1950 Yankee Outfielders of the Past

PAUL WANER

"It is probable that Paul Waner devoted as much thought to batting as any ballplayer, including Cobb, Collins or Hornsby. He had splendid reflexes and he was blessed with the gift of being able to think with the pitcher. A left-handed batter, Paul was another exponent of the feet together type of batting. He stood well back of the plate, his right foot about three inches in front of his rear, both toes parallel to the line of the batter's box but about five inches inside it. He took a full stride and raised his right leg slightly as he stepped into the pitch, about four inches but nothing like the exaggerated leg-lift of Mel Ott.
Big Poison was what the profession calls a 'clothesline hitter.' His drives to the outfield were so straight you could hang out the wash on them. As a result of this, Paul didn't hit many home runs. Most of his career was spent in two ball parks where the right field fence was a good distance from the plate, Forbes Field and Braves Field, and only three times did he go into double figures with his home run production, fifteen in 1928 being his top mark.
Waner had exceptional speed and could beat out bunts and drag hits any time he caught an infield which was not on its toes. For a time, he was the fastest man in the National League going to first base and, as a consequence, every infield play on him was close. It was his speed, plus his ability to hit line drives between the fielders, which enabled him to twice lead the National League in triples and twice in doubles. He is the only National Leaguer who hit fifty or more two-baggers in three different seasons.
Although it was Waner's misfortune to play only once in a World Series, and that in his sophomore year, he was essentially a team player. A great hitter, he was not 'hit crazy.' It is Paul's own opinion that he might have earned his 3,000th hit sooner than he did had he gone chasing after bad pitches. Waner believes that, under normal conditions, a base on balls is as valuable to a club as a base hit and he wouldn't throw away a pass by selfishly trying for base hits.
'It's possible to get base hits by swinging at bad balls, of course,' said Waner. 'I got my share of base hits off them in my career but the percentage is against you. A consistent .300 hitter should be able to hit four of ten good pitches safely but he'll be lucky to hit one of ten bad pitches safely.'
On the afternoon of June 19, 1942, while Waner was having an undistinguished season with the Braves, Pittsburgh visited Boston. In the course of an extra-inning game, Paul went one-for-five against Rip Sewell and Lloyd Dietz. That one hit, a single, played no part in the final result but it was important enough to Waner to have play halted and the ball given to him for a souvenir. It was Base Hit No. 3,000. Paul became the second National Leaguer in modern history to reach that total, Hans Wagner being the other. Cap Anson was a National Leaguer who achieved that total in the nineteenth century. The four American Leaguers to reach that total already have been mentioned in this book- Cobb, Speaker, Collins and Lajoie. No major leaguer has made the grade since Wagner.
When Paul Waner's parents gave him the middle name of Glee, they acted with a prescience given to few mortals, for fun really was Paul's middle name. He wasn't a roisterer on the scale of Babe Ruth by any means but he liked late hours and friends who would stay up late with him. He was a convivial athlete but by no means a rowdy.
One of the favorite Waner stories goes back to May 20, 1932, when he appeared at Wrigley Field with the Pirates. As he went to the bat for the first time he turned to Gabby Hartnett, the Cub catcher, and made a request.
'I didn't get too much sleep last night, Gabby,' said Paul, 'and I don't think I'm going to be able to follow the ball against that center field background. Please see that nobody throws close to my head.'
Gabby assured Paul that he knew precisely how he felt and that no harm would come to him. None did, either, but a lot did to the Cubs for all Waner did that afternoon was to hit four two-base hits, tying the major league record for one game! That feat has been accomplished exactly fifteen times in the last fifty years!"

-Tom Meany, Baseball's Greatest Hitters (Baseball Digest, June 1950)

LEFTY O'DOUL

T'WAS FUDGER O'DOUL IN '33: His Key Hit in Series Illegal, He Confesses

"It took him almost two decades to confessing, but Francis J. O'Doul, keeper of the San Francisco Seals, now admits he could have been the prize umbay of the 1933 World Series between the New York Giants and the Washington Senators instead of a gilt-edged hero.

Francis fudged, he didn't boney down, but he picked up all the marbles in a riotous second game of a roaring series that swept through five pulsating phases before the Giants, then under fiery Bill Terry, were coronated kings of the baseball empire.

The Polo Grounders from Coogan's Bluff had won the opener, 4-2, in Big Town, but were trailing, 0-1, in the sixth inning of the second game when the man in the green suit got into the act. Alvin Crowder, Washington's 24-15 right-hander, had become involved in a spectacular duel with Prince Hal Schumacher, Terry's 19-12 marvel of the mound, and 35,461 nail-gnawers were loving it.

Then the Giants exploded. Joe Moore singled the first pitch thrown at him to open the sixth and the coin was in the nickelodeon to be sure. Hughie Critz forced Moore at second for the first out on an unsuccessful bunt, but Terrible Terry, one of the great 'money' players in the business, doubled, and Crowder was crowding catastrophe. Master Melvin Ott, later to manage the Giants, was deliberately walked to load the bases, and ... let the Spalding Official Baseball Guide of 1934 take over from here:

'At this juncture, Terry halted the game to substitute O'Doul as a pinch hitter for Davis (George, cf), also a strategical maneuver, but one which carried the crowd into a series of cheers, as vigorous as the boos which had greeted Ott's premeditated pass. It was O'Doul's first and only appearance of the series. He came up to the plate swinging two of his pet bats over his shoulder and the crowd went wild with enthusiastic hope as it recognized the National League batting champion (.398, Brooklyn) of the previous year.

