Show TO PLAY BAU BALL great dall ball season seen returned vets add colordo color to catl game by AL JEDLICKA featured fea rea tures play ball and the crack of the bat again icons the nation over as the 1946 season gets under way while softball sott ball football basket ball and golf have challenged baseball tor for youths I 1 attentions in recent years the game still ranks as the no I 1 sports spectacle ali an enjoyable outdoor relaxation for the fans last yearn year approximately 15 million persons paid to watch major and minor league ball and with most of the big stars returning from the war this season attendance should be equally great or greater nineteen KiL eteen hundred and forty six may be a memorable year tor for an other reason too tor for it marks th the a introduction of at baseball on a bi big 9 time professional basis in mexico 0 following an old american custom president avila adlla camacho tossed out the first ball at the mexican league a first game in which the vera cruz blues walloped the mexico city reds 12 to 5 before an overflow crowd of in mexico city in the U S chief I 1 interest again will center on the major league races though the return of topnotch performers from the services and continued postwar prosperity should herald a banner minor league season be uke like old times again in the Ami american rican league with the new york yankee sluggers back in there denting 1 the ithe fences but because of an average pitching staff joe mccarthys McCar thys aggregation will be ka 3 an I 1 W 1 nd az EASY WAY WAT jimmy dykes with Rudy laski lackl joe and doyle lade of the chicago white sox box strongly pressed for pennant honors by the champion detroit tigers boston red bed sox and washington senators yanks have sluggers indicative of the dynamite in the yankee bats Dl DiMagg Maggio lo hit in his last season out keuer keller weiss ind and dickey though falling below the mark the other regulars have that explosive yankee t touch au ch in the pinch while the new yorkers are long on power and short on pitching the detroit tigers have strength in both departments and may well repeat their 1945 league triumph A slugger in 78 games last year after his discharge from the army hank greenberg win will beat be at first this season with hard hitting pinky higgini back at third and barney mccosky dick wakefield and pat Mullin in a youthful brilliant outfield buethe but the tigers real strength lies on the mound with lanky hal new ho bouser ser who won 25 games in 1545 1945 while dropping only 9 heading the staff in addition manager steve oneill has dizzy trout an 18 game winner last year virgil trucks stuffy at al benton and ruff gentry because of allaround all around balance bal ance many of the major league scribes like the boston red sox chances in 1946 williams sparks red sox back from the wars after three years ears in n naval aviation spindly ted williams viljams Vil Hams who hit for joe cro out outfit fitin in 1942 promises to put plenty of punch back inythe into the scarlet hose along with rudy york obtained from the tigers in an trade J johnny pesky who hit ika 4 I 1 I 1 44 CARDINALS manager eddle dyer center talks it over with johnny bazzley and enos slaughter before joining the navy in fit 1943 and bobby doerr who icho rung up a average prior to his induction in the a army r m in 1944 4 in pitchers PI t e h er Tex H hughson u ahson and big boo ferris manager cronin appears to have two surefire sure fire 15 to 20 game winners while mickey harris jim bagby and jim allson Wilso nare are expected to develop into grade A mounds men nosed out of the american league pennant by a single game in 1945 the washington senators will be ba back knocking at the door again this year it if their knuckle balling pitching staff stands up under the six month strain and the boys can stir up enough punch to help out hard hitting jeff heath stan spence buddy lewis and cecil travis head of the senators knuckle bailers is 36 year old emil dutch leonard vet of 13 long seasons of 0 play who chalked up 17 victories in 1945 against 7 losses and possessed an earned run average of 2 13 per game the other so called flutter bailers are roger wolff who turned in 20 wins last year marino ettl etti with 14 and johnny nig geung much stronger tiger than in 1945 folloN following king the removal of ulcers others nave have a chance while cleveland st louis chicago and philadelphia have been counted out of the american Aine rican league pennant race they may with lots of luck crowd othe first division because ofa of a strong pitching staff headed by th the a sensational bobby feller fresh from the navy cleveland stands the best chance of breaking ant into the select four our while 83 year old connie macks philadelphia athletics appear headed tor for the cellar de despite spite the presence of ruh buss christopher and dick no hit fowler anthe on the pitching staff profiting again from their extensive farm club system the st louis cardinals are the ruling favorites to take national league honors away from the chicago cubs the brooklyn dodgers new york giants and boston braves also are highly touted while the pittsburgh pirates may well develop into the dark horseson horses of the race pew new major league managers have stepped into the goldmine gold mine edthe eddie dyer has in his first year as the st louis cardinals manager he succeeds billy southworth who has taken up the reins of the boston braves in his regular regula r outfield the lucky mr dyer intends to start stan who hit before entering the navy in 1944 terry moore the fielding genius who hit prior to his induction into to service in 1942 and enos slaughter who batted before joining the te air force the same year star performers perform bro in the weld infield include the great marty maity marlon marion wide ranging shortstop and whitey kurowski Kurows kl slugging third baseman who hit and batted to in runs 5 f last year alig lity mound staff among dyers ranking pitchers are red barrett who won 23 games his last tune time out johnny beazley 21 max lanier 17 and harry brecheen 15 while charley grimm has none nofie of this kind of talent in chicago he does have a hustling ball club to work behind a winning mound staff headed by big hank borowy who helped pitch the cubs into a pen pennant after being secured from the yankees last year claude who won 17 games in 1945 despite an ailing right arm hank wyse who turned in 22 victories in spite of a sorer sore back backhand fand HI bithorn who chalked up 18 wins in 1943 before entering the navy 10 URI the national teagues leagues champion batsman in 1945 with a mark P phil hi 1 C cavarretta will be back at first t to 0 p pace a c a the cubs attack with help forthcoming from rom the veteran stanley hak hack at third who hit in his season as a bruin brain last year little Pea peanuts lowrey andy and grimm hopes big bill nicholson cholson Nl who flopped to 1 last year led by the irrepressible leo athe the lip durocher who won fame as one of the toughest of the gas house gang abst at st louis in the thirties the brooklyn dodgers are figured to be right up in the thick of the national league race the lip enters the pennant run with a fair country outfield in pete reiser who hit before joining the army in 1942 go goody ody rosen who batted last year the veteran dixie walker and rookie gene hermanski in the infield billy herman and peewee pee wee reese make a winning combination around second d while none too strong the pitching staff is built around fire balling kirby higbe hugh casey ed head and vie via lombardi Lom bardl giants still row powerful erful the new york giants while not the hated and feared aggregation of the john mcgraw or bill terry days nonetheless Is expected to cut a figure in this years race no defensive gen geniuses luies the giants do possess power with manager met ott who hit last year in right johnny mize at first mickey witek at third and walker cooper behind the plate ability of brainy billy southworth to spur par the boston braves to give ivi SMILING new york giants bob blattner second base and bill itigan i er shortstop have the old spirit a all 11 they have largely accounts tor to r the high esteem in which the team has been held this year the braves do have the nucleus tor for a winner with big mort cooper who won 65 games for or southworth in three years for or the cards on the hill and slugging tommy holmes max west and johnny hopp in the outfield Pitts burghs pirates rated none too highly in the early doping could easily develop into the dark horse of the 1946 season in shortstop bill cox and outfielder ralph kiner manager frlich has come up with two prize prospects to go along with established performers like bobel bob el hatt in the outfield and elble fletcher and babe dahlgren in the infield with lefties wilkle wilkie and roe and right handers banders sewell gables heintzelman and klinger the pirates should get good pitching quoted at 30 to I 1 longshoes long shots in early betting to win the national league gonfalon gon falon the cincinnati reds and philadelphia phillies do tot not figure figare in the running |