Show r i speaking 0 of sports sons of italy make up star baseball club by GEORGE A BARCLAY T HERE are enough italian boys i in the big leagues to do a verdi opera with principals and chorus warbling in the mother tongue not that these fellows are singers ball playing is their business and their performance on the he diamond is making the brilliance of these second and third gine generation ration sons of italy a tradition in the national game take a census of the italian americans in the national and american leagues and find there are 17 of them and if you add a coach there would be 18 in all put them all together on a ball field and have a team that with the exception of pitching would be able to hold its own with any club in the big leagues lets start I 1 JOE DI MAGGIO behind the plate well theres ernie lombardi lombard of the cincinnati reds lie ile is a heavy hitter and a crafty receiver who would be a first string catcher wherever he went held hed have plenty of help from gus Alan cuso of the new york giants although gus is beginning to show signs of wear and tear he is still good enough for a pennant winning team for third string catcher angelo giuliani of the stlouis st loais louis browns would do nicely star infield at first base you would have your choice of dolph camilli of the brooklyn dodgers or zeke bonura of the washington senators dolph would probably get the call for the job because of his greater speed and superior fielding ability although bonura would command respect because of his hitting second base on this italo amer ican team might be a problem to begin with theres tony lazzeri now utility man with the chicago cubs tony was a big gun for years in the new york yankees offense and defense and that team seems to be feeling his absence this year age would probably keep tony from playing regularly so the call would probably go to tony cuccinello of the boston bees whose fighting heart and fielding skill have helped make the bees a terror for other national league teams this spring then there would be lou chiozza of the new york giants who though crowded out of a regular job by the acquisition of alex kampouris by bill terry still can give a good account of himself there would be no contest at third base cookie lavagetto of the brooklyn dodgers who led the league in hitting this spring would nail down that job without half trying shortstop of course would go to frank crossetti of the new york yankees because of his superb fielding and his timely hitting frankie as fast as he was a few years ago but hes still good elou enough h tor for the bi big time the incomparable joe D di maggio center fielder of the new york yankees would head up the outfield he would probably be flanked on one side by his brother vincent of the boston bees and by johnny rizzo who started the so season ason so sensationally with the pittsburgh pl pirates phil cavaretta of the chicago cubs would also be in the fight for an outfield job his best chance would be to nose out rizzo for vince D di maggio is recognized as one of the classiest fielders in the business and he is crowding his way toward the mark melvin mazzera of the st louis browns and tony bongiovanni of the reds would be utility outfielders the pitching staff would present problems there a pitcher of italian ancestry in the big show who compares in skill with the others it seems that the sons of italy have preferred positions where their speed and general allaround all around ability give them a chance to play regularly every day so only julio bonnetti of the st louis browns and joe cascarella of the cincinnati reds would be possibilities oscar MeI Iilo coach of the browns would draw the assignment of manager in view of his long experience peri ence and Ws his splendid career as a player RIel lilo was one of the first of the american italians to demonstrate his races proficiency an aa the diamond A champ passes rhe fight trade is looking to lou loa ambers to provide some stiff c competition om petition against henry arm strong when they fight tor for the lightweight championship july 26 ex who saw darney barney ross boss bow to armstrong in new york recently are of the opinion that ambers will make a creditable showing but that the tan colored whirlwind will win As long as his speed holds out armstrong will probably prove too much for any fighter he meets ambers is not as far along the backward trail as is ross but he is not likely to prove a match for the swarming tactics of the negro ross announced decision to retire is a wise one barneys barneis Bar through was on lips the night of his last fight even though he gave championship exhibition of gameness barney who had never been knocked out stood the punishment for 15 rounds in spite of the referees desire to stop the fight and no champion when he be has come to the end of the trail could feel a deeper satisfaction in his achievements than ross bred in the dingy poverty of new yorks east side and reared in the tough ghetto of chicago ross rose to pugilistic eminence by sheer merit when he won the chicago golden gloves featherweight title in 1929 as an awkward kid he at traded the attention ot of sam plan pian and art winch who ever since have been his managers they handled him shrewdly and four years later had him winning the lightweight championship from the veteran tony canzoneri in 1934 barney won the welterweight cham chain pion ship from jimmy in a return bout with Mc Lamin ross was beaten but came back in another year to regain that throne he held it against all comers until he met the dusky little armstrong regarded by many as the greatest fighter of his weight since the famed joe gans here wid and there r ponnie ONNIE MACK seventy five year old manager of the philadelphia athletics continues to surprise the fans adding a couple of ex college boys to a team that was regarded as the laug laughing hi ng stock of the american league he has made the athletics a club to be reckoned with don lambeau pound son of the green bay packers coach will enter fordham in the fau fail iles hes a fullback wee dickie kerr herr former white sox sos pitcher who was the hero of the 1919 world series has returned to organized baseball as an active member of a mountain states league team kerr is forty five years old bunny mccormick notre dames right halfback the last two years will vill spend the summer delivering ice ice at livermore calif before accepting a full time position with an oil company in california all american lea league ue batting champions since 1931 have been infielders ers ted duay young new york giant catcher turned down a scholarship at rutgers to play professional baseball base baU id rather catch carl hubbell than be president of yale tale he be said flag insurance W HEN bill terry manager ot of the new york giants acquired second baseman alex ales Ham kampouris of the cincinnati reds recently he be turned a neat deal that makes his team a real pennant contender the giants were stumbling around until they got alex various players trying to substitute for burgess whiter y M arf amt VT v ALEX head who is probably out for the season because of illness gave poor performances at the keystone sack kampouris brought an end to teri ter ry rys s worries worries little alex who is the only greek boy in the big leagues is zot sot a heavy hitter but he does clout them occasionally for extra bases and break up ball games as a result alex who batted only last beur drove out 17 home runs it is as a surefire sure fire fielder and a player with dash and fire that he will be of value to the giants in the race kam kampouris who came originally from the pacific coast league is a resident of sacramento calif ue he attended the university of southern california and was the youngest student ever to graduate from that institution ution wally berger whom the reds beds got from the giants in exchange for kampouris hit last year and tied alexs record of 17 home runs C western newspaper union |