Evening star. [volume], January 08, 1940, Page A-15, Image 15

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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Boxing in Doldrums Because of Unfair Publicity, N. 8. A. President Charges
_A. _ ^_______________ ___ _ - ---
The
Sportlight
Cardinals Prove Grit
In Flock of Troubles
By GRANTLAND RICE,
Bpetltl Correspondent of The Star.
LOS ANGELES. Jan. 8 (N.A N.A.).
—The advance done on the National
League pennant race last spring
was that the Reds would win. Pew
gave the Cardinals much of a
chance. Frank Frisch did, I know.
Frank had managed the Cardinals
through some hard campaigns—had
won the pennant and the world
championship with them in 1934
and had seemed set for the next
five years. Then, under a run of
wretched luck, they cracked, as the
Dean brothers. Bill Delancey. Stu
Martin and others fell by the way
side.
The 1938 season was the windup
for Frisch in St. Louis. He could
have gone on there but he wouldn’t
—not under the conditions out
lined to him. But he knew what
the Cardinals had when he left
them and he knew with just a little
more help, they could make a race
of it in 1939. He didn’t actually
think they would win. He shared
the notion that the Reds would
finish on top. But, more than any
one else I met trekking over the
baseball trails last spring, Frank
gave the Cardinals a chance.
They had an even better chance
than he thought. With a break in
luck—and not too much of a break,
at that—they might have won.
Medwick Case Shows Blades
Can Stand on Own Feet.
Replacing Frisch as manager of
the Cardinals, Ray Blades made his
major league bow as a pilot. In a
sense, the major leagues provided a
familiar setting for him. since over
a span of years he was a first-rate
outfielder with the Cardinals. But
during his six years in the minors—
three in Columbus and three more
In Rochester—changes had been
wrought in the big show. The Car
dinals he knew had gone. There
were strange faces on the other
teams, too—strange hitters and
Itrange pitchers to combat.
He first had to prove himself with
his own ball players—prove to them
that he was standing on his own feet
and not merely fronting for Branch
Rickey. There were some who were
doubtful of him and resentful of his
authority.
One of these was Joe Medwick.
Ray and Joe straightened out their
difficulties after a while—a $25 fine
for Medwick's failure to retrieve a
ball hit into his territory and his
benching in the ninth inning of a
game when Blades wanted to have
his fullest defensive strength in the
line-up helped to curb Medwick.
But for a time Medwick sulked—
and that didn’t do the Cardinals any
good. That was one of the breaks
against them.
Collision of Mize and Brown
Is Worst Blow of All.
There were others, purely physi
cal. In the early days of the race
Blades called on Lon Warneke fre
quently—he felt he’had to, in order
to win or save games when most of
his other pitchers weren’t ready.
This wore Warneke down and he
clumped—and then, just as he was
coming out of his slump, he came
down with influenza and was lost to
the club for weeks.
Pepper Martin made a great come
back as the season got under way.
He was hitting again—and throw
ing and fielding and running—and
above all he was firing the Cardinals
all over again with his great com
petitive spirit, his headlong, reckless,
hell-for-leather type of play. Ana
then he was hurt.
The worst break came, though,
when Johnny Mize and Jimmy
Brown collided under a pop fly one
day in Brooklyn. They crashed with
terrific force. Mize, bigger and
heavier than Brown, came out of
the tangle with an injured shoulder
that, although he went right on
playing, hampered him in his swing
ing and reaching for a widely
thrown ball at first base.
Brown was hurt much worse. He
was out of the game for a long
Btretch—and as he was the fellow
who held the Cardinal outfield to
gether, it just about fell apart when
he was forced out.
And to top that off, Bill McGee,
one of the Cardinals’ more reliable
pitchers, became ill.
Cardinal Showing at Finish
Proves Extent of III Luck.
The old jinx that had pursued
the Cardinals since 1934—that had
beaten them out of pennants in
1935 and 1936—had caught up with
them again.
How hard the blows of fate were
that rained upon them—how effec
tive they were and how big a part
they played in keeping them from
meeting the Yankees in the World
Series—was illustrated during the
closing weeks of the season, when
they came rushing as the Reds fal
tered—and went right down to a
final series with the Reds before
they were beaten off.
Say that the Reds were a game
ball club in those closing weeks.
That's true—andi Bill McKechnie’s
men deserved to Win. But in cast
ing up the final account of the year’s
play, don’t fall to note that the Car
dinals, a gallant ball club, too, suf
fered badly from the breaks of the
game.
