TMTRSDAY, ARCIT 28, 1946 TEi MICHMIAN IiY PACE THREE TH2UTtSDAV, MARcH 28, 1946 PAOI~ THRF* ____I fSTRI1KE 117W0 Bys, BOB LENT Daly Sports Staff EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fourth of a series of eight columns written by Daily sports staff members covering the baseball teamfs of the American League and their pennant chances for 1946. OF ALL THE BIG LEAGUE TEAMS, none will offer a better yard-stick of just how good--or bad---wartime baseball was, compared to peacetime play as the St. Louis Browns. The Brownies, who hadn't finished in the first division for 13 years prior to the war, finished two war-schedules in third and copped their first pennant in history in 1944. This year they have basically the same club that squeezed through to that flag so they should prove a pretty fair measuring rod. Most experts have Ihem tabbed for the bottom half of the second division, but they seem to discount for the Brownies main asset . . Luke Sewell. Undoubtedly one of the best pilots in the majors, Luke has given his St. Louis charges a winning complex since taking over the helm and could easily surprise the dbpesters with another winning ball club. The Brownies don't figure to land a money spot, but they should be close behind. Few of the "have not" teams can boast a one-two punch like Vern Stephens and Walt Judnich. Stephens led the league in homers last year and RBI the year before. Judnich banged out 55 homers in his three sea- sons before entering the Air Forces and batted .313 his last year out. Stephens has been the top holdout of the junior circuit but is a pretty sure bet to be at short come opening day. If not, Mark Christman will co- ver the spot. Brightest star in the infield at the moment is the kid who will hang his shingle on third base, Bob Dillinger. He can field, run and has been as murderous with a bat as his notorious namesake was with a gun. When "rookie of the year" honors are passed out in October, young Dillinger should be staking a strong claim. The right side of the infield doesn't shape up so well. The strange "dis- appearance" of Dick Siebert left the Browns without an experienced first baseman, Siebert has announced plans to become a St. Paul sport announcer and the St. Louis front office is screaming to Philadelphia for compensa- tion over losing George McQuinn in the deal. In the meantime George Archie and Chuck Stevens, untried ex-servicemen, have been battling for first with the former in the lead. Second base is equally questionable with Johnny Barardino holding the inside track. READING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, the outfield will probably be Al Zaril- la, Judnich and Joe Grace. Zarilla has been pounding balls to the four corners of California in spring practice and looks greatly improved. Grace heads the right field corps mainly by virtue of a .309 batting; average his last year with the squad. Chief opposition for his job comes from veterans Glenn McQillen, Joe Medwick, Chet Laabs, Milt Byrnes and rookie George Bradley up from Memphis. If Mike Chartak is discharged in time, he should give Sewell added punch in this department. Frank Mancuso is looking more like brother Gus every day and rates as the number one backstop. Sewell says he's 75 per cent better than he was two years ago. He'll be aided and abetted by Myron Hayworth and new- comer Hank Helf. Pitching is the big question mark. If Jack Kramer can regain the form that brought him 17 wins in '44; if Nelson Potter can follow up the 34 wins he notched the past two seasons; if Steve Sundra can take up where he left off in '43 (15 wins); if Bob Muncrief's sore arm has healed; a lot of "ifs" but the law of averages should prove a couple true. Behind these question marks come Tex Shirley, Al Milnar, Denny Gale- house, Al Hollingsworth, and Sam Zoldak. Best of the newcomers appears to be Stan Ferens whose chief claim to fame is a one-hitter against the Yanks during a brief stay before entering the service. Fred Sanford and John Pavlick are a couple of lefties who may stick due to an absence of portsiders in the Brownie boudoir. All in all, St. Louis can hardly expect