The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 17

Negro Ace Standout Prospect TOMMY HOLMES Rickey Signs Negro Amid Complications FIRST SQUAWK The thins about the Jackie Robinson story today that strikes right out and hits you between Quakers, Rested, Set to Spring Trap On Navy Saturday Riblett Concedes Middies' the eyes is that the first Negro evr to be signed to a contract in Organized Baseball may be blocked from a bona-fide test by member? of hi.s own race The Kansas City Monarchs. for a horn Robinson played this Summer, are preparing a formal protest to Commis Dodgers Scouted Robinson for Big-League Role Deal Made in August Jackie to Train in Fla. With Flock, Royals By HAROLD BIRR President Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers has broken through the color line in signing the first Negro ball player to appear in Organized Is Confusing But Penn Team Will Enter Fray a 14-Point Favorite Opportunist Navy is up against its first big gridiron test Saturday when it dons its bell-bottom trousers and journeys mm L. up from Crabtown to Franklin Field, Philadelphia, to play lootball before an expected 73,000 turnout against a team! unbeaten, but unscored uponi (ins Fall Some contend that Bi cinch Rickey sioner Happy Chandler They do not like the fact that our Mr. Branch Rickey signed their star ball player to a contract with the Montreal Royals.

No. 1 farm club of the Dodgers. Whether the Commissioner of Baseball will deem it unfair practice to sign a player under contract to a club in an established Negro league remains to be seen If he upholds the protest, it may be years before another opportunity opens up for a Negro in Organized Baseball again PROSPECT From all accounts, Robinson is an able prospect, of much greater all around accomplishment the 'adache 1 come HE CRACKED IT Jack Roosevelt Robinson of UCLA football fame, is' sign, ng contract to play shortstop for the Montreal I farm of the Dodgers next year It happened first Negro ever to sign in Organized Baseball. than the average recruit to professional ball. Georgia-born and 26 years old.

Robinson is college-trained. He compiled a great all-around athletic record at U. C. L. A specializing as a footbail halfback He entered the army as a private and came ou: a second lieutenant.

His service included 31 months overseas, He played in the Negro league this Summer, and the three Dodger ivory hunters who scouted him rate him A-l as a shortstop prospect. Granting mat their estimate is correct, Robinson represents for his 'ace an ideal candidate to crash through the invisible color line in what, from time to time, has been called our national pastime. Placed with Brooklyn's farm at Montreal, he would make his debut in reasonably salubrious surroundings, There is less race prejudice on the other side of the Canadian border. The International League, too, is distinctly a Northern circuit except for Baltimore, where the culture, if that's what you want to call it, is definitely Southern. Because Baltimore is on this siri of the Potomac, it was on the winning side in the Civil War, but Maryland was one of the slave States.

In spite of all the favorable auspices, it won't be easy for Robinson, It wouldn't be easy if he had all that talent plus Paul Robeson's baritone voice. Boykoff Discharge Soon Peps Indians By PAUL GOl'LD St. John's basketball stock, which skidded to a new low last week with the loss of Bill Kotsores and Ivy Summer, will make a sensational recovery in the next few weeks. Harry Boykoff, the human Empire State Building, is slated to be discharged from the army, the Brooklyn Eagle learned today. Mm MM WADAClils Probably, mm Ummt mm young and mwmwy $MW Rirkev admitted that the JMM caM "ie Dodgers a mwkm fmm numi3ry h')'1 player.

Wi VMEP Fmm who m. mwr thp Smnh- from VHi a Negro player on its fLHf 'AW er. Some Payers now with 1 -Hr 4f "lav npn quit' but they'll be back WWCJJm 1 baseball tnev work a yeai 1 thena Racine, I- mwi I season is mightier than any embryo, admiral sword. "I'll beat the Army cr Navy this year." brashly predicted Coach George Munger of me Pennsylvania before the start of the pigskin parade. Munger is bedded in' the nospiUM with the grippe and will same after nil But Hirolnto.

