Show ANOTHER NOTHER big league baseball t season eason Is well on its way we wa were thinking about this as we sat on the yankee bench with art fletcher etcher ri joe me carthas Car thys field marshal art began his baseball career 38 ma years ago and he Is still a spark plug 1 nearing 60 1 lean ea n hard and full 0 of fire we soon started talking about the yankees i ind and the new american league pennant Grantlan dRice race this should be a great race he told me 1 I know many are picking the browns to win again and ma maybe abe they hey will as they suffered much from the draft so far but if we can keep the lineup we have today I 1 still believe the yankees have a great chance no complaining you understand but the yankees have taken the worst beating from the draft in baseball dickey gordon dimaggio henrich ruffing rizzuto keller Hern hemsley sley johnson and I 1 could give you ten more now we start a new season with a pretty good club A ball club good enough to win or finish close up but suppose we lose johnny lindell etten and one or two more then we are pretty well shot no one knows what will happen tor for the drowns browns are pretty well set and they are the team to beat with what they have on hand right now over in the national after leaving art fletcher we called on two other pilots mel ott a and nd leo durocher mel who makes several records every time he walks to the plate refused to concede anything to the cardinals and pirates picked to run 12 t 2 maybe they will mel said but only anly maybe the cardinals look best on copy paper and the pirates took look next best but ball games are won aon on the field not on copy paper all I 1 can say Is that our 1945 giant team will give them all a battle we cave ave an improved team all along the line well have better pitching and a better punch you know what that means you dont have to tell ell me what the cardinals and pirates have but I 1 am conceding them nothing well give them a scrap all the way moving on with what we have what well have later no one knows I 1 happen to know that frank frisch disabled all through the spring campaign has full faith in 11 his pir pirates a les we were good enough to beat the cardinals Sard mals nine straight games down the stretch frank said and they wont hp he any better this season it if as strong but the fact remains that the cardinals 3 als me still the team they must all worry about and they all know it whatever they may say As leo durocher put it any team that can beat out the cardinals can win this pennant the dodgers no we are the guess team of 0 the league and im not going to try any early season guessing in talking over the 1945 rating with a number of ball players managers and old timers who have been around I 1 picked up this tah order of 0 finish for the two pennants national league cardinals pirates giants reds cubs braves brakes dodgers rhin phillies jes american league B browns r a w ns yankees tigers red sox so athletics indians white sox so senat senators in any event the main problem teems seems to be st louis and its two 1944 winners they are the teams to stop arnzy army sports program the army is going t to 0 do all it can to provide entertain entertainment men t and physical finess for the fighting men in europe who simply cant be rushed home here is the general idea in behalf of the he millions left in in europe temporarily at least as given to me from the war office in washington the commanding generals ot or the european and mediterranean theaters have estimated that over 60 per cent of the soldiers within their th commands will elect to participate in the new athletic program in general Elsen Eisen howers command alone plans call for participants in track and field events in organized baseball approximately in informal softball games in volleyball and in informal inform al football and touch football the entire program will assist in ide de personnel sc scheduled hed for or demobilization by replacing the combat skills it was necessary to teach during the period of mobilization with competitive and recreational reat ional sports purchasing equipment and anc supplies for or the program presented serious problems funds priori prienties W ties ies sources of supply production schedules rail transportation and water shipping space were but a few U upon pon approval ot of the plan the special ial wheelice services division set the wheels to in motion |