'His time at bat was the turning point of the game, and, as it turned out, of the Series as well. O'Doul began inauspiciously, for he fouled and had a strike called him by the umpire. He let the next one go by, just outside the plate, after apparently wanting to strike at it. The crowd could see him fairly itching to do so, but he let it pass when it might have been called a strike against him. The next was another foul, the ball striking Sewell (Luke) on the arm. Still with two strikes against him, he swung hard and cracked the next pitch like a shot over Crowder's head into center field for a clean single. Critz and Terry scored and the crowd rose the occasion vocally.'

Six runs resulted from the rally, and O'Doul represented one of them, completing the cycle from third on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by the lumbering Gus Mancuso.

From here, Francis, the fudger, takes over:

'I wasn't going to let Crowder throw a ball past me, you can bet on that. So, with each pitch, I crowded the plate a little closer, a little closer. Finally, I was darn near standing on the thing, and when Crowder threw the pitch I wanted I went after it as though it was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It was on the outside corner, and I know, now, that in my anxiety to hit it, I stepped across the plate, which was illegal to such an extent that I put myself in jeopardy of being called by Umpire George Moriarty.

'However, George didn't see it, nor did anyone else, and I certainly wasn't going to call his attention to it,' said Francis J., looking dreamily across the room as though he could still see that line drive soaring majestically over the head of the startled Crowder.

'You know,' smiled O'Doul, 'if I had missed that pitch it would have bored a hole straight through me. I was squared off and ready for that baby, believe me.'

The Giants muscled to victory on the strength Skipper 'Lefty's' wallop, 6-1, although it was not to completely wipe Washington out of contention. The next afternoon, October 5, with the scene changed to the Nation's Capital, Earl Whitehill blanked the Giants, 4-0.

But, the Polo Grounders prevailed in the next two starts. King Carl Hubbell worked an eight-hitter for 2-0. Schumacher and Crowder opposed each other in the fifth game, but both gave way to relief hurlers before the Giants won, 4-3, this time without the help of the man in the green suit, Francis the Fudger."

-Bob Stevens, condensed from the San Francisco Chronicle (Baseball Digest, July 1950)

HANK SAUER (Yankee Prospect of the Past)

"Hank divided 1949 between the Reds and the Cubs. In 138 games he hit .275, drove in 99 runs and slammed 31 homers.

After four full seasons in the minors, Hank spent parts of 1941 and 1942 with Cincinnati. He went back to the minors for two years, then was in military service for two more. In 1947 with Syracuse he hit .336 with 50 homers. He joined the Reds for 1948.

Hank is one of the league's best sluggers."

-1950 Bowman No. 25

ALLIE CLARK

"Allie burned up the Grapefruit circuit with his healthy hitting in 1950 spring training. He started in organized baseball in 1941 and has played for Newark, Norfolk and San Diego. He came to the majors with the Yankees toward the end of the 1947 season and was traded to the Indians at the completion of that campaign. Allie has three years of military service to his credit."

-1950 Bowman No. 233

1949 Yankees of the Past Alumni Team

Former Yankees on 1949 Spring Training Rosters

MGR - Joe McCarthy (Boston Red Sox)

CH - Leo Durocher (New York Giants)

CH - Red Rolfe (Detroit Tigers)

C - Buddy Rosar (Philadelphia Athletics)

C - Aaron Robinson (Detroit Tigers)

C - Clyde McCullough (Pittsburgh Pirates)

1B - Johnny McCarthy (New York Giants)

2B - Joe Gordon (Cleveland Indians)

2B - Jerry Priddy (St. Louis Browns)

3B - Hank Majeski (Philadelphia Athletics)

3B - Eddie Bockman (Pittsburgh Pirates)

SS - Eddie Miller (Philadelphia Phillies)

LF - Hank Sauer (Cincinnati Reds)

CF - Tommy Holmes (Boston Braves)

RF - Hal Peck (Cleveland Indians)

P - Gene Bearden (Cleveland Indians)

P - Randy Gumpert (Chicago White Sox)

P - Ernie Bonham (Pittsburgh Pirates)

P - Hank Borowy (Philadelphia Phillies)

P - Ralph Hamner (Chicago Cubs)

RP - Karl Drews (St. Louis Browns)

1949 Yankee Infielders of the Past

LEO DUROCHER

YOU DON'T EXPLAIN VICTORIES

" 'There is only one place worth finishing, and that is first; second is no good,' says Leo Durocher. 'I'm out to win any way I can. I've never had anyone ask me HOW I won. You have to explain only when you lose. And I don't like to explain.' "

-Fred Russell in the Nashville Banner (Baseball Digest, February 1949)

IT MAY SEEM STRANGE, BUT - PLAYERS LIKE TO WORK FOR LEO

"To the general public, particularly outside of the town in which he is operating, Leo Durocher is one of the most disliked men in the sport.

His brash encounters with umpires, his cocky attitude towards the opposition and even the ranting tongue lashings he has been known to hand out to his own players all have made him generally unpopular with fandom.