another city series, but the Browns should cause their share of trouble along Pennant Drive. Top Aces To Run in Relays Thomason and Mile Relay in Chieago Meet Woveine Quartet IhaeIM Il~in iAga il By BILL MATNEY Some of the nation's most out- standing track stars will assemble under the same roof Saturday, March 30, for the Annual Chicago Relays, and represented among the group will be Michigan's Bob Thomason and 'he mile relay quartet of Val Johnson, Bill Haidler Horace Coleman and tIugh Short, with Herb Barten as al- ternate. Seventeen-year old Thomason will be entered on the 1000 yd. run, com- peting against such big name stars is Fred Sickinger of Manhattan, vic- tor in eight straight races before his upset defeat by Bill McGuire of 69th Regiment Armory last Friday night in the K.C. games at Cleveland; Bill ^lifford of Ohio State, surprise win- ner of the Big Ten Mile title; and oossibly McGuire. Michigan, Illinois Duel Again Michigan's mile relay will again accupy the leading role in a duel with the red hot Illini combo of Bill Buster, Bob Rehberg, Marce Gonzal- z, and Herb McKenley, the most im- >roved runner of the year. This quar- ,et has broken three mile relay re- :ords so far this year, and will gun for a 3:18 record pace on the fast 2hicago track. In winning every race in which it has entered, this relay eam has established itself as the top luartet in the country on the basis of its times. Considerable interest wil be center- Ad around the duel between Claude 'Buddy" Young and Eddie Conwell, _o-holders of the world record at 60 yards: The battle was expected last week in Cleveland, but Young did not Beginning and advanced riding classes, in connection with BOOTS and SPURS, are now being formed for University men. The classes will meet on Monday nights. All men interested may contact either Keith White, telephone 2-1241 or Golfside Stables, telephone 2-3441. compete in the dash. Breaking out of the blocks also will be Billy Mathis, Conference champ of 0:6.2 calibre fomp Illinois, Barney Ewell, who also has a chunk of the world stan- dard, and Lloyd LaBeach of Wiscon- sin, another sprinter who hangs around the 0:6,2 mark rather consis- tently. Doubt Young In Shape Several armchair experts have stat- ed that Young will not be able to re- gain his speed of former years due to the fact that he played football last fall with the bruising Fleet City Bluejackets, and put on extra weight in the process. Buddy, however, thinks differently. This race will be the first test as to who is correct. With such speed demons as El- more Harris, Cochran and Herb Mc- Kenley slated for the special "600", officials are dusting off the Ameri- can record of 1:10.2, held jointly by the late John Borican and Michigan's Hugh Short. Harris, representing the Shore Athletic Club of New Jersey, will put a perfect record on the block. He did not compete last week, at which time Herb McKenley galloped home in the fair time of 1:14.3. The former Morgan College speedster has hit 1:12 already this year and will be favored to maintain his undefeated pace. Roy Cochran held the American indoor quarter-mile record of :48.2 until Bob Ufer lowered it a tenth, in 1942 shar- ing it with McKenley as of March 9. Banker's Mile Tough Until last week, track fandom had little hope of seeing miler Les Mac- Mitchell defeated or even seriously pushed. Then little Ed Walsh, sopho- more miler from Manhattan, served his 4:11.4 notice that all might see. It is significant, since MacMitchell has not approached that time as yet this year. Nothwithstanding, Les will be favored to retain his diadem a- gainst comparable opposition offered by Notre Dame's Bil Leonard, Drake's Ray Mack, Tommy Quinn, formerly of Michigan Normal, Dave Williams, from Camp Campbell, Kentucky, and Walsh himself. Forrest Efaw, ex-Oklahoma Aggie distance man, and current king of the two-mile roost, will have it out with Fred Feileh of Drake. Feiler however, is expected to eat cinders from the spikes of the spindly Efaw. Hi tters Sharpen Eyes in Lengthy oidde, To Pace Attack Coach Ray Fisher took the empha- sis off pitching and gave his hitters a chance to sharpen up