Florida Tournaments to Whet
Patty for U. S. Crown Bid
MINNEAPOLIS. Jan. 8 OP).—Patty
Berg of Minneapolis will hit the
tournament trail again this week
when she departs with her father,
Herman L. Berg, for Florida to com
pete in women’s winter golf events
as a prelude to her bid for regaining
the national championship.
Patty, due to her late start be
cause of her mother’s death Christ
mas Day, is defaulting one of the
titles she won in the South last
year — the women’s titleholders’
championship at Augusta, Ga. The
Augusta event opens January 15,
and the Bergs will not reach there
before the second day of the meet.
They plan to leave Wednesday by
1
One of the major competitions on
her list is an exhibition match for
the benefit of the Orantland Rice
Infantile Paralysis Fund at Colum
bia, S. C., January 21. Patty will
team with Marion Miley of Lexing
ton, Ky., against Kathryn Hemphill
and Jane Cothran in the charity
match.
Preceding this, her schedule calls
for a week of practice at Albany, Ga.
Following the charity match she
plans to defend titles won last year
in the Biltmore meet at Miami, the
South Atlantic tournament at
Ormond Beach, Fla.; the Florida
East Coast event at 8t. Augustine,
and the Mid-South tourney at Pine
hurst, N. C.
w
j Critics Without Knowledge
Of Ring Game Tear It Down,
Heine Miller's Contention
Claims Fistic Sport Would Be Better
If Conducted as It Was in '90s
(Following a recent series in
The Star on boxing in Washing
ton, Lt. Col. Harvey L. Miller,
president of the National Boxing
Association, secretary of the Dis
trict Boxing Commission, coach
of the University of Maryland
ring team and the most success
ful promoter^and matchmaker in
local history, was moved to write
this piece as an adjunct to the
series.)
By HARVEY L. MILLER,
President. National Boxing Association.
The doldrums in which profes
sional boxing in the District finds
itself is but a reflection of the hard
times besetting boxing nationally.
With the exception of New York,
where Mike Jacobs ties up leading
fighters and finds them bolstered
further with nationally syndicated
columns, all emanating from New
York: and Seattle, where A1 Hostak,
middleweight champion, can draw
$100,000 gates in title matches, box
ing gates have dropped all over the
country. Even the trend in New
York has been definitely downward.
Among the older fellows who
know boxing up, down and through
the middle there is a most definite
opinion that the salvation of boxing
lies in “giving it back to the gay
90s.” By this I mean the boxing,
managing, promotion, training and
sports writing of the 90s. It may
seem incongruous to many—al
though the oldsters will agree—that
reversion to a bygone day is what a
modern day needs. Here are some
concrete examples of what I mean:
Blackburn Taught Old Stuff.
With the advent of Joe Louis
reams were written about the “new
stuff” this great champion had on
the ball. He had 1898 stuff—on
balance, counter-punching. The
crowds had been demanding, and
getting, sock-’em, rock-'em fights
with a lot of youngsters able to go
10 rounds until some of them wound
up on their heels. Max Baer won
and defended the heavyweight title
by dint of an overhand right. Muddy
Ruel to Bucky Harris. A punch like
that would have landed on James
J. Corbett every other Tuesday at
7:30 a.m., provided Gentleman Jim
overslept.
To put over that kind of boxing
the trainers and managers must
have called for it from the fighters.
Thus the training has retrograded.
Jack Blackburn, trainer of Louis,
properly should be credited with
Louis’ style of fighting. Blackburn
had been, for some years, “out of
circulation.” When boxing slid
backward Jack was not in a position
to slide with it.
At first blush it may seem like a
far cry from the world heavyweight
champion to Maryland's green
campus ringsters. But here. too. the
Southern Conference asked, “What
new stuff is being taught at Mary
land to enable the Terps to go
through two undefeated seasons out
of three, to win two conference team
titles out of three years of competi
tion?” The answer is, “1900 on
balance counter-punching.” Most
college teams tear in to do or die
for dear old Rutgers. Maryland
let's ’em tear in and hopes they
will. If a boxer weighing 150 pounds
can be taught to hit a perfect
punch, his body behind it from the
heels up, he should be able to dis
place a 150-pound dead weight. If
that dead weight can be made to
come charging in the impact is 300
pounds and the fellow that gets
hit cleanly will either go down or
do most peculiar things standing
■up.
Money Prime Consideration.
Many trainers today never had
on a boxing glove. Many of them
wouldn’t know an old-time right
cross counter from a page out of
Godey’s Lady Book.