He seems deliberately to go out of his way at times to antagonize people or to have the spotlight thrown in his direction.

There was the time in New York one day last summer when the Cardinals were playing the Giants in the Polo Grounds. Leo made a dramatic entrance. The clubhouse at the Polo Grounds is in deep center field. Just a minute or two before the game, in that pause when there is practically nothing occurring, Durocher strode in majesty from center field to dugout. It was his first appearance of the day.

That particular afternoon it was unfortunate. The Cardinals manufactured twenty-one runs. Leo was glad to have his entire team, excepting several pitchers who had departed earlier, surrounding him as he made his exit.

All this is but a preliminary to something that possibly puzzles fans, but is a fact just the same. Even if he is tyrannical at times, even if he is a showboat, Durocher is a man players themselves like to work for.

We heard that last summer directly and indirectly, from several players who once wore the same uniform as The Lip. Asked if they didn't like the peace and quiet that pervaded their present surroundings, they agreed it was nice but that 'I wouldn't mind playing for Leo again.'

This was brought out more forcefully when it became obvious Fred Fitzsimmons had done all the leading in trying to land a job as a coach of the Giants under Durocher.

Last year Fat Fred was a coach of the pennant-winning Boston Braves. There he worked for kind, enthusiastic owners who have one way and another shown they will pay their employees as well or better than most clubs. At Boston, his boss was the calm and quiet Billy Southworth.

With the Braves, had he stayed on, Fitzsimmons would have been working for a club that would definitely be in the pennant race in 1949. At least, it stands much more of a chance of doing so than the Giants who, at the latest reading, still had punch but no pitching.

In addition, the Giants were the club which a decade or so ago humiliated Fitzsimmons by trading him to the hated Dodgers for an unimportant pitcher named Tom Baker, who never amounted to anything and never made the Giant fans forget Fitzsimmons. All that Baker did was make the Giant bosses wish they could forget the whole thing.

Yet Fitzsimmons was willing to pass up the chance to be with another pennant winner, willing to forget the insult the Giants had handed him, just to be back working for that brash little guy, Durocher.

As mentioned, Fitzsimmons seemed to be the guilty party in the controversy that came to Commissioner Chandler's hands- the Braves' complaint that the Giants had tampered with a man under contract to them. Fitzsimmons made early overtures to Durocher about a job, repeated them at a later date and when an opening developed, received an oral offer.

It is reasonable to suspect Durocher believed Fitzsimmons came to him in good faith. Leo took it for granted Fitz was free to talk to him. Certainly, Durocher wouldn't take any such chances of getting back in the commissioner's doghouse.

In defense of Fitzsimmons, he perhaps did not realize that a coach, until recently, was a different sort of person. A coach is under contract from Jan. 1 of any year to Dec. 31. At the recent major league meeting this was changed so that coaches have the same status as players.

What has struck us so odd is that Fitzsimmons seemed so desperately anxious to go back to work for Leo.

'I understand it,' a Dodger player told us when we inquired. 'They're two of a kind. They're both scrappers. They fight for every inch in a ball game. When Fitz was pitching for Leo, I heard them holler at each other lots of times, but both had the same interest at heart. Sure, I've cussed out Leo behind his back myself, when I was playing for him. But when it was all over I knew he was fighting my battles for me, and that at the time he yelled he was doing everything he could to win a game. When you know your manager has his teeth in as deep as you have, you respect him. Maybe you don't like him, but you respect him.'

This is not particularly a defense of Leo, but perhaps it explains to some extent why players like to work for him."

-Robert L. Burnes, condensed from The St. Louis Globe-Democrat (Baseball Digest, March 1949)

SENTENCE HURTS

"The Giants won't be financially embarrassed over the $2,000 they must contribute to the commissioner's coffers because of the Fitzsimmons incident and neither will be Leo Durocher or Fitzsimmons, who were fined $500 each. But Fitzsimmons' suspension from March 1 to April 1 runs while the Giants are in training in Arizona and may injure the Giants' pennant chances irreparably.

Durocher was intending to have Fitz work with his pitchers while in camp. Giant pitching has been a Harlem eyesore for years and still needs hours of the sound schooling of the cagey old veteran who was a standout moundsman of the National League."

-Harold C. Burr in the Brooklyn Eagle (Baseball Digest, March 1949)

JOHNNY MCCARTHY(Yankee Farmhand of the Past)

"Last season Johnny returned to the New York Giants and appeared in 56 games, hitting .263.

He was first with the Giants in 1936. As their regular first baseman in 1937 and 1938, Johnny hit .279 and .272 respectively. He appeared in the 1937 World Series.

Johnny has also been with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves."

-1949 Bowman No. 220

JERRY PRIDDY

"Jerry came up to the Yankees as part of the famous double-play combination of Rizzuto and Priddy. He was traded to Washington to make room for Snuffy Stirnweiss and then, in turn, was traded to the Browns.

Jerry clubbed out a .296 average on 166 hits, driving in 79 runs. He participated in 132 double plays- tops in last season's American League play."

-1949 Leaf No. 111

HANK MAJESKI

"Hank started in the majors with the Boston Braves in 1939. He spent 1939 to mid-1941 with the Braves and on option to Newark. He was sold to the Yankee organization in 1941 but joined the armed forces before playing in New York.

