New Pittsburgh Courier from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 15

Wendell Smith's SPORTS BEAT Lean Frank Robinson of Baltimore will celebrate his 32nd birthday on Wednesday, August 31 st one month after that date he should be packing his bags in preparation for his second World Series. The major league season ends one month and one day after Frank's birthday and by that time the Orioles should have the American League pennant neatly wrapped and be ready to open the Series in one of four National League cities, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Philadelphia. Robinson's first and only World Series appearance was in 1961 with the Cincinnati Reds. Last winter Bill DeWitt, the. portly boss of the Reds, made the untimely mistake of assuming that Frank was over the hill and brazenly traded him off to Baltimore for Milt Pappas, a pitcher.

On the basis of what Robinson has done for the Orioles, who are running away from the rest of the American League, and Cincinnati's poor showing in the National, it is obvious now that DeWitt "made" the Orioles and "ruined" the Reds. Robinson has solidified the Baltimore club with his sensational hitting, running, fielding and leadership qualities. Frank is the one ingredient the Orioles needed the past three or four seasons to dominate the American League. "He's our leader," says the Orioles' happy manager, Hank Bauer. "Frank has made this club believe that it can't be beaten, and won't be beaten.

We should be set for quite a few years." Frank possessed that intangible something known as "leadership" when he was playing for DeWitt in Cincinnati but the boss of the Reds simply refused to pay Robinson for that invaluable quality. They had a personality conflict from the day DeWitt succeeded Gabe Paul as the team's general manager in the winter of 1960. They argued heatedly over salary and from then on Robbie's days at Cincinnati were numbered. The Reds' loss was Baltimore's good fortune. Unless Robinson is the victim of some unforseen accident, the Orioles are an American League shoo in.

Harry (The Hat) Walker, the manager whose Pittsburgh team may have to contend with Robin son in the World Series, says, "I wouldn't be surprised if Baltimore dominated that league for quite a few years, now that they have Frank Robinson. It's a young team and getting better all the time. Good men at every position. "As for Frank Robinson, I'm glad to see him out of the National League. He's as complete a ball player as I ever saw, and that includes anybody.

"He can beat you throwing, running, hauling in a ball and he not only hits for distance but for average, too. What more could anybody ask? Even Stan Musial had a little weakness in throwing." Giving Robinson the edge over the great Musial is the ultimate compliment. No finer tribute could be paid the Baltimore star. Robinson is leading the Orioles to the pennant in a quiet, efficient, dedicated manner. He is not a locquacious individual.

He leads with his bat and glove, not his mouth. The rest of the team responds accordingly. But that doesn't mean that the Orioles lack team spirit. "This team has a lot of spirit," says Robbie, "even though not much is said." When we won the pennant at Cincinnati in 1961, it was like playing for a college team. "On this club, not much is said on the bench.

You just sense it. We don't get down on ourselves and we don't quit when we're behind but the guys don't say much when we ahead, either. "It's an interesting type of confidence. I call it quiet confidence. It's a different type of confidence than I was used to.

It took ms my surprise in spring training. The guys on this club just sit back and relax." The truth of the matter is that any club could sit back and relax with a Frank Robin son in the lineup. YANKEES' SHORTSTOP Horace Clarke leaps high above Jim Gosger as the Kansas City Athletics centerf ielder is forced at second base. Clarke's throw was quick enough to get the doubleplay at first base, where Elston Howard completed the play. After half a season's search far the type shortstop the Yankees are accustomed to, the front office settled on Horace.

Needless to say, the rookie is doing a dandy job. Ted By RIC ROBERTS COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. Ted Williams, the greatest big league batsman since the halcyons of Rogers Horasby (lifetime .358) and Ty Cobb (.367, was about to be inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame, last Monday, as 10,000 persons cam? to a hush. Unexpectedly, words came from his mouth that no fair minded sports fan, anywhere, can ever forget. He began, saying, "It is difficult for me to say what's In my heart." Except for the bulging pauch, the 48 year old thoroughbred had thesameboy ish look, the same tousled hair that he wore, that Sunday, back in May 1939, as rookie when Russell Simmons, of the Atlanta World, and my Missus set in Yankee Stadium and saw him rifle a Red Ruffing pitch off the escarpments, for a bases clearing triple.