Managers get more for their
fighters than they used to, but
they forget that John Public pays
the freight. Old John will cease
to pay when the attraction is in
sufficient. When I returned from a
recent trip to Venezuela to'referee
the Scalzo-Chavez bout the question
fired at me was not, "Was the fight
good?” but, “What was the gate?”
Money seems the prime considera
tion, particularly in the handling
of champions. Sportsmanship is
relegated to second place and the
managers of champions might learn
a simple lesson from Webster’s def
inition of a “champion.” It follows:
"One formally acknowledged su
preme in a branch of athletics or
game of skill and ready to contend
with any qualified challenger.”
Boxing promotion consists of
nothing in the world but making
good matches and getting favorable
publicity in advance. Locally, we
had a great demand for a return
Archibald-Jeffra bout, but the cham
pion’s manager knew only two
words, “Fifteen grand.” But what
promoter would pay that after
Archibald, the champion, had been
defeated by Scalzo, Gilligan, Chavez,
Mancini and had Santa Claused into
a will over Jeffra? Defeat after de
feat and “still champion.” No won
der even sports editors do not know,
offhand, who is bantamweight
champion of the world. Back in the
1900s every school kid knew the first
three fighters in any class. *•
Many old-timers have been won
dering why all nationally syndicated
sports columns emanate from New
York, liberally featuring New York
opinions and blasting the pants off
the N. B. A. or anybody else that
disagrees with these opinions. N.
B. A. officials were done up brown
for insisting that Billy Conn get his
chance. New York writers are nuts
about Conn now, but conveniently
forget that the N. B. A. jammed
him in as champion.
I have in my flies 59 clippings
of drivel worthy of a fishwife, all
ridiculing the N. B. A. for naming
Galento No. 1 heavyweight con
tender. rlecall that the N. B. A.
named Galento No. 1 after five con
vincing kayoes of good men and re
call this was before be had pneu
monia. Finally, New York brought
Galento across the river. Nathan
Mann was to belt over Tony. Only
Galento couldn’t see it that way and
Mann left the Garden with resin
on his panties, a lump on his chin
and his hand over the lump.
The pity is that Galento, after
having been figuratively rammed
down New York throats, had to
“lock up” with New York in order
to get his title shot. Even after Ga
lento’s stand against Louis a nation
ally known columnist promised to
send me a box of “Krumpies” (not
yet arrived and may he eat them in
the biggest department store's win
dow at high noon sans cream or
sugar) if Lou Nova wouldn’t slap
over Galento in a couple of cantos.
Ring Writers Are Hit.
The New York Idea seems to be
to plug certain fighters and murder
others. Locally we had an item only
a few days ago referring to Dan
iels, Brescia and Barlund, three
heavyweights. While columns of
truthful, readable, crowd-drawing
stuff could have been written about
any of them, the article pointed out
only the defeats suffered by all
three, making a fair job of murder
ing all as cards before they ever
had a fair chance. In the old days
a boxing writer’s job was consid
ered to be to boost the sport that
made his pay check possible. It
still would seem to make sense to
day.
Boxing hasn't ha4 in recent years
writers that knew the game like W.
W. (Dad) Naughton, Bob Edgren
and the like. They knew fights and
would turn over in their graves to
read about “haymakers landing.”
A "haymaker” was a farmer’s
scythe-swinging attempt at a blow.
It was a “farmer” or "sucker”
punch. It never landed. That's
why it was labeled “haymaker."
Many had hoped the “experts” had
learned a lesson after all but one
New York paper branded Ernie
Schaff a quitter as he was carried
up the aisle (against Camera) to
keep a rendezvous with the Grim
Reaper. Schaff had to die to prove
the “experts” wrong.
Boxing locally and nationally
needs only good matches and fair
minded publicity to boost the game,
not knock it as a matter of policy
before fights ever take place.
Blame Due Archibald’s Pilot.
The Archibald - Jeffra decision
hurt local boxing. The stage was
set for a return match, but the
manager of the champion was
bigger than the game he played. If
boxing gets a good airing as a result
of Representative Kennedy’s activ
ity the blame lies squarely in the lap
of Archibald's manager.
Boxing will survive as long as
red-blooded men like to see a fight.
When I speak of boxing I mean the
contest itself, not the managerial
connivance, whipsawing, the gate
and other angles that are built
around it. No other sport in the
world ever has had to or would
stand the beatings given boxing.
What if a major league ball club
was publicized in advance only by
the games it had lost and the errors
it had made? Baseball wouldn’t
thrive and neither does boxing.
