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Show I SPORTLIGHT Good Fighter Can Make a Million By GRANTLAND RICE : THE PARTY given by Rocky Graziano and Tony Janiro at Madison Square Garden was typical typi-cal of the 1950 fight game. It is still breathing, but that's about all. At the moment it is pretty well washed out. Here was a young fighter known as Janiro, a fine boxer box-er and a good puncher a few years ago. At the age of 22, when he should be just that has always left us In a heavy fog. This was the pitching-batting mystery that developed between 1900 and 1920. When you have fine pitching you are supposed to have light hitting. When you have heavy or consistent hitting, you are supposed sup-posed to have shaky pitching. But in the first 20 years of this elastic century, the game had its best pitching and its finest hitting combined. For example, this period sent into action such pitching pitch-ing stars as Cy Young, Mathewson, Alexander, Johnson, Joe Wood, Addie Joss, Ed Walsh, Jack Ches-bro, Ches-bro, Wild Bill Donovan, Nap Ruck-er, Ruck-er, Rube Marquard, Miner Brown, Bill Dineen, and a long list. It was nothing to win from 30 to 40 games. Cy Young had a flock of 30-game years. So did Alex, Matty and Johnson. Earned run averages ranged from .90 by Ferdie Schupp and 1.14 by Walter Johnson up to 1.22 by Alexander. Any number of pitchers pitch-ers had seasons under two earned runs per game. Here was an era of great pitching. But where were the crushed and baffled hitters? Here are a few names Rogers Hornsby, .424; Ty Cobb, .420 and .410; George Sisler, .420; Nap La-joie, La-joie, .405; Shoeless Joe Jackson, .410. Hornsby once averaged above .400 for three out of four consecutive seasons. Any number of batters were above .370 and .380. Tris Speaker Speak-er was one of these. So was Wahoo Sam Crawford. So was Honus Wagner. The game was loaded with great hitters. Now here's the odd part today we have no pitcher around who can come even close to winning 30 games. As I recall it, Dizzy Dean was the last 30-game winner back around 1934. Also today we have no .400 hitters hit-ters in sight, even dimly outlined against a hazy horizon. Anyone who can hit .350 is almost sure to win the batting crown. Rival Pitching Arguments What team has the stronger pitching staff the Red Sox or the Yankees? The Red Sox offer you Mel Par-nell, Par-nell, Ellis Kinder, Maurice Mc-Dermott, Mc-Dermott, Joe Dobson, Jack Kramer Kra-mer and Charlie Slobbs as their leaders. The Yankees offer Allie Reynolds. Reyn-olds. Vic Raschi, Bob Porterfield, Tommy Byrne, Ed Lopat, Fred Sanford and Joe Page as their leading snipers. Grantland Rice starting, he is barely able to go five rounds. After the fifth round, barring a flurry in the 10th, Janiro was just about able to hold his hands up. But there was nothing Graziano could do about it. He couldn't break through the boxing skill that Janiro still carried. It was an interesting fight because be-cause the crowd was remembering the Graziano that used to be. The crowd expected the killing punch at any second. Only nothing happened. hap-pened. The heavyweight situation is in much worse shape than any other division. There is practically no heavyweight division left. Whether or not Charles has a bad rib or a bad heart, he has no fan or crowd appeal and there is no one else around to help things out. No one seems to care. Rocky Graziano should have been fighting at least once a month. He is still only 28. Janiro at 22 is young enough to get back In training and have plenty left for 10 rounds. There are no five round contests listed at the moment. If it gets any worse we'll soon be having three-round fights. If Rocky Graziano had been facing Robinson in the ring last week, it would have been an extremely ex-tremely melancholy evening for Rocky. The fight would have been a joke. There is nothing anybody can do at this spot for the heavyweight heavy-weight collapse. But at least those in other divisions might get in shape for a change and make a struggle to stand up for 30 minutes. By-and-by there'll be a good young heavyweight heavy-weight popping out to pick up the loose million he could make with about half the stuff Demp-sey, Demp-sey, Louis and Tunney had to show. Baseball Mystery There is one angle of baseball |