Hank split 1946 between the Yankees and the A's. The next season he set a major league record for fielding by third basemen with .988. In 1948, he hit .310 for Philadelphia in 148 games and again led American League third basemen in fielding."

-1949 Bowman No. 127

"The hot-corner man for the A's. Hank established a new major league-high for expert defense at third in 1947, setting a great mark of .947. He couldn't top his own record last year, but his .975 was second in the American League. A .454 clutch slugger as well, Hank was fifth in the AL in runs batted in- 120.

Hank came from the Yankees in 1946."

-1949 Leaf No. 149

EDDIE BOCKMAN

"The Pirates bought Eddie from the Cleveland Indians at the end of the 1947 season. He was in 70 games for the Bucs last year, hitting .239.

Eddie broke into pro ball in 1939 and played with Bisbee, Joplin, Norfolk and Binghamton before joining the armed forces. He took 1946 spring training with the Yankees and was sent to Kansas City for the season. He hit .303 that year."

-1949 Bowman No. 195

EDDIE MILLER (Yankee Prospect of the Past)

"Eddie is a fiery ballplayer who ranks among the top infielders in the business. He covers plenty of ground and has a good throwing arm- he fielded .966 last season, third best in the National League. Eddie hit .248 driving out 14 home runs.

He was originally a member of the Cincinnati Reds but was traded to the Phillies in 1948."

-1949 Leaf No. 68

1949 Yankees of the Past: Joe Gordon and Red Rolfe

JOE GORDON

"One of the greatest second basemen in baseball. Joe was the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1942. He holds a number of fielding records for regular season play and World Series play.

Joe spent two years in the minors before joining the Yankees in 1938. He remained with the Yanks until being traded to Cleveland for the 1947 season.

He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Oregon."

-1949 Bowman No. 210

"His 32 home runs set the slugging pace for Cleveland's 1948 title drive. Joe smashed out 154 hits with 279 total bases for a .280 bat mark and a .507 slugging average- fourth best in the American League. He finished fifth among regular fielding second sackers with .971.

Joe came to Cleveland from the Yankees in a deal for Allie Reynolds."

-1949 Leaf No. 117

RED ROLFE

1949 Yankee of the Past: Red Rolfe

THE TIGERS HAVE A QUIET RINGMASTER

"Ever since the days of Ee-Yah Hughie Jennings, the Detroit Tigers have been a fierce lot, clawing their opponents with long hits and dashing baserunning. Last year, however, they began to look like a collection of moth-eaten, stripped felines in the zoo. With this summer, baseball enters a new era at the cool stadium in the heart of the Motor City- and it will not be surprising if the Tigers will look like the aristocratic Yankees a few years hence.

For Professor Robert A. Rolfe, the best-educated, best-dressed and politest Bronx Bomber of the Thirties has entered the Tigers' lair as their new manager.

Ever since Red Rolfe's playing career ended in 1942, his many friends had conducted an underground campaign to win a pilot's berth for him. They had given up, for Rolfe is not the dashing, umpire-baiting type that attracts attention, but a quiet, cultured, college-bred New Englander who literally thought his way to major league stardom.

But there is iron in his character and his baseball bears the old New York Yankees' stamp of artistic excellence.

Rolfe faces a difficult task as he assumes leadership of the tattered Tigers. After winning the 1945 World Championship, the Tigers declined rapidly. On their roster are such numerous temperamental stars as Hal Newhouser, a pitching genius who likes to have his own way, and Dizzy Trout, who alternates between winning games and comic pranks. Despite such luminaries as Pat Mullin, Virgil Trucks, George Kell and Hoot Evers, Detroit finished in fifth place last year, eighteen and one-half games behind the champion Cleveland Indians. This season Rolfe must convert Dick Wakefield, the $52,500 problem child, into a serious-minded performer if that gap is to be closed.

Rolfe must also cure Aaron Robinson, his newly acquired first-string catcher, of irresponsibility. He must discover a substitute starting pitcher for Art Houtteman, who was hurt in an auto crash. And he must discover a workmanlike second baseman to replace the aging Eddie Mayo.

That Rolfe will tame the Tigers is the opinion of those who closely watched him during his Yankee career. He was essentially a team player of great efficiency. Most fans think of third base as one of the easier positions. Rolfe made it a key post as the Yankees won six pennants during his nine years with them. He didn't win headlines for his slugging as did Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Keller and Dickey; nor by zany wisecracks, as did Lefty Gomez. But when he quit the Stadium scene, a wide gap was left at the hot corner.

'Little things win as many ball games as home runs,' said Rolfe one day. He is one of the few diamond luminaries who keeps a card index of batters' habits. When he first reported to the Yankees in 1934, he was a shortstop, with no hope of supplanting the brilliant Frankie Crosetti. Shifted to third base, his job was to defend himself against hot shots rifled in his direction by strong-armed batters. He did much more. He broke down the area between the foul line and the overlapping space between his position and Crosetti's, shifting from point to point in accordance with opponents' hitting habits.

He sidestepped to his right for right-handed batters, to his left for southpaws. His chief concern was where a batter usually hits and how he runs. In his day Earl Averill and Charlie Gehringer of Detroit, Hal Trosky of the Indians and Ted Williams of the Red Sox were lefties who either tried for a long drive or drilled liners between second and first. The famous Boudreau Shift was foreshadowed a decade ago when the entire Yankee infield shifted to the left, narrowing the space between second and first, Rolfe playing at least 15 feet toward short and from ten to fifteen feet back of the bag, just in case those big boys poled an outside pitch toward left field.