When our public reaches the stage
of not wanting to see boxing it will
be truly time to wail, “God Save
America.” When the Roman Em
pire ceased to fight it also ceased
to exist. Ferdinand the bull en
joyed sitting under the cork tree
and refusing to fight, but $1 gets
you $1,000 he wound up very shortly
in the town meathouse.
Harrison Runner-Up,
Clarke Is Sixth in
U. S. Pin Stakes
Joe Collects $500, Astor
$150; Dyjak Hangs Up
Record to Triumph
Chunky Joe' Harrison was home
from the duckpin wars today with
$500 In spoils and the very worth
while distinction of having finished
second in a record field of 68 which
rolled in the United States Sweep
stakes at Waterbury, Conn.
Astor Clarke was the only other
among nine Capital entrants to fin
ish in the money. He collected sixth
place coin for $150 with a 15-game
score of 2,036, Including sets of 658,
701 and 677.
Harrison rolled 727—662—685—
2,074 to finish 42 pins behind the
winner ,young Steve Dyjak of Willi
mantic, whose 2,116„ with sets of
726, 653 and 737, broke the national
record of 2,106 established this sea
son by Tony Santinl in the Dixie
Sweepstakes here.
Dyjak, a $1,000 prize in hand,
started on his honeymoon. Earl
Campbell of Baltimore, with 2,066,
won third place' and $400. Fourth
coin of $300 went to Tony Carpenter
of Woonsocket, R. I, with 2,049 and
J. Bonigli of Boston placed fifth
with 2,042 to collect $250.
Defending Champion Ben Kocky
of Bridgeport was eighth with 2,025.
Other Washington scores: Bill
Krause, 1,987; Monk Walker, 1,975;
Hokie Smith, 1,971; Ed Blakeney,
1.947; Tony Santinl, 1,899; OUie Pa
cini, 1,884, and Perce Wolfe, 1,800.
Three years ago—Connie Mack,
back from Oriental tour, denied
Babe Ruth was to be connected
with Athletics in 1938. .
Heafner Still Leading
As Rain Gums Golf
At Los Angeles
Tar Heel Holds 2-Shot
Edge Entering Final
Despite Fat Score
Br the Auociated Free*.
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 8.—Clayton
Heafner and the rain god hold the
key to the championship of the 15th
annual Los Angeles Open Golf
Tournament.
The Lineville, N. C., pro stood at
the top of a brilliant array of
golfers today going into the final
round of the meet, with a 54-hole
score of 212, two strokes in front of
his nearest foe. But more im
portant to the golfing clan was the
weather.
Rain by the bucketful soaked the
Los Angeles Country Club late yes
terday. It continued to fall this
morning. Tournament sponsors
hoped, however, to wind up play to
day, regardless of waterlogged fair
ways and greens.
Nine years ago, Denny Shute won
the tournament title after playing
the entire 72 holes in rain. He was
the only contestant to break 300. It
«raa wnrat. vear for weather in
the meet’s history. Yesterday’s
downpours, however, threatened for
a time to eual that occasion. Heaf
ner took 73, three over par, finishing
before the worst part of the storm
set in, and was glad to get it. With
his previous rounds of 71-68, his
achievement was good enough to
hold the leadership.
Two strokes back was Johnny
Dawson of Hollywood, low amateur
in 1938 and 1933. Three very po
tent contenders—Mark Fry of Oak
land, Calif.; Ben Hogan of White
Plains, N. Y., and A1 Kreuger of Be
loit, Wis.—were only three shots
behind the flying Heafner.
Far back was Wilford Wehrle, the
young Chicago amateur who cap
tured the gallery fancy and led the
field on the first day with a 67.
Wehrle took an 83 yesterday for
324.
Out of the running entirely was
Marvin (Bud) Ward of Spokane,
national amateur champion. He
missed qualifying for the final
round by one stroke. He took 78
to total 330, and the limit was 229.
Dancy Chevy Chase
Table Net Winner
Norman Dancy, one of Washing
ton’s most rapidly-rising table tennis
players, had another achievement
to his credit today—a championship
of one of the Chevy Chase Ice
Palace’s weekly tournaments.
A distinct underdog to Bill Pierce,
who had won the first series, Dancy
came from behind to whip Pierce
yesterday, 14—31,31—13,31—19, and
gain the aeeoBd aeries
Georgia Gridders
Get Feb. 1 Call
By the Associated Press.
ATHENS. Ga., Jan. 8.-^Georgia
will start spring football prac
tice February 1.
Coach Wallace Butts said
freshmen would drill the first
week and then both the frosh and
the varsity would hold forth for
six weeks. About 65 candidates,
including the powerful freshman
team which is expected to furnish
the Bulldogs with several start
ers next season, will report.