Nearly thirty years had intervened, and baseball's incomparable romanticism was again rampart as he took a deep breath, then continued: "Today I am thinking of my playground director, my high school coach, my managers and Tom Yawkey the greatest club owner in baseball." He added a few more sentences, recalling the great Ten Yecar Pro Grid Aces In Majors Tvinkling Tan Legs Run Riot ST. LOUIS While the glare of big league play, as usual, has been centered in the home run ball and the great pitching of Gaylord Perry, Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax, something has happened to the stolen bases department. Sidelined for a few games, due to a slight injury, Maury Willis saw the Cardinal's Lou Brock streak past to take over the stolen bases leadership of the major leagues. Brock is seven years younger than Maury, of course, and may have too much youth on his side, the rest of 1966, for Willis to gain recovery of the diadem he wrested from Luis Aparlcie in 1962 with a modern total of 104 snatches. In noting that Brock led Maury by 36 to 30 steals, last week, it was also noticeable that minority speed demons are running riot In the leagues where 18 individual stars of color are leading as many individual franchises, in stolen basest Here Is a report on how the two leagues looked, with reference to the twinkling legs and flashing spikes, of talented herows who have brought action back to the game.

NATIONAL LEAGUE NameTeam Steals BROCK, St. Louis 36 Wills, Los Angeles 30 Jackson, Houston 26 Phillips, Chicago 22 M. Aleu, Pittsburgh 13 Harper, Cincinnati 11 W. Davis, Los Angeles 11 White, Philadelphia 10 Aaron, Atlanta 10 Wynn, Houston 10 Flood, St. Louis 10 The lumbering San Francisco Giants, slowest cast in the league, is led by Willie Mays' four steals.

The foregoing is an accounting of all players who ten or more pilferlngs. Over in the Junior circuit, the picture reflected team leaderships by Bill Freehan, of Detroit, with 5 stolen bases, and at Baltimore, in Luis Apariclo, who had nabbed a respectable 12. The rest of the picture was all Negro, in the following order: AMERICAN LEAGUE NameTeam Steals AGEE, Chicago 27 Campaneris, K. City 22 Buford, Chicago 22 Valentine, D.C 15 Tartabull, Boston 13 Aparicio, Baltimore 12 White, New York 12 Ollva, Minnesota 11 Harrelson, K. City 11 Gonzalez, Cleveland 8 Brown Not Sportless Jimmy Brown recently interviewed in London for "Monitor Sports" on the NBC Radio Network, revealed that he hasn't completely severed his association with sports, and continues to stay in shape.

The 29 year old star from Santruce, Puerto Rico, remains a sudden 1966 enigma because, last week, his earned run average at bluged up to 3.97 and, meanwhile he had dropped five straight contests. This is no way to add his name to those of the Century Men of the mound, who line up in this way: PitcherYears Won Lost Newcombe (1949 69) 149 90 Marichal (I960 121 56 Grant (1958 105 91 Gibson (1959 103 78 Jones (1955 61) 102 101 The way Pizarro started, last April, one expected him to be at least a 12 5 fixture, thus far, for a careerwise won lost card of 102 65. Once a great strikeout artist, with a high of 188, during the season of 1963, Juan has become 'cute' pitcher of late aiming to get batsmen out as cheaply as possible. Famed for fanning almost a batsman for every inning pitched, Juan is a control specialist, of late, who walks more men than he fans a complete turn about. It is acutally a libel on Negro pitchers, at this late date 19 seasons after Jackie Robinson's irruption that Paige and Josh Gibson some how will be inducted here as symbols of the great Negro players who are not here because they were not given a chance." Fifteen minutes later, after Casey Stengell had also been introduced, and had finished speaking, the murmuring throng recalled, again and again, the significance of Williams' words.