'But dangerous as home run drivers may be,' he says, 'speedy left-handed batters are worse. They can spray the ball all over the lot. They can drive, bunt, top, bound a ball, or scoot a grass-cutter anywhere within fair territory. Before a pitcher has two strikes on these triple-threat batters, the third-sacker must stand close to the grass so he can come in quickly for a bunt, yet be far enough back to handle a hard drive. After the second strike the tension eases, for they aren't likely to bunt; but late-swinging, fast lefties are tough problems to face. When the big, powerful right-handers like Joe Gordon, Sam Chapman and Vern Stephens are up, third is no place for anyone for slow reflexes. The third baseman should move fifteen feet back of the bag. Such hitters are a special study all by themselves.'

Red has analyzed other positions as keenly as his own. He is especially noted for his scientific batting. 'Red Rolfe has personality,' said Joe McCarthy, his old Yankee manager. 'He has color, and I don't mean just his hair. And he asks plenty of questions and writes down the answers. He also has a lot of other information in his little black book. For instance, he writes down just what every pitcher throws in the clutch, so the batter can be set in the pinch.'

Although Red was not a long hitter, he became expert in batting behind the runner, placing drives to left and right at will. He occupied the number two slot in the batting order, getting on base often, then waiting for DiMaggio, Gehrig or Keller to drive him home. In 1939 he led the American League in runs scored, hits and two-baggers, for a peak average of .329.

Something must be said about Red's ability to make two-base hits, for he was not especially fast. He did it by studying opposing outfielders' methods of stopping his low line drives. In those days Wally Moses, now with the A's, played for Chicago. Moses had a habit of falling to one knee to field a ground ball, losing a precious second or two before he straightened up for the throw to second base. 'When I hit toward Moses or a fielder who backed up, I never stopped running around first ... I slid into second easily.'

Although Red's lifetime average was a substantial .289, he was seldom mentioned as a member of the fence-busting Bronx Bombers. During the third game of the 1939 World Series, the Yankees scored five runs on five hits against Cincinnati, four of the tallies on homers- two by Keller, one by DiMaggio, one by Dickey. The fifth run was scored by Professor Rolfe. 'I singled. Keller's homer drove me in.

'When I reported to the clubhouse after the game, some wag, probably Lefty Gomez, had posted a notice: 'Attention, Red Rolfe: singles forbidden on this club. Report for batting practice, 10 A.M. tomorrow.''

Until now the Tigers have been best known for their hitting, pitching, slow running and slower thinking. Professor Rolfe may be expected to teach them inside baseball. He engaged Ted Lyons, former White Sox manager, as instructor in the subtler side of hurling. Peppery Dick Bartell conducts classes in infield play. A mathematician compiles statistics about hitters' habits and pitchers' proclivities. Rodin's statue of 'The Thinker' will occupy a prominent place in the Tigers' dressing room this year.

Bob Rolfe was born in the tiny town of Penacook, New Hampshire four decades ago. He was a studious lad, despite a zeal for athletics. After high school, he attended exclusive Philips Exeter Academy, and then entered Dartmouth College, not on an athletic scholarship but as an English major.

'I really wanted to be a newspaperman,' he says. 'While I was still a Yankee, I wrote a baseball gossip column which had too much inside dope, I'm afraid, for President Edward G. Barrow told me to cease and desist.'

At Dartmouth, Rolfe batted .400 in the Ivy League. Word soon reached Barrow, who sent the legendary White Ties McCann to scout him. McCann was so impressed that Barrow paid Bob a substantial bonus when he signed him two years later.

He is not the sentimental type who dwells on how he broke into professional baseball. He took one training trip with the Yankees, then was farmed to Albany, moving up to Newark, and finally to the Stadium.

It was a hard wrench to quit shortstop for third base, where Manager McCarthy posted him, but Red made the switch with ease. When he had mastered defensive technique, he turned to a consideration of his batting style boning as carefully as he had in English Lit. IV in school.

As Yankee fans glanced toward third base during the next nine summers, they saw a lithe young man crouch low for bunts or leap high into the air for liners. Game after game, Rolfe played with such flawless efficiency that his artistry was taken for granted. In 1937 no one knew that he suffered excruciating pain, caused by a calcium deposit on his thigh bone. He batted and fielded as consistently as ever until the final out of the World Series, then went to a hospital for an operation. The Yankees crushed the Giants, Cubs, Reds and Dodgers, with Red playing every Series game.

During the 1942 spring training trip, he contracted an intestinal ailment, which caused him to lose weight rapidly. He was still a young man as ball players go, and it was a severe shock to learn that, at thirty-three, he was must turn in his glove forever.

The following spring his health improved, but he was warned not to risk daily competition on the diamond. Yale University had offered him the post of baseball and basketball coach.

'I was happily resigned to a campus career,' he says, 'for I like the university atmosphere, and especially the opportunity to dabble in good books. I do a lot of reading, in politics, philosophy and economics, and always try to keep abreast of current affairs.'