"We’ll have to work harder
than we ever have before to ac
complish all we need to in this
spring practice,” Coach Butts
said, glancing at a schedule
which includes Mississippi, Ken
tucky, Columbia, Dartmouth, Au
burn, Tulane, Georgia Tech and
South Carolina.
Brescia Big Favorite
To Wallop Daniels
In Scrap Tonight
Argentine Heavyweight
Held Too Experienced
For D. C. Youngster
Jorge Brescia, towering Argentine
who helped thwart the fistic hopes
of Marty Gallagher and Bob Tow
several years ago, returns tonight to
this bailiwick in an effort to dupli
cate the stunt at Maynard Daniels’
expense. They meet in the eight
round feature of the first profes
sional ring show of the year at
Turner’s Arena. The first bout is
scheduled at 8:30.
Daniels will have the 5th Reserve
Marine Battalion behind him when
he steps into the ring and is con
fident the final bell will see his hand
lifted in token of triumph, but the
odds are against him. Brescia is
no Joe Louis or Gene Tunney, but
does seem to have too many guns
and/too much polish for the District
youngster.
A free-swinger, Daniels Is not going
out with the intention of knocking
the Argentine dead with his first
punch, but rather will bide his time
and try for a clean shot. If Maynard
does land with a right likely It’ll be
curtains for Jorge.
Daniels was defeated by Pat
Comlskey in his last bout, losing by
a technical knockout In the eighth
round after fighting on pure courage
and instinct from the second, when
the Irishman closed his eye with a
murderous right.
The 8-round semifinal pits Johnny
Buff against another Marine re
servist, Joe Temes. AJ Gilbert meets
Nick Manfredo in a 6-rounder and
Sid Silas and Bogeyman Holman
mix in a 4-rounder. Two 4-rounders
to be announced at ringside will
op“ ““‘w‘m 1
Heurich Elation Over
Loop Lead Dulled
By Loss of Zahn
Defeat Barons to Reach
Top; Star Guard Out
For Rest of Year
Pace-setters of the American Bas
ket Ball League for the first time
at such an advanced stage of the
season, the Heurich Brewers lost a
bit of their elation today when in
formed today that Otts Zahn, out
standing guard and last year’s cap
tain, has been instructed by his
physician to abandon the game for
the season.
Sixth among the league's leading
scorers of the 1938-39 campaign,
Zahn injured his back frhile bowl
ing last September. In addition to
performing with the Brewers, the
ex-George Washington ace coaches
the undefeated freshman team of his
alma mater.
The Brewers now are a half game
ahead of the Philadelphia Sphas by
virtue of their easy 41-21 victory
over the Wilkes-Barre Barons at
the Heurich gym yesterday.
The 17-point scoring spree of
Mike Bloom provided the feature of
yesterday’s rout in which the Brew
ers rolled up an early 21-6 lead. It
was their ninth victory in 14 games,
as against Philadelphia’s nine wins
in IS starts.
A preliminary yesterday found
Jewish Community Center whip
ping the Regal Clothiers, 44-30.
Heurich. O. F. Pts. Wkes-B’re. O. F. Pts.
Lee, f ..0 * 2 Sh'kman. I. 1 1 1
G'fadden, f. 0 0 0 Bender, f. 113
Dublller, f._ 2 3 7 Martens, f. 2 1 ft
Bloom, c. . 6 7 17 ITwell, c., *. 1 0 2
Posnack, g. 1 0 2 S'nott. c.. g. 2 1 ft
Kramer, t— 4 3 11 Wilkes, c. OOO
Wilson, g._ 1 0 2 Bowman, (. 3 0 6
Carson, g... 0 0 0 R'sell. g._0 0 0
Total 13 18 41 Totals. To *4 24
First-period score—Heurich. 21-6. Sec
ond-period score—Heurich. 20-14. Ref
eree—Mr. Sinnott. Umpire—Mr. Curley
White.
J. C. C. O F. Pts. Regal. O. F. Pts.
S’eln’an. X. ft 0 10 Graves, f._ 3 0 6
Sarkln, f.._ 2 0 4 MeVean. f. 2 1 ft
Franks. X.. I 0 2 Kehoe. c._113
Wktman, X. 2 »0 4 Hurley, e.. 0 0 0
S'verman, e. 2 2 8 Blank, e... 8 0 8
A. G’son. g. 0 1 1 L'bardy. g. 2 0 10
M. G’son, g. 1 0 2 -
Feldman, g. 1 1 3 Total*_11 8 30
Karp, g_6 0 10
Totals 20 1 44
Referee—Mr. Curley White.
