Show TO T 0 BREAK the news abruptly his name nama Is paul derringer born ir in Spring springfield fielt ky some 37 years ago big paul 6 feet 3 inches in height displacement pounds has always been one of my favorite pitchers in 1831 1931 after knocking a around ou nd with danville and nd A v rochester big paul won 18 games tor for the cardinals against 8 losses A and then took atooli a heavy dip in ln 1932 paul derringer the kentucky rl ill fleman a n was a complete dud in 1933 3 dinv when h en he won 7 games and lost 27 games for st louis and Cincin cincinnati natA that year paul dent the surface of a custard pie he much better a year later in 1834 after that he stumbled along tor for a while but he had big years in 1938 1939 and 1940 and then again he began skidding a trifle largely through early season injuries just a year ago paul won 12 and nd lost 16 games with the reds R eds only soso so so not so hot for paul although he was no longer any kid in my opinion bill dickey once told me derringer is one of the best lit st I pitchers ahm I 1 ever tried to hit he has more than his share of speed he has allne a fine curve ball and he has control I 1 cant understand why derringer win around 22 or even 25 games a year I 1 can tell you hes that good hes one of the few pitchers I 1 never liked to face in any event paul derringer began his pro season at the age of 37 with four successive wins over the cardinals Caidin als and the pirates picked as the two strongest clubs in the national league pitching for the cubs derringer may be an upsetting factor in the national league race for the cubs have shown the league better pitching than any one looked for charlie grimm has gotten them away at what you might call spring pennant speed where a year ago at this time they were deep down in the out of sight at the bottom it might be mentioned here that Derrin derringer geris Is on a par with bill dickey as a field shot and a better deer shot around the florida everglades my guess gues s would be that th t derringer is close to being ahe the best pitcher in either league on a par with mort cooper and bucky walters and lindell we ran into what you might call a representative gathering of baseball people a few days ago including veteran veter ar baseball writers managers and old time ball players someone started talking about the best baseball player in the american league today george is s the yankee second baseman drew a unanimous vote for this spot As harry put it starn would have been a star in days ile he will still be a star in postwar play the yankee infielder Is ft a strong hitter bitter a fine infielder Infield cr and a great base runner lie he Is fast and smart an allaround all around athlete well up on the competitive side in the opinion roundup that followed boudreau of cleveland and stephens of 1 the browns baw rs were placed close to the yankee entry for allaround ability this is no news to joe mccarthy mccarthy was keen about his crack infielder lelder back in his rookie days hear a lot more about this fellow he said a year ago after the first few days of spring training he can do about all you could ask from a an n infielder lelder where all he needs is a little more experience Stirn joins the combination of baseball and football stars he was one of the best backs north carolina ever had a chunky bullet mccarthy has never been any too hilarious about football players joe claims they get too many shoulder ankle and knee bruises or injuries that oat often return as haunting ghosts of former gridiron glory yet tet and spud chandler two ol of his best men were both football tars stars S so S 0 was johnny lindell la in high so school hool which johnny proved in putting that famous block on an kurowski in the 1543 1943 world series lindell Is another winning type whose absence would make more than a small difference in the present race which may be just as steamy as the one last season that moved on to the final pitch lindell himself bel believes eves the yankees allaround power and pitching will carry them through Us this time whether he is with them or not speed comes first recently I 1 asked carl hubbell now a giant scout what he considered first in selecting pitchers first of all ail hubbell said a pitcher must have speed he must have an arm that can slip that fast one by you it if he has speed you can probably teach urn him a curve ball and control later on if he lacks speed he has almost no chance here and there get a slow ball pitcher who can get by but not one in a hundred can c an turn the trick |