WE NS DA , MAY 923, 19145 THE MTCHIGAN DAILY ------------- B' Ten Track ilet ,S-een as By HANK MANTWO Daily Sports Editor Michigan Baseball Nine Netters Favored Michigan, Illinois Again Plays Badgers rdyIn BigeMeet Loom as Co-Favorites Ploy BaqersSaturdayT1i5Week-End ill* Ti ~ I - £,ubl 'VUtb. EVERY TIME the subject of Lou Novikoff arises, which it does every now and then, the inevitable question of his hitting prowess comes up, and to attest to this, his partisans say: "Didn't he lead every minor league he was ever in." Then they go on to state that something is wrong someplace. The main puzzle to the average baseball fan of today concerning Novikoff is why he should be floundering around in the minor leagues now when all teams need all of the potent and experienced personnelI that they can get. Their main grief is that many inferior ball players are stumbling around the majors today, and, after brief speculation, the puzzle becomes so involved as to lose any semblance of coherence. Novikoff. who is now with Los Angeles, is a colorful ball player with a fiery disposition. and his many circuit clouts have labelled him as a longl idistance hitter of the type which would be welcome to most teams at present. ! LOU HAS BEEN given many nicknames by the various sports scribes all over the country, some of which are "The Mad Russian," "The Sock- ing Soviet and several others. As implied by the pseudonyms given to Novikoff, sports writers admit that he can hit, and everybody who has ever seen him play admits that he can hit. And although he isn't the greatest defensive fielder to come out of the minors, neither was Dick Wakefield, but his heavy bat more than offset his fielding, and the same situation is found with Novikoff. "The Mad Russian's" feats as a slugger are well known and. while leading every minor league in which he played, the best known are the' Three-Eye, Texas, Pacific and American Association. After failing with the Cubs in his initial attempts, Lou was sent back to the minor leagues and when he returned he was billed as the greatest rookie outfielder since the Yankees first brought Joe DiMag- gio to their ranks.a Although Novikoff hilt a little above the charmed .300 circle in his first year, the following years saw him relegated to the position of a bench] warmer as some sort of punishment, and the ironic part of his treatment was that the Cubs particularly lacked the heavy hitting that he could havei supplied.l Manv major league ball clubs have been trying to acquire Novikoff and as one baseball executive stated: "Any club in the major leagues t would like to have him and he'd be a regular, too."l A number of reasons are given for the failure of this so-called eccen- tric ball player, but these can all be dispensed with, as the real reason centers about that ever-important term--money. The Cubs fully realizec that Novikoff is worth much more than the $7,500 waiver price which any team would hand over immediately and they are out to get it, whethert they ruin the baseball career of one man or not.' JUST CALL HIM 'CINDERELLA': Wol verne ia Wvlrf High winds cancelled the last home baseball contest of the season yester- day afternoon at Ferry Field, where the Wolverines were scheduled to tangle with the Bunker Hill Naval Training Station crew. Although the Michigan squad has four Big Ten contests to play, none of these is scheduled for Ann Arbor and local fans will not have a chance to view the present team again unless! Coach Ray Fisher is able to schedule' another practice game on a week- day. Impirtant Series{ A doubleheader between Michigan; and Wisconsin Saturday will prob- ably clinch or lose the Conference= title for the Wolverines. The Badgers have suffered two defeats so far this season, and the Michigan nine would have to loe as many games before their title hopes would be threatened. In Saturday's games, Fisher is planning to use Red Louthen. ace right-hander with a perfect record of five wins, against Wisconsin's Gene1 Jaroch. Louthen is the top hurler in the Conference at present. Ac- cording to Coach Fisher, he is rated just above Jaroch in the Big Ten, from the point of games won and strikeouts regiutered against the op- position. Bo