After his Yale term, Red briefly coached the ill-fated Toronto professional basketball five, winning many personal friends among Canadians. Although he converted Eric Craddock's outfit into a high-scoring combination, he could not turn it into a winner. The franchise was abandoned.

In 1946 the Yankees needed a coach and Red once more donned the uniform in which he had starred. That year the Yankees had three managers, McCarthy, Dickey and Johnny Neun. With the signing of Bucky Harris in September, Red returned to New Haven.

The following August he received a phone call from Detroit. 'How would you like to supervise out farm system?' asked General Manager Billy Evans.

The Tiger farm chain had been dissolved during the war. Red's task was to rebuild it. In a single season he increased the number of rookies from 100 to 200, uncovering several fine prospects.

When Spike Briggs went looking for a new manager last November, he and Evans scribbled down a list of 50 applicants. Slowly they reduced the number to twelve. Day after day they debated. Long past one midnight, Briggs said, 'There's a name missing from this list. What's the matter with Red Rolfe? He's got the temperament, the experience, the tradition and the executive ability.' Evans sighed with relief. 'I've been thinking of Rolfe for three days. He's our man!'

'I can't promise to lift the team out of the second division this year,' Red frankly admits. 'We haven't been able to obtain enough new players.'

But by 1950 or 1951 he hopes to hand his Tiger students their World Series diplomas."

-Charles Dexter, Baseball Digest (May 1949)

1949 Yankee of the Past: Joe McCarthy

"I can't imagine a team like we had playing two seasons under Joe McCarthy without winning a pennant. He's the best loser I ever saw. He never criticizes when you lose. He holds his tongue and words of advice until the team is winning or an individual is going well."

-Birdie Tebbetts, Boston Red Sox catcher (Baseball Digest, March 1949)

.500 MARK ALMOST ALWAYS A SPRINGBOARD

"It was Joe McCarthy who once gave utterance to the profound discourse on the importance of watching the .500 mark in a pennant race. He wasn't perhaps the first to think of it but he attached so much value to it that since then virtually all managers have come to accept it as their standard gauge of measurement.

Clubs who manage to keep themselves just a few games above the .500 figure still have a chance for the flag even when the race has reached the August turn. Unless, of course, some overpowering entry already has made a runaway of it. But when at least two teams are racing close together at the top, all the others above .500 have a chance.

Clubs which manage to keep abreast of the magic mark when things go particularly bad, especially during the first half, always remain threats in a closely bunched field. Those that fall below it at any time for any appreciable distance invariably are hopelessly sunk.

We can still recall the circumstances when McCarthy delivered his memorable lecture. It was at the close of a warm June day in Philadelphia where the Yankees that afternoon had come out on top in a torrid battle with the A's. The boys were gathered at a round table, discussing this and that, when Marse Joe suddenly blurted out, 'Do any of you fellows know why I pitched Red Ruffing out of turn today?'

'Well,' someone volunteered, 'it was a game you had to win or else you would have dropped to sixth place.'

'Shucks,' said McCarthy, 'what does dropping to sixth place mean at this stage of the race? Or even seventh or eighth? It doesn't mean a thing. But what does mean something is that .500 mark.

'This morning we were two games under that figure. Had we lost this afternoon we would now be three. But I went all out to keep us from sinking any lower. So we won and now we're only one below. Tomorrow we'll go with Lefty Gomez and if all goes well we should be back at the .500 level by tomorrow night.

'Never go below .500,' expounded Marse Joe with emphasis, although he did cautiously add, 'if you can help it.

'A club that can hold itself even with that figure, when things are going pretty badly, is never wholly out of the running,' he said. 'Let things get straightened out and the club goes on a winning streak and the next thing you know it is right up there with the leaders.

'But let a club sink anywhere from eight to ten games below .500, even in May or early June, and that club's season is pretty well wrecked. Because even if it does eventually get hot and win a bunch in a row it still isn't anywhere when the streak is stopped.'"

-John Drebinger in the New York Times (Baseball Digest, November 1949)

MCCARTHY HAD TO YANK KINDER

"The final game of the season at Yankee Stadium left a morsel for the second guessers, particularly those who live in Boston. They are asking:

'What did Joe McCarthy take out Ellis Kinder for? If he'd let him in there, the Red Sox would now be champions of the American League.'

When McCarthy took out Ellis Kinder in the eighth inning of the season's final showdown game, he made the right move regardless of what happened afterward. As John J. McGraw used to say:

'When you play your hand correctly, you can't blame yourself if you lose.'

And McCarthy played his hand correctly.

The Yankees scored one run in the first inning and then made only two singles off Kinder after the first inning, but the Red Sox were still trailing by one run when the eighth inning opened.

Birdie Tebbetts was leadoff batter in the eighth and he grounded out. It was Kinder's turn at bat, but McCarthy substituted Tom Wright, just up from Louisville after winning the American Association batting championship. Wright walked on a three-and-two pitch and Dom DiMaggio, the next batter, hit into a double play.

It was imperative that McCarthy use a pinch batter for Kinder. It is possible that Kinder could have continued pitching the same kind of ball that he had pitched since the first inning, but it is also possible that Vic Raschi, the Yankees' pitcher, would pitching the same kind of ball, in which event the game would end 1-0.

