Show I 1 of 01 j by ROBERT mcshane rf by union exit vi xit dean and baseball loses L oses W HEN jay hanna dean oil 01 DI alz VV recently called it quits a as B a pitcher there were those who look looked ed upon it as a trivial bit ot of news worth no more then than a two or three paragraph story in their favorite sports section it was much more than t that hat deans decision brought to an n end one of the most colorful playing careers in base ball history never will there be ano another ther dizzy dean brilliant cocky and unpredictable dic table in big als heyday the great I 1 dix caused many I 1 a ma ger a I 1 I 1 headache is but t when he raar bared ed b back a ck and logged fogged dizzy dean h his ls high hard one down the middle his bis many antics were forgiven forgive ii no baseball fan will ever forget that glorious tour year stretch from 1933 through 1038 1936 when diz won 20 then 30 28 and 24 games tor for the cardinals gas house gang football fans never will forget sim jim thorpe or red grange neither will baseball addicts forget the great man dean bowed out cot of the be picture with good grace it was at his own request that be was released by the chicago cubs as a player itis it Is to the credit of james gallagher general manager of the cubs that he was given a job as coach now diz can continue in the big time where he belongs deans voluntary retirement from the active playing list saved manager jimmy wilson from a severe headache wilson who served as deans battery mate on the gas house gang was faced with a difficult decision it was up to him to cut his squad from 28 to 25 to reach the major league player limit needless to day deans name was high among those to be erased from the roster the big texas farmer fanner knew he have it any more he win on courage alone and about all he had left he won only 16 games for the cubs since joining them in 1938 cleveland may alay trip Do pesters ORE than a fair number ot oi M MORE baseball do pesters will be looking tor for alibis next fan fall should the cleveland indians outdistance the new york yankees in the american league pennant race and theres a good chance that ahat the oft predicted neck end and neck finish anish will fall fail to materialize materi albe percentages change too rapidly during the early part of the season to hazard any definite prognostication t but the way things are shaping up cleveland may wind up op with a 10 or 12 agami game margin much stranger things have happened cleveland has the edge in pitching and that average holds up quite well in other departments the yankees pitching reliable and outside of a few consistent clo clouders clou their hitting is spotty to say the least the indians infield combination boudreau and mack is hard bard to leat beat A fleeting glance at the outstanding teams of the past demonstrates the importance of these key positions tinker and evers bancroft and frisch crosetta Cros ettl and gordon they all were instrumental to in holding great ball clubs together the indians were very fortunate to get off to a good start it if they hey had bad floundered at the beginning of the season the heckling that followed them all last year would have been increased ten tenfold enfold en fold and most baseball men agree that cleveland was kidded out of the 1940 pennant when fans read dally daily accounts of the he cleveland cry bables babies ind and their rebellion against manager oscar vitt the indians really were jittery during the tag end of last season every baseball jockey and practically every american league fan outside of cleveland had them on the merry go round tor week after week and the ride a pleasant one but even the best heckler cant keep in form when the he temporary object of his bis hatred Is scouting scooting along well out in front all AD in all cleveland has a good I 1 chance to leave the yankees back where dust clouds obscure th the ePen pennant view sport sort shorts s fl since 1938 patty berg has won 19 of the 25 golf tournaments she has entered OL johnny vander Meers strike outs in innings ati at indianapolis last year was a new american association mark for the number ot of whirls whiffs per game 41 al C charley gehringer contends that lefty grove when he be was at his bis best was the toughest pitcher he has ba faced lnla years in the amerl can can league 4 |