will fall into line and pay old sal sal- aries It may be that many wont But the new commissioner must support support support sup sup- port the ball player to the limit- limit not the club owner Cardinal Stars The Cardinals are the leading ex ex- ex- ex ample Sam Breadon's Redbirds had more good ball players than any two clubs you can mention including including including ing quality and quantity If the Jap part of the war is over within a year the Cardinals will have more good ball players on hand than any two teams can handle Take the case of the Cooper broth broth- ers They were asking a year from the Cardinals together er before Walker Valker Cooper was taken into service Both know that the Yankees Giants or Tigers would be extremely pleased to give them or a year But St. St Louis isn't a good baseball town so soar far ar as attendance goes St. St Louis is no New York Detroit Brooklyn Chicago or one of several other major league cities The Cooper brothers at a year combined would have been a tremendous tremendous tremendous tre tre- baseball bargain almost anywhere else Plenty o of 0 Headaches When the war is entirely over Happy Chandler will have at least headaches which he must face regardless of what the baseball owners think or want Here is the way I rate baseballs baseball's importance importance- 1 The players who make the game including of course the stars who help draw the crowds 2 The fans or crowds who make baseball possible as a major spec spec- They pay the salaries and keep up the ball parks 3 The owners who owners who can get in inand inand inand and out at almost any time time and and who In the main get into baseball through the motives of profit and publicity The latter comes last If 11 they quit others are more than ready to take their places With few exceptions they hardly count in the building of the game They have contributed less than any other factor It is for this reason that Happy Chandler must look after the game first the players second the crowds third and refuse to let the owners shove him around Happy Hap Hap- Happy py Chandler has been the best na man I ever met in sport But Butto Butto Butto to carry out this job he now faces he will need all the iron a single system can carry Unless he does he has traded happiness for a year It isn't worth it The Black Sox Series It was 26 years ago that the Black Sox scandal developed Lately we talked that famous series over with Earl Greasy Neale who pl played with the Reds We had no idea idel at nt all this series was crooked Greasy said How could we There had been rumors about Chick Gandil Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver But Gandil's hitI hitting hitting hit hit- ting beat us in one gamer game In fact I the fellows rumored as the crooks starred all al through the series eries |