Josh Gibson went to his grave SATCHEL PAIGE .43 year old rookie yiu urc ui uiciu nave uiauc uic Century Club. During the same period, at least 75 majority slabmen ranging from 1950 rookie Vernon Law (154 137) to 1960 rookie William O'Dell (100 92) have made the club as easy as breaking sticks. Behind those 100 game winners, in the twilight of heroism, loom only five other active pitchers of color that is who have a chance, someday to join the century victors. These include Earl Wilson of Detroit (60 61), Pittsburgh's Bob Veale (53 34), Al Jackson of St. Louis (50 81), the Yankees' Al Downing (44 34) and the Pirates' Al McBean (48 26).

Men who finished their careers, while reposing around the 50 victories mark, include Ruben Gomez (76 84), Brooks Lawrence (69 63), and, of course Bennle Daniels, ex Washington Senators righty (45 79). The greatest record of all is being carved, these days, by Marichal of the Giants. He is matching Newcombe 's great talent for control pitching, bows only to Gibson and Veaie, and possibly to Downing, when its comes to strikeouts. prematurely, at the age of 34, because the gods of baseball by passed him then the acknowledged king of all Negro players, including Jackie Robinson. After a reign of 15 years, as the greatest batsman the Negro league ever produced, the slight was more than Gibson could take.

He literally 'fled Into the valley of death as Dr. Frued would say. It was the supreme tragedy of sports history in the United States remaining, to this hour, wholly uncommunlcated to the public. If Josh had had the patience, to wait as Satchel Paige waited 18 more months, it is certain that he would have gone up to the Cleveland Indians of 1948, as special receiver for Paige. After all, the two immortals were a battery pair, in the mid thirties, for Gus Greenlee's Pittsburgh Crawfords.

Gibson was a personal friend of this writer, for all the years I served the Homestead Grays, at Griffith Stadium, in D.C., as official scorer for all Negro National League games. I knew Gibson's moods and realised that he possessed the most intense, the most super charged competitive spirit any athlete ever exemplified. The major leaguers, Ted included, used WoeDE. drafting of a ten year starter may be, it happens often enough. The American Football League is only six years old, so no ten year men are on its rosters, as yet.

In the National Football League, however, no less than 77 veteran starters have played at least ten years, per man. Besides having Tackle Bill George, the only 15 year man now active, In the weekly hurly burly of league play, the Chicago Bears also claim more ten year veterans than any club even though the Baltimore Colts and Green Bay Packers, with nine apiece, are fielding well seasoned teams. The big difference between a Rosey Brown and the average ten year stalwart, however, is that the ex Morgan State immortal, Brown, has rated AU NFL offensive guard ten times in fourteen seasons. Not even the incomparable Don Hutson, with nine All NFL plaques, or Jim Brown with eight, can match the razor sharp New York perennial in the area of plural magnificence. Nobody expects Joe Namath to make All NFL ten times, during the course of his career even though he cost the Mets: a fortune.

It is a fact, that any football franchise in the, country would pay any rookie $35,000 a year, for ten years and pay, also, a sum of $650,000 to any clique or pair of parents of athletes, who could guarantee that another Rosey Brown is suddenly available. Supposedly ailing, earlier In the year, Rosey's name still listed on at least one Giantsl roll call, this summer. If so, he will be starring in his fifteenth campaign. There are other long distance men, In the NFL, of course: Ollie Mats on and Jim Rlngo are 14 year men, on the Philadelphia Eagles; so Is Cleveland's Dick Modzelewsld; Chicago's Doug Atkins and Green Bay's Dave Hanner super men all! How many of them have rated All NFL ten times? The answer is certain and sure: none. That is why Rosey stands alone in the annals of the game.

The men who may duplicate him are offensive specialists, like himself: Jim Parker of Baltimore On his tenth season, with 7 AU NFL memoirs), and Philadelphia 295 pound, 6 5 Bob Brown, with a 2 ln 3 ratio of the All NFL sweepstakes. IPOUBLIACTloin I i THE COURIER, August 6, 1966 Urges Naming Josh, Satch to Shrine JOSH GIBSON .21,000 fans listened career that he closed, six seasons ago, and extolling the sport that helped make him both rich and famous. That done, he added the words that may change his imige down all the years that are to come. "And I hope," he added to solid applause, "that Satchel Rosey Brown Ail Time Giants Got $1 Million Gift NEW YORK, N.Y. The greatest bargain in pro grid history, barring the drafting of Jim Brown as a No.