Boston had to win and to score. McCarthy had to get a stronger batter than Kinder up to the plate. Since his club seemed doomed to defeat it might as well lose by 8 or 9 to 0 as 1-0.

Mel Parnell was called from the bullpen and Henrich hit one into the lower deck of the right field pavilion, and when Berra followed with single Parnell was taken out and Tex Hughson substituted. The Yankees then scored three more runs.

Johnny Pesky started the ninth for the Red Sox and fouled out. Raschi, pitching carefully to Ted Williams, walked him on a three-and-two count. A wild pitch put Williams on second. Vern Stephens singled to left.

Doerr hit a full-blooded belt to right-center and Joe DiMaggio, running desperately, failed to reach the ball. It fell for a triple, Williams and Stephens scoring. Doerr came home on Bill Goodman's single after two were out, and the local season ended when Henrich pulled down Tebbetts' foul fly.

Had Kinder remained in the game the Yankees might possibly not have scored again, but it is also possible that the Red Sox would not have scored. It is cinch that Raschi would have been removed after Williams walked and Stephens singled in the ninth. The only reason he remained in the game was that he had a four-run lead at the time."

H.G. Salsinger, condensed from the Detroit News (Baseball Digest, November 1949)

1949 Yankees of the Past: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig

BABE RUTH

THROUGH PITCHER'S LEGS - OVER CENTER FIELDER! Ruth Actually Did It - But T'was Like This
"It just goes to show. If you keep digging long enough, you're bound to strike oil sooner or later. No statement we ever wrote evoked quite as much skepticism as the one that Babe Ruth once hit a ball so hard that it shot through the legs of the pitcher and over the head of the center fielder. Folks generally have been willing to believe anything and everything about the Babe but this was one they had trouble digesting, much less swallowing whole.
Letter writers challenged this chronicler to name names and cite sites. The best he could do in defense, however, was to repeat what Babe Ruth wrote in his autobiography, that he once had hit such a ball off Hod Lisenbee. But now a full report on the incident is available and it comes from the best possible source, Hod Lisenbee himself. It seems that it did happen and then again it didn't. At any rate, you'll just have to bear with us for a little while.
From Atlanta, Ga., Lisenbee writes: 'I've just read your article on the ball hit between my legs by the mighty Babe. If only I could have seen you in advance, I'd have given you the true version but now I'll have to do it in this letter to the best of my writing ability.
'I recall the game perfectly. It was in 1926. There was a man on second base and two out. I was pitching for Cleveland against the Yankees and had two strikes on the Babe. Tris Speaker was playing center field for us and he came sneaking in an attempt to trap the runner off second, an old trick of his.
'Tris had crept to within only ten feet of the bag when for some unaccountable reason I whirled and threw to the plate. The Babe hit the ball so hard right back at me that I barely had time to raise my right leg slightly. The ball nicked my pants as it passed through my legs.
'It hit just over second base and then struck either a pebble or hard spot there. Thereupon it bounded high over Speaker's head. The left fielder fell down and old Tris had to chase the ball at top speed more than a hundred yards out to the center field fence.
'I still laugh when I think of old Tris with his tongue out, cussing me at a blue streak for pitching to the Babe when he was only ten feet in back of second.
'That was the hardest hit ball of my career and even now I look at my right knee and thank the Lord that it is still there.
'The Babe rounded the bases easily for a home run, but we won the game by a 5-2 score.
'That is the only time Babe Ruth ever hit a ball through my legs.
'I think that the Babe was kidding Bob Considine when he told him that part of the story because he was one of the greatest kidders in the game. It's impossible for a ball to go between a man's legs on the pitching mound and go over a center fielder's head in normal center field playing depths. Best regards. Horace (Hod) Lisenbee.'
Well, that settles it. As you can see by now, it happened and then again it didn't happen. It occurred not quite in the unvarnished style that had been originally pictured but with trimmings. To tell the truth, this reporter had been as skeptical as most of the correspondents except for the fact that Ruth had been such an impossible character that anything could be believed about him.
Anything can happen in baseball but it's nice to have the Ruth-Lisenbee incident finally straightened out to the satisfaction of all concerned."

-Arthur Daley, condensed from the New York Times (Baseball Digest, January 1949)

NO MORE STRAWBERRIES
"During his early playing days, the late Babe Ruth possessed an enormous appetite. Often, at the ball park, he would eat a half-dozen frankfurters at a sitting.
One afternoon in the locker room before the game, Manager Miller Huggins noticed that Ruth looked a little green.
'Is something, Babe?' he asked.
'My stomach's acting up,' said Ruth. 'It must be that party I went to last night. I never saw so much food in my life: lobsters, crabs, clams, roast turkey, fried chicken and to top if off- strawberries.'
'And I suppose you helped yourself to everything in sight,' said the manager.
'Yes,' confessed Ruth with a groan. 'But that's the last time I'll ever eat strawberries!'"

-E.E. Edgar, reprinted from December 1948 Coronet (Baseball Digest, February 1949)

"Greatest of all home run hitters. Babe smashed 714 round-trippers- 60 in 1927 and 59 in 1921. He smacked 15 in World Series play. He hit 40 or more homers every season for 11 years.

Babe led the American League in batting with a .378 average in 1924. He once walked 170 times in a single season (1923).