Boys'Club Swimmers
Face Tough Slate
Southeast Branch of the Boys’
Club of Washington will open a
stiff swimming schedule Friday
when It opposes Central High
School.
Included on the schedule are
Charlotte Hall, Northeast Branch,
Wilson High School, Tall Timbers
Boys’ Camp and Alexandria Boys’
Club.
Later the team will defend its
title in the city-wide meet and
compete in the Junior A. A. V. and
Boys’ Club of America meet*.
Colleges Are Keeping
Pro Grid Loop Out
Of Los Angeles
Won't Permit Paid Clan
To Use Big Municipal
Stadium for Games
By BILL DISMER, Jr.
If unconvinced before, Redskin
Chieftain George Marshall should
be today, that Los Angeles is not
yet ripe, aa he claims, for a Na
tional Football League franchise.
Although 3,000 miles away at the
Marshalls’ winter home at Malibu
Beach, Calif., we can see George
fuming today over the fact that
yesterday’s big “pro bowl” game
between the champion Green Bay
Packers and an all-star league
team was postponed until next Sun
day because of threatening weather
and a sloppy gridiron.
Marshall is of the opinion that
only an earthquake should postpone
any football game, and then only
if the gridiron should be among the
surface victims.
College* Fear Pro Game.
But there's another and bigger
reason why L. A., a potential pro
football hotbed, would be a finan
cial drag on the National League
under present conditions—a reason
revealed by the fact that the pro
bowl game, whenever played, will
have its patronage greatly re
stricted.
Because this game, the ne plus
ultra of all football w.th griddom’s
greatest players and comparable to
baseball’s all-star game, will be
available to less than one-fourth
who weekly see Southern Califor
nia or U. C. L. A. play in the same
city. Why? Because of U. S. C.’s
and U. C. L. A.’s fear of the pros.
The stadium where the Trojans
and Uclans play their home games
is owned by L06 Angeles, but be
cause both schools have threatened
to build their own stadium if pro
fessional football ever is allowed in
the 90,000-capacity municipal bowl,
the play-for-pay sport is denied its
use. City authorities just won’t
buck their two big colleges for pro
football.
No Spot for Paid Clan.
Consequently, the Los Angeles
Bulldogs of the American Football
League and professional classics like
the pro bowl game are forced to use
little Gilmore Stadium, a typical
minor league park with a capacity
of 18,200. That’s where the Red
skins played the Bulldogs in their
exhibition last September and
that’s where the Packers and All
Stars will play their “classic’’ next
week, barring rain.
So, until Los Angeles oftcials de
cide to buck Southern Cal and U. C.
L. A., or call their bluff, it’s going to
take a lot of talking to convince Na
tional League owners that they can
make any money taking their teams
to Los Angeles for regular games.
Firing Heavy This Week
On Heurich Court
Starting with a double-header to*
night, a busy week is scheduled in
the Heurich Amateur Basket Ball
League, currently led by the Jewish
Community Center tossers.
Regal Clothiers engage United
Clay Products in the 8 o’clock open
er tonight and an hour later United
Typewriters meet Q. & S. Laundry.
Tomorrow another double bill is
on the menu. Marvin s Credit opens
against Delaware & Hudson and
the nightcap brings together F. B. I.
and Q. & S. Laundry.
A triple-header Wednesday night
features F. B. I. against D & H.
at 9:30. In the 7:30 opener United
Clay and Garvin’s Grill clash and
at 8:30 Marvin’s Credit opposes
Bantam Press.
Florida Coast Circuit
43d to Join Minors
B* the Associated Press.
DURHAM, N. C., Jan. 8 —Minor
league No. 43 has been added to the
ranks of baseball, minor league
headquarters here announced, with
the qualification of the Florida East
Coast League.
The loop will operate as a class D
circuit. Louis K. -MacReynolds of
Miami is president. The clubs in
the league are Hollywood, Miami,
Miami Beach, FPrt Lauderdale, West
Palm Beach and Fort Pierce, all in
Florida.
—
Sports, Government
Leaders Swell List
For Grid Fete
Nationally prominent sportsmen
and Government officials today con
tinued to swell the guest list of the
fourth annual Touchdown Club din
ner scheduled a week from tomor
row night at the Willard Hotel.
Maj. Emory (Swede) Larson, head
football coach at the Naval Acad
emy; Senators Guy M. Gillette of
Iowa, John H. Overton of Louisiana
and Tom Connally of • Texas and
Representative Jennings Randolph
of West Virginia are the new addi
tions to an already lengthy list.