their batting eyes during yesterday's practice ses- sion at the Ferry Field diamond. Varying the practice routine, Fish- er dispensed with the usual intra- squad game and substituted a sort of batting round robin. A squad of previous season letterwinners, plus pitcher Ernie Block, formed the bat- ting order for the bulk of the session. The boys hit and ran the bases until three men were out, then they cleared the bases and started a new inning. The veterans found rookie pitching pretty much to their liking and they hit often. Bob Nussbaumer, Jack Weisenburger, and Tom Rosema topped the attack, Nussbaumer com- ing through with a homer and a double. The second squad didn't bat as long as the veterans, and they faced the slants of "Pro" Boim and Cliff Wise. Jack MacDonald and Jack Tallet, a duo of left handed hitters, banged out two hits apiece to pace the rookie attack. With three on base, MacDonald caught hold of one Boim's pitches and slammed it out into right center field, but Joe Sobeleski, veteran cen- ter fielder went far back and snagged it. Another outdoor session is sched- i led for today. Undefeated Spartan iNine Dtefat&iF Dike DURHAM, N. C., Mavch 2'7--P)- Michigan State's high-flying Spar- tans posed themselves for a clean sweep of their nine-game southern tour after squeezing a pair of runs in the th inning to defeat powerful Duke 5 to 3, here, today. The Spartans wind up their junket Thursday in a single game with near- by North Carolina State at Raleigh which is coached by Vic Sorrell, the one-time Detroit Tiger pitcher. Michigan State's eighth consecu- tive triumph was gained as Keith Steffee, Sturgis sophomore, out- pitched three Duke hurlers to hold the Blue Devils scoreless after the third inning. The victory was won at the expense of Lefty Lee Griffith, Duke's leading pitcher. Steffee was nicked for 10 hits, but fanned 10 and walked two. The Spartans counted twice in the 10th on shortstop Marty Hansen's double to open the inning, a pair of infield errors and an infield out, Centerfielder Bob Ludwig's double and two singles paced the Spartans attack while leftwinger Grady Stott duplicated the performance for Duke. The victory was Michigan State's first over a Duke team in a series now five games old. Score by innings: Mich. State 021 000 000 2-5 8 2 Duke 201 000 000 0-3 10 3 Steff'ee and Walsh, Halliday; Steph- enson, Griffith and McCarthy, Little. ine in the Charming Early American Atmosphere ., of THE COLONIAL 1(OOM Specializing Steaks -Chicken - Sea Food. Give your Student Parties n our Private Dining Rooms Call 26544 0 Reservations not necessary 503 EAST HUjRON STREET -) }0G'-)Got)--y'S-::: o -:-yo JACK WEISENBURGER-who has been switched again. He will change positions as he did for the football team. Along with Bob Nussbaumer, he has been shifted to the outfield where he has all but sewed un one of the starting posts. QUANDARY FACES FISIER: Robinson's Knee In jury May Keep Shortstop Out TIhis Year I I a !a. ,i TENNIS FRAMES and RESTRINGING 3-Day Service OVERNITE SERVICE ON REPAIRS GUT - NYLON 2 : * * Dean McClusky Bill Dare 417 8th Street Drop us a card. We pick up and deliver. INTRAMURAI Sportfolio By DICK BURTON Tank squads from eight Greek let- ter houses competed in the fraternity swimming meet and water polo games last night in the Sports Build- ing. Events included in the swimming meet were the 100 yd. relays, the 25 yd. breast stroke, the 50 yd. free style, the 25 yd. back stroke, and the 25 yd. free style races followed by diving contests. Beta Theta Pi defeated Alpha Tau Omega s squad 41-36. Delta Upsilon downed Theta Chi by a 36 to 22 count, and Phi Sigma Delta won on a for- feit from Theta Delta Chi. Water Polo results were: Alpha Tau Omega 3, Theta Delta Chi 1 Delta Upsilon 3, Sigma Phi Epsi- lon 1 Delta Kappa Sigma 5, Phi Delta Theta 4 By WALT KLEE One of the most serious questions confronting Ray Fisher in naming his starting nine players concerms the right knee of Don 'Robinson, the leading candidate for the shortistop position. Robinson starred at that position defensively in 1942, lead the Big Ten in number of hits with 20, lead the Wolverines with a