He started as a pitcher with the Red Sox. He hurled the longest World Series game- 14 innings- beating Brooklyn, 2-1, October 9, 1916. He topped American League pitchers that year with a 1.75 ERA.

Babe is a member of the Hall of Fame."

-1949 Leaf No. 3

THE "INSIDE" ON RUTH'S ALL-STAR HOMER
"We pass on the inside story, never before told, of the circumstances attending Babe Ruth's game-winning home run in the first All-Star Game back yonder in 1933. For this gem we are indebted to Fred McGuire, who was a talent scout for the New York Giants from 1905 to 1912 and an intimate friend of their fiery manager, the late John McGraw.
Fred tells it like this: 'After the 1933 All-Star Game, Jack Hendricks, one-time manager of the Cincinnati Reds, Dick Kinsella, a Giant scout, and I had dinner with McGraw, who that day had managed the National League All-Stars against Connie Mack's American Leaguers, who won, 4-2. Among other things, McGraw told us of his clubhouse meeting with his players before the game, in which he said, 'You are All-Star players and know the game. My only instructions are to the pitchers. When the big fellow (Ruth) is up there, don't give him any fast balls. Pitch him nothing but curves and keep them low.'
'Bill Hallahan (the Nationals' pitcher) thought he would experiment after getting a count on the Babe in the third inning,' concludes McGuire.
'He gave him a high fast one, which Ruth promptly parked in the right field stands. McGraw never said a word to Wild Bill about the pitch, as he knew the fans were happy about the home run.'"

-Arch Ward in the Chicago Tribune (Baseball Digest, July 1949)

WITH ANY BAT, HE WAS RUTH
"Clyde 'Bucky' Crouse, the old Chicago White Sox catcher, tells of an incident which occurred during a game that the New York Yankees played in Chicago. At the end of the eighth inning, Babe Ruth, coming in from his position in left field, sat down in the White Sox dugout instead of crossing the infield to his own bench, which was along the first base line.
Chicago had a four-run lead but the Yankees put on one of their famous rallies and tied the score. It became Ruth's turn to bat- and there he sat in the Chicago dugout!
'The big fellow did not hesitate an instant,' Crouse remarked. 'He grabbed a bat from the Chicago bat rack (it belonged to Ted Blankenship, one of our pitchers), walked up to the plate and hit a home run!'"

-Ed Satterfield in the Muncie (IN) Star (Baseball Digest, August 1949)

LOU GEHRIG

Five Candidates This Time, But- TEN YEARS- AND SECOND GEHRIGS STILL CAN'T GET TO FIRST BASE

"The New York Yankees have been looking for a successor to the late Lou Gehrig for ten years and they are no closer to their objective today than they were on May 2, 1939, the day the 'Iron Horse' reluctantly quit the game.

In Detroit that day, a pale and tired-looking Gehrig announced mournfully to Manager Joe McCarthy:

'You better put Babe Dahlgren on first today. I'm not doing the club any good out there.'

And with those words, Gehrig spelled finis to a brilliant career, a career which had afforded the Yankees the best possible first base insurance for over fourteen years.

Dahlgren, an exceptionally fine fielder but an ordinary hitter, did the best he was able but didn't come close to filling Gehrig's brogans. The Yankees ultimately peddled him to the Boston Braves in 1941, McCarthy claiming that 'Dahlgren's arms are too short for a first baseman.'

It was a bum rap but it didn't matter. McCarthy didn't care for Dahlgren, and Dahlgren, realizing the situation, was just happy to go to another club.

Since Dahlgren's departure from the Yankees, there have been a number of pretenders to Gehrig's first base throne, including Johnny Strum, Buddy Hassett, Ed Levy, Nick Etten, George McQuinn, Tom Henrich and Steve Souchock.

McQuinn was the standout of the bunch although Henrich did well for a converted outfielder. Neither made the fans forget Gehrig, though. McQuinn moved to the Yankees after he literally was on his last legs and did well enough to help New York to a pennant in 1947. Henrich is slated to return the outfield next season.

Which brings us to the lackluster crop which will compete for the post in 1949.

Norman (Babe) Young, a thirty-three-year-old veteran who has played with the Giants, Reds and Cardinals during his eight years in the big leagues, reportedly has the inside track for the job. He hit .237 in ninety games last season and no matter from what angle you look at him, he isn't exactly a ball of fire.

Next in line is Souchock, who enjoys some sort of priority inasmuch as he spent the entire 1948 campaign with the Bronx Bombers. It wasn't much of a season as seasons go because Steve only managed to hit .203 forty-four games. Unless he shows a sharp reversal of form next spring, his days as a Yankee appear to be numbered.

There's a dead-heat for the third spot in the Yankees' 'first base derby' between two Newark grads- Jackie Phillips and Joe Collins. Their strongest recommendations are youth, hustle and ambition.

The dark horse is young Dick Kryhoski, moving up from the Kansas City Blues of the American Association with some fine press clippings and even more impressive recommendations.

Probably the closest the Yankees ever came to landing another Gehrig was when they scouted big and awkward-looking Hank Greenberg on the Bronx sandlots. But Hank cast his lot with the Detroit Tigers.

So the Yankees still look and hope.

It could be, and it certainly is beginning to look like they'll never find a really genuine successor to 'Old Biscuit Pants.'"

-Milton Richman, United Press (Baseball Digest, February 1949)