It’s getting so that the sight of
an average citizen probably will
create quite a stir among so many
big names.
Senators Gillette and Overton will
turn out to honor constituents in
Nile Kinnick and Ken Kavanaugh,
respectively, who will receive tro
phies in recognition of their grid
iron feats during the last season.
Coast Conference Chief
Played at Central
Edwin N. Atherton, recently ap
pointed commissioner of athletics
of the Pacific Coast Conference, is a
former Central High School football
player who performed with .and
against such former scholastic stars
as Hap Hardell, Dutch Acorn, Gene
Ochsenreiter and Jakie Roberts.
Atherton played center on Cen
tral’s 1913 and 1914 elevens, under
the late John Thomas, and starred
in the 1913 Central-Tech game, in
which a prohibitively favored Tech
team eked out a 3-0 victory on
Robots' Itta ftald umL
From the
Press Box
Finnish Fight to Finish
Baer, Says Galento
By JOHN LARDNEJt,
Special Correspondent of The Star.
NEW YORK, Jan. 8 (N.A.N.A.).
—In the interest of Finnish relief
(it ought to be Russian relief, for
the Finns still have the same
pitcher in there, while the Russians
have gone to the bull pen twice)
two mortal cauliflower enemies will
be given permission in march to
gouge each other’s eyes out.
These sworn foes are Anthony
Galento, the self-sustaining beer
keg from Orange, N. J„ and Max
Baer, the fairest flower of Liver
more, Calif.
For more than a year, Mr. Galento
has been hollering, "Get me that
Baer. He talks too much!” Mr.
Baer, whose savagery outside the
ring has made him widely feared
by people who have to catch a train
and don’t want to listen, resents Mr.
Galento as a claim-jumper, a copy
right-breaker, and an uncouth
peasant.
"It's people like Galento,” says
Max, “who give this country a bad
name.”
Galento Is Given Baer
With 6 Cases of Beer.
Mr. Baer neglects to mention what
the bad name is, but he probably
means “the United States of
America,” which is what people
have been calling this country ever
since Galento opened his saloon.
Galento was yelling, “Get me
Baer!” the other day when word
reached, along with six cases of
lager, that Herbert Hoover had
decided to give him Baer on
March 22.
Mr. Galento was nonplussed.
“Who is promoting this fight?’*
he asked his manager, Joseph
(Yussel the Muscle) Jacobs.
“Hoover,” said Mr. Jacobs.
“H—1,” said Mr. Galento. “I
thought he was still Vice President.
But it doesn’t make any difference
who makes the match, just so I get
my crack at Baer. I will lay him
open like a rotten eggplant.”
Max Threatens to Punch
Hole in Tony's Head.
Apprised of this speech, Mr. Baer
sneezed delicately into his magenta
handkerchief with the lemon border
and replied that he was ready.
“There was a time,” said Mr.
Baer, “when I would not have soiled
my hands on Galento. I regard him
as a boor, a clod, an oaf, a hind,
A bumpkin and a goniff. But my
sendees are completely at the dis
posal of Finnish relief, and I must
admit that it will give me real
pleasure to punch a hole through
Galento s head. You may tell them
Max Baer will be there.”
Joe Louis still is the best fighter
in the world, and the best to watch,
but I can’t think of any single
match that promises finer enter
tainment than Baer-Galento. These
two highly unscientific punchers—
one with the right, the other with
the left—should put on a show
worth seeing, between pause* for
breath.
Mr. Galento’s feeling about Baer
is that he talks too much, looks
too pretty, dresses too pretty and
obtains money under false pretenses
in the prize ring.
Finns Will Hear Fight,
Galento Insists.
“I’ve watched Baer four - five
times,” says Mr. Galento, “and every
time I leave the joint, I ask for
my money back. He can’t fight! He
ougnta be stitching doilies. Have a
beer on the house while I try to
tell you what Baer will look like
after I get through mussing him
up.”
Mr. Baer's feeling about Galento
is that Tony, aside from being a
fellow you would not want to be
seen with at a rat fight, has stolen
his stuff.
“He’s robbed me,” says Max, In
part. “He's infringed my copy
right. For years I’ve been calling
people bums. Now Galento comes
along and calls everybody a bum
and claims he invented it. Is
nothing sacred?”
Baer and Galento should run up a
pretty good score for the Finns, and
my only regret is that the Finns
themselves can’t see the fight. But
Mr. Galento reassures me on this
point.