Bowman will get thel call in the second of the two games. starting against Badger hurler John Robinson. Bowman has a near-per- feet slate of five wins in six starts for the year. Another possible Wisconsin pitcher is veteran Wally Pearson. Have Veteran Team The Badgers have a veteran team this season, composed of two men back from the 1943 season and seven regulars from last year. The prob- able lineup which Coach Arthur "Dynie" Mansfield will field Satur- day finds Bob Sutton at third, Jerry Thompson or Orvell Zimmerman at second, Bob Perthel in center, Jim, Ackeret at short, Eric Kitzman in left. Dick Carpenter in right. George Wirtz or Phil Nelson at first. and Dan Murphy behiind the plate. Beird s Jr h' .t; d, Pil 'Dr'nt.' fih' U~ps rreani's Chances c es a cl ani rear~suon, i After copping high honors in a Wisconsin veterans of past seasons triangular meet with Ohio State and include Murphy. Kitzman. Nelson. Northwestern last weekend, and de- Perthel, Bob Sutton. Zimmerman.s and irt. Akert, arpnte. ad fating Oberlin Monday. Michigan's and Wirtz. Ackeret, Carpenter, and unbeaten tennis squad is rounding off the sharp edges in preparation for the Western Conference meet at Evanston this weekend. The Wolverines will go into the Conference meet as decided favorites, especially after their 7-2, 9-0 wins | over Ohio State and Northwestern. respectively. Led by Captain Roger Lewis. the netters encountered little difficulty in squelching their two Big Ten foes. Lewis downed Aris Franklin, the Bucks' number one man. 6-4, 6-4. and proceeded to take his second singles: win from the Wildcats' White. 7-5. Teamed with Jack Hirsch, Michi- gan's Number Thiee player, Lewis assisted in defeating"White and Ry-! an of Northwestern. 7-3, but dropped a close match to Ohio States' Aris and Alex Franklin, 7-5. 6-4. Jinx Johnson. holding down the number two singles position for the Wolverines, took both of his singles matches with ease, and gained two more victories in the number three doubles slot with Bill Haynes. The only two Wolverine defeats, both of which occurred against the Buckeyes, were hard fought and lost; only by very small margins. Roy Boucher, playing in the number five BOB STEVENSON Isingles slot, was defeated by Bowen. MichiganOcather 8-6, 9-7. The other defeat suffered by Michigan was the match dropped by Lewis and Hirsch. Thompson are all members of the Backed by an impressive record of 1944 Badger grid squad. 10 wins in as many starts. the Mich- The twin bill at Madison will start igan netters should have little trouble in the afternoon, according to Coach in winning the laurels at the. Big Ten Fisher. but must end before 4:55,1 when the Wolverines will have to catch a train back to Ann Arbor. Fisher also announced that Dom To- masi, who has been out of town dur- ing the last three gamnes, will prob- ably be back at second base for the1 Wolverines. Conference play-offs this week-end. Coach LeRoy Weir's charges will be defending champions in the meet, having beaten the best the Confer- ence had to offer last seaso in a photo finish which was not 3ecided un1til the last doubles match had been played off. Rags to Riches' Story of Dick XWakcfied Recounted By BILL LAMBERT "From third string catcher on the Michigan baseball squad, to a $50,- 000 major league contract-in four' months . . . " This is the 'Cinder- ella' story of Dick Wakefield, who is now playing ball in a bigger league, on the roster of the United States Navy. Dick, who was born in Chicago, Ill., first came to the University in 1940, and when spring rolled around that year he reported for freshman base- ball. Although he did not stand out O above any of the other candidates, he kept at it, and was put at the catcher spot by coach Ernie McCoy. 