Show 4 ua 1 1 9 new york post service cochranes cochranee Coch ranes outlook on baseball proves tragic observation I 1 T HAD been a good interview we had talked about the pennant I 1 race being between the yankees and the tigers two teams very much alike in that sheer power is their reliance rather than pitching cunning cleveland we had decided was good but not quite good enough because the indians never had the extra zip which wins games that are needed most from there the talk turned to the luck which makes or breaks pennant contenders we had it for years mickey cochrane said and we won two flags last year we have it and we lost this year well weve had a lot of hard luck but weve stuck close who knows he paused and rapped carefully on the wooden floor of the dugout who knows he repeated 1 I feel battern bet tern I 1 have for four or div five e years it looks like rowe is ready to go for us and things are shaping up but he paused again well anything can happen in ba baseball ball that was two or three minutes before game time in the fifth inning bump hadley threw a fast ball cochrane stepped back it was not a bean ball should not have hit him but when you have been in in baseball a long while and have other things on your mind you become careless the ball struck him on the right temple almost immediately old timers in the press box were heading towards the t it e clubhouse there was no need to watch cochrane lay jay there on his side for a moment and I 1 I 1 then wilt over on his 0 back the thud of the ball a against ainest flesh a dull flat sound the way the ball dropped to the 4 f I 1 i ground instead of 1 rebounding w a s cochrane enough you knew something serious had happened you knew that everybody in the stands realized that beickey al ackey might not ever have a bat on his shoulder again things such as that happen in baseball as in all sports while you wait for X rays and hope this one will not be serious you if you have been covering games for long think about other ones there was that polo grounds afternoon seventeen years ago when carl mays alays threw his baffling underhand fast ball and ray chapman great cleveland shortstop was doomed back through the years there are other memories of such moments merwin jacobson ducking into two fast pitches during two years with jack dunns famous pennant win ning orioles his life despaired of each time chile chick fewster grinning as he stepped to the plate agai against ast big jeff in a yankee dodger training season game fewster still around town now a silver plate in his skull as a memento of the fast ball that struck him down scant seconds later roy corhan white sox shortstop being led off the field babbling to himself little pete walls a jockey playing in a pickup game against the racing writers at saratoga last august earl combs running into the fence in st louis knocked unconscious by a ball that rebounded from the he t fence ac accidents ci dents all of them yet well somehow it is hard to get used to the scene even memories of moments aru ants when comedy has followed quick upon what might have been disaster does not really help there have been such moments for instance the day when larry doyle was at the polo grounds the crowd scarcely dared breathe while larry sprawled beside home plate then some one brought a glass of water lifted the great second basemann ba semans head larry drank the water arose rubbed his head grinned a white grin and stumbled down to first base |