“They won’t hafta see it. they’ll
hear it," says Anthony. “The first
time I hit Baer, they’ll hear him in
China.”
135-Pound Police Grid
Honors to No. 5 Team
Police Boys ’Club No. 5 packed
away the 1939 Metropolitan Police
Boys’ Club 135-pound football
championship today after scoring
a 7-to-0 victory over Club No. 4 at
Fdirlawn Field yesterday.
A pass from Bob Chick to Gil
Eslin late in the second quarter ac
counted for the winning score. El
liot added the extra point with a
place kick.
No. 4 threatened only once. In
the last period a series of passes
put the ball on the enemy's 12-yard
line, but No. 5 stiffened and held.
The winners scored 157 points
for the season and held their op
ponents to 7. The closest they came
to losing was a tie game played
earlier with No. 4.
Today a year ago—Ellsworth
Vines defeated Don Budge, 3—6,
2—6, 6—0, 6—3. 6—3, to square
pro tennis series at two victories
each.
—————————————
B^^^^^MATINEE lH
Sat.—In. — Hil
2:80—5:30 P.M I ■
NIGHTS, 8-11 P.M. ID
_Phone HAI, 0SQ4_>D
ALL WET!—But only due to
the drizzle at Los Angeles yes
terday, lor this is Clayton
Healner, wiping away the
raindrops alter his 73 lor a
54-hole score ot 212 to main
tain his lead in the open goll
tourney. —A. P. Wirephoto.
INVADING BASKET ACE—Although only a sophomore and no
6-footer at that, Bill Chinuge is credited with possessing more
speed, power and drive in his legs than any of the Bradley Tech
tossers who oppose George Washington’s Colonials tonight at
Tech High 8chool gym. Nominally a forward, Bill also is capable
of playing guard, and with his shiftiness, cleverness in ball
handling, accuracy in passing and elusiveness he is a decided
asset to the tourists from the small school in Illinois.
-Polo's
Man Of THe Decade
(This is the first of a series deal
ing with, sports celebrities).
By DILLON GRAHAM,
Associated Press Sports Writer.
NEW YORK, Jan. 8.—The thirties
are gone. Looking back over that
10-year stretch we wonder who were
the outstanding athletes, which stars
dominated the various sports. Who
were sports’ men of the decade?
Most of us recall the twenties, the ;
preceding decade, often called the!
golden age of sports. The twenties
produced some of history’s greatest
athletes. Those were booming times
and everything was super-colossal.
Record gates poured Into arenas in
almost every branch of athletics.
Let's push the curtain of time back
to let us see again the twenties and
thirties. Let's take them sport by
sport, choose our man of the thirties
and then compare him with those
heroes of the golden age.
First consider polo. Of all those
great athletes of the twenties—
Dempsey, Jones. Tilden, Nurmi,
Ruth, Weissmuller, Orange—only
Tommy Hitchcock held on to
dominate his game during the
thirties.
The hard, lean Long Islander is
the man of the decade in polo—this
decade, last decade or any other
deca'de. He is the greatest polo
player of all time.
Hitchcock, he of the iron forearms
and wrists of steel, was the world's
best in the early 20s and as the 40s
march in he still is No. I.
This smart and daring poloist was
an established figure as far back as
1914 before the headlines had taken
Dempsey, Tilden or Ruth into their
black type. Those aces burst acrces
the sports horizon with amazing
feats and since have sailed into the
past—Hitchcock at 40 still is going
strong.
Polo isn't a game that the masses
cuddle to. So perhaps you don’t
realize just what a 10-goal rating
means. Well, its baseball equiva
lent is a .400 hitter or a pitcher who
is a 40-game winner. In golf a fel
low who shot consistently in the 60s
in the National Open championship
would be about the same In his game
as a 10-goal man in polo.
Ten-goal players are rare. They
are the perfect players. There have
been rally a dozen or so in American
polo history. Maybe you’ll under
stand just how tremendous Hitch
cock was, and is, if you consider that
he has won 10-goal rating in 18 of
the last 21 years.
Tommy revolutionized polo,
changing the offense from passing
to power. He brought the punch of
a Dempsey or a Ruth into the chuk
ker game. It was a dozen years ago
that the Americans, playing a fine
Argentine quartet, found themselves
taking a sound shellacking. So
Hitchcock benched several aces of
the passing game, substituted a crew
of hard hitters, and said:
“To hell with defense: slug that
apple.”
They hit long, hard and often,
discarding the old short pass style,
and a new manner of polo was born.
It’s a faster, rougher, more thrill
ing game now and the kingpin of all
its aces still is Tommy Hitchcock.