1941, the year which saw Wakefield skyrocket to national fame as the Detroit Tiger's $50,000 rookie, started out no better for the big gangling reserve catcher. He was slated to sub for George Harms, one of the outstanding receivers in the Big Ten, but varsity coach Ray Fisher soon switched him to the outfield. That tremendous power at the plate began to catch the eye of coach WAR BONDS ISSUED HERE Day or Night Continuous from 1 P M. Weekdays 30c to 5 P M. , Oavprt7 i m 'dzprr TvEwaTA Last Times Today Raymond MASSEY Faye EMERSON ' Peter ORRE Helrut AN - Starts Thursday -- Fisher, and Dick soon moved up to the starting lineup. Wednesday, April 9, when the Wolverine club left for its annual invasion of the south, he was named as a member of the travel- ing squad. -After the first three weeks of the season, Wakefield was the owner of a Fisher termed, "the longest drive ever made at Ferry Field;" as lhe sparked the Maize and Blue club to a 7-2 victory over Illinois. After get- ting a. triple and a single in the Indi- ana game a week later, big league scouts began filtering into Ann Ar- bor to get a look at the heaviest hit- ter in the Conference. In a two-game series against Pur- due, Dick stepped up the pace, blast- ed two home runs over the fence of Columbia Park Stadium. one going 430 feet on the fly. In a Memorial Day tilt with Northwestern he dupli- cated this feat, thus helping Michi- gan clinch the Big Ten crown on a 9-7 victory. The slugging outfielder wound up the season as the team's leading hit- ter, possessing a .368 average. He had lashed out 39 hits, including two doubles, five triples, and seven home runs and was topping the Conference in runs-batted-in. It was on June 7 that the "pro" bug actually bit the college star. He announced that the offers were "too attractive to turn down" and that he would be leaving college to try the big leagues. i Three major league clubs, the Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodg- ers, and Detroit Tigers, were all put- ting the pressure on Wakefield, seek-R ing to have him sign on the dotted line. Alva Bradley, owner of the Indians urgently reminded him that Howard Wakefield, Dick's father, had been a member of that club; Larry MacPhail, Dodger backer, pointed out that he was a Michigan alumnus; and Walter O. Briggs used the argu- ment that any Wolverine ball player belonged with the Tigers. Dick followed that old batting ad- vice at this stage of the game, and merely "waited them out," and after the dust had cleared away from the bidding, lie found himself the prop- erty of the Detroit club. with a $52,- 000 bonus for signing and a two-year. $10,000 contract on the price tag. Coach Fisher. who is now in his 25th year of coaching at Michigan, remarked that "Wakefield was the most powerful hitter to ever play in the Conference, and to my mind the only college ball player comparable to George Sisler." Continuing, he said, "Not only did Dick have that necessary natural ability that real hitters possess, but he was a great 'clutch' player, and had plenty of confidence in himself. Although he had never been an out- fielder, he did improve with practice." But this is by no means the end of the story. as the Major league rec- ords show. Dick went on to be the rookie of the year, and in 1943 was the runner-up to Luke Appling for the American League batting crown. He was named to the All-Star team, and was the only player to get as many as 200 hits that year. It very evidently is not yet mid- night for this "Cinderella," and the close of the war will undoubtedly see the magic name of Wakefield drawing those fans who "love to see 'em hit" to Br'iggs Stadium once more. Major Lea Cue esuls DICK WAKEFIELD AMERICAN LEAGUE New York 3, Philadelphia Only game scheduled. NATIONAL LEAGUE No games scheduled. (. .333 batting average, and on April 3, he pounded out his first circuit clout of the year, a 400-foot drive to the Ferry Field tennis court-a homer which gave Michigan a 4-3 decision over the Spartans of Michi- gan State. Stubby Overmire, the stocky little hurler who later became Wakefield's teammate on the Tiger club, rang up two victories over the Wolverines that year, but "Diamond" Dick, as he later came to be known, nicked him for one of Michigan's five hits in theE first game, and barely missed getting a home run in the second. May 11 saw him hit what Coach ____. -- --- -- JAMS UNNA MARJIE CRAIG - REED MAIN - Also- MARCH OF TIME Cartoon -- News I. ___________ ... Also CARTOON - SCIENCE NEWS TIME IS PRECIOUS! I i I; li Coming 4NAVY" Save i! t.7J <. " '< v I ____- --- ----_-=~------- ----=~-___ AfT 'LT T r", nT1\T T T i\T T r \T I11 I i : Auk A