batting average of .412 during the Conference season and bated .426 for the entire season. However, an injured knee, which was pulled during a softball game in Italy last year, may prevent him from competing this year. Just Monday, the star shortstop pulled a muscle in his left knee which will keep him out of action for 1,hr remainder of this week. Scrappy Reputation "Robbie" as the footbal and base- ball star of 1942 and 1943 is affec- tionately known, has built up a repu- tation as one of the scrappiest ath- letes on any Michigan teams. Weigh ing less than 175, Robinson starred at both wing and tailback positions on the grid squads for two seasons, being equaly adept at running, pas3- ing, kicking and blocking. His most memorable football feat was the touchdown he scored against Notre Dame on a fake field goal at- tempt, when after receiving the pass from center he romped 19 yards into the end zone while the Irish were still expecting Jim Brieski's field goal. Makes Name on Diamond Yet it was on the diamond that Ro- binson found his talent. He was a fast throwing fielder that could gob- ble ground balls all over the left side of the infield. His fleetness of foot was shown as he reached first con- tinuously on what strategy called sacrifice bunts. Those who remem- ber the 1942 season will remember that most of the shortfielder's hits were bunts, that just couldn't be fielded in time. Robinson went into the Army Air faseball Scores By The Associated Press At Clearwater, Fla. St. Louis (NL) 000 010 012 - 4 9 0 Cleveland (A) 010 000 000-- 1 6 2 At St. Petersburg, Fla. Brooklyn (N) 000 000 000 - 0 5 2 New York (A) 001 110 00X- 3 4 1 At Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Phila. (N) 010 001 001 0-3 11 0 Boston (N) 010 000 200 1-4 8 0 At Miami Beach, Fla. Philia. (A) 030 110 000 - 5 13 2 New York (N) 100 100 100 - 3 6 2 Corps during the winter of 1943, where he was commissioned as a pilot of a B-24. He came through 30 mis- sIons unscathed, *just as lie had Iwo season(, of footbal an aetea lr. Injures Right Knee Then came the blow that may have ended his athletic career. It was in a softball game when he tore a cartilage in his right knee. Robinson came out of service last fall, and played a few minutes in the Minnesota game at the quarterback position. After completing two out of two passes, one for a touchdown, he was tackled. Somehow in going down he turned his knee which brought, about a re- c-urrence of the injury lie had suf- fered while in service. Robinson, himself, doe .n't think that, the injury will keep him on the sidelines for long, and with his eager spirit it, is i hard to believe that it will. i CUSTOM-SUIT-TAILORED SHIRTS Ti t jet'Is Spi'lled ByReds, 4-3 LAKELAND, Fla., March 27 -)(A) Catcher Ray Lammano hit a two- run homer in the seventh inning to- day to give the Cincinnati Reds a 4 to 3 triumph over the champion De- trait Tigers. Each team Pollected seven hits. The Reds took an early two-run lead in the third inning when pitcher Frank Dasso singled, outfielder My- ron (Mike) McCormick walked and Dasso came home on a double by left- fielder Dain Clay. Lonnie Frey flied out, scoring McCormick. Detroit moved ahead in the fifth with three runs on two hits. Eddie Lake singled and Roger Crambr walked. Outfielder Dick Wakefield tripled over McCormick's head, scor- ing Lake and Cramer. Roy Cullen- bine flied out, Wakefield scoring. Cincinnati (N) 002 000 200 4 7 1 Detroit (AL) 000 030 000 3 7 2 Keep A-head of Your Hair we specialize in Crew-cuts, Scalp Treatments, Personality Styling. Seven Barbers - No Waiting THE DASCOLA BARBERS Between State & Michigan Theater I ail EARLY SPRING SHOWING of funtous WORSTED-TEX SUITS $45.00 - $49.50 KNIT-TEX l . TOPCOATS $37.50 and $43.75 ., / 1 , " J 4 At Fort Myers, Fla. Boston (A) 111 020 Louisville (AA) 004 010 041 -10 14 1 030 - 8 10 4 At Lake Wales, Fla. N. Y. (A) "B" 300 010 000-- 4 K. C. (AA) 080 010 02X-11 At Daytona Beach, Fla. Montreal (IL) 210 000 000 -13 Brook. (N) "B" 000 001 000 - 1 7 3 14 1 6 1 9 1 1 AIRPLANES TO RENT FLIGHT INSTRUCTION RETURNING AIR FORCE PILOTS. . 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