2 choice, by the Cleveland Browns, in 1956, was the 'chance' plucking of Roosevelt Brown, in 1952, by the New York Giants. He was the one pictured member of THE COURIER'S 1951 All America selections that caught the eyes of Giants' brass. So, blind folded, so to speak, they helped themselves to that pro dream of dreams: a football player good enough to start and star, through a decade. As wonderful as the lucky "HEY MISTER YOU AWAKE?" Those were the words mailed at Bob Brown, 296 poond offensive thunderclap of the Philadelphia Eagles, last week, at two brothers found him dozing between practice sessions. They are John Fritsch, 5, and Jeff, 4, of Hershey, Pa.

The Eagles train at Hershey every July and August. Wovld Be Sixth Hero Pizarro 'Struggles' To Gain 100th Win CHICAGO The official statisticians of major league baseball have noted, with some concern, the tremendous falling away of Juan Pizarro, veteran Chicago White Sox lefty. At the June 15, 1966 watch, he was still a 6 1 standout with a smart 2.29 earned run mark. All he needed, and still needs today, are four more victories; in order to join the ranks of five other non whites who have captured 100 major league triumphs. iL to watch, enrapt, when the big fellow stepped into a batter's 18 t.

box massive of arms, glm let of eyes and defiant of spirit, He did not have Babe Ruth eight foot at a pitched ball his bat blurred through the strike zone, like swarm of bees, on a short, six foot Most of his homers were rifle shots, banging like clotheslines rarely more than 15 feet high and reaching tremendous distances. He had Ted's eyes, but was bigger, stronger. I share Roy Campa nella's reminiscence, when Roy tells all ball players today: "Josh Gibson was the greatest hitter I Aver saw. Don't forget for a moment. that Campy saw Stan Musial, Joe DIMagglo, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and, yes, Ted Williams at their very primes.

Men like Josh and Satch never forgave American fans for rating them less than the major league standard. Paige would not pay to see a major league baseball game. He refused to attend such games, even without having to buy a seat. "I know ed they didn't play any better than I played," says Satch. "So there was no need to waste my time and my money, looking at 'em." The first major league game Weighf iff PAGE 15 PLUNKETT LIFTS MirGET Sherman Plunket, nine year 325 pound offensive tackle for the New York Jets, of the American Footboll League, hoists Defensive back Sherman Lewis, during a lull, last week, at the Peekskill Military Academy campus, Peekskill, N.Y., where the Jets prepared for the oncoming season.

A product of Maryland State College, Plunkett played for his present coach at Baltimore, six years ago. One thing Is certain, the New York franchise should ease its conscience, It has one, and mall at least a $10,000 check to THE Any building I design will have beauty and function, but always with the human that's a must." The gin I buy is London Dry. Gordons. It's always brisk, dry and To me. Gordon's is a must." foKlnne jones AIA Architect if CHnun ol He Bu.tt.1 Wmt SiO Curifr ot Commerce ol Hen Yori ArcluleL Consultant on Jim Amenc UmmmDhy r.m FRODOCT OF V.

S. A. fOOl NtUlf Al SPItlTS OrSTlLUD FROM i TED WILLIAMS grips favorite bat Satch saw, he was in it, at Cleveland, where 67,456 fans swarmed in to see him hurl a mid season exhibition, against the 1948 Brooklyn Dodgers. In one breath, Ted recognized greatness in both Josh and Satch. It was a wonderful moment and, perhaps, Ted's finest hour.

Down the years ahead, a new generation may rightfully tell their children: Ted Williams was a greater man, a more sentimental gentleman than the baseball writers ever realized. COURIER. A Million player Is too much of a gold strike, for free! DlSTULlD Gordon Gin. created London. England in 1769 It's the bgqest seller England America and the world CUtN 90 PROOF DRY GIN CO UD UNOIN I.

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