Yamashita, Tojol a lot of other Japs saidi much the same thing after Pearl Harbor and they ended tip in their; iown end zone without the ball. 1 Penn Tackles Strong Jail li T. blood- against Perm's we'l-coached eleven. I Navy is weak at the tackle where Penn is strongest. Bo Coppedge and Chuck Riser are the Annapclis tackles who will lock horns with the 252-pound George Savitsky and Doug Reicherbach.

Navy is improving at the positions, but those same tackles must find themselves Satur- lf Navy continues down the 'field. "Their 1 hard to step." reports former pro Dodger. Navy in the dark at Saturday night in Paul Ribleti i any formation in Technicolor to Lacked Cohesion Navy backs have been flounder. ing a neavy sea. indulging in what Rip Miller calls lighting the defense, gridiron terminology for trying to do the spectacular instead cf working methodically to grind out the yardage.

Munger is a wise old coach. He, has been at it steadily since 1933. He missed Monday's practice for 'he first tune in his long career, being taken down with chills Friday night, hut not. however, from think- ing about Navy. He has a wealth of material.

Penn didn't startle the foctball world with its 12 to 0 win over green Dartmouth. But Munger knows how to bring his team to the peak for the game he wants to win. He has a brighter chance to make stood Ills boa, I. knockim? mi nn of the service teams bv taking Navy than he has to beat Army. Penn is In the best physical shape.

It has had a two-week rest a while Navy was battling an pectedly rugged outfit from Georgia Battle of Get-Scott injured all Tech hn in against Penn. Kiser sprain he's nursing is, of course, definitely lanK.m ield fracas Alert Boy I line was the heavy scorer State. It scored two 'muehrf and a safety at the expense of the Nittany Lions and tallied the first in the Tech game and set up the third. Dick Duden, the end con-, verted from the backfield, scored in! eacli game when he intercepted a forward pass and blocked a kick. The bookies, astute gentlemen without a spark of sentiment, in their hard-boiled makeup, have installed Penn favorite, with 14 Red and Blue points.

Navy is gathering its latent strength to give Army a battle on the same field Dec 1. but slowly, its a tam (hat will add staggering along. So far. moicieti anvthmg approximating de.eat, with its heads-up football. BIRR.

Bachelor Fete for Holman A bachelor dinner for Nat Holman, C. C. N. basketball coach, at the Town Club is scheduled for Nov. t.

Nat will be married to Ruth Jackson the next day. a 'Al 70 of i life. play through the opened door is Jackie Robinson, shortstop and UCLA football star. During the 1945 season. Robinson as a member of the Kansas City Monarchs.

hitting 340 He came to he Monarchs after serving as a second lieutenant in the army. He as quietly brought to Brooklyn in August Rickev explained what he ana Jackie agreed to Nov 1 oiriaton was carefully scouted Tom Qreenwide, George Sisler A international League farm But leap prospect Robinson will go to the Dodger and Montreal combined training camp at Dawona Beach F.a in the Spring. Jackie previously had received a tryout at Fenway park. Boston, bv the Red Sox. Of the three Negroes tried out on that occasion.

Robinson received the most favorable attention from Manager Joe Cronin. But the Red Sox made no attempt to sign him and the Dodger scouts took over and reported to Rickey that he was the best of the Negro prospect.s. May Cost Club Players "Mr. Racn whose Montreal team won regular- championship. said he ex- i pected no opposition either from I the league or from fans.

"Negroes fought alongside whites and shared I the foxhole dangers," he said, "and thev should get a fair trial in base-I ball." Jark Roosevelt Robinson Is 26 years old. He weighs 190 pounds, Stands a feet, 11 'a inches tall. At UCLA, Robinson received numerous nominations for All-American honors in 1940 and again in 1941, He plavrd in the 1942 All-Star game al Soldier Field. Chicago, land went to Honolulu for another Ail-Star game, and took part in about a dozen pro football games in coast League, 'i April 1942 ended Officers' Training Sclv i November. 1942 Ear'.

had 23 other Negro prospects in mind The Mahatma marie haste to enter his denial. Will Continue to Scout "I haven't 25 prospects." declared regardless of color. If I it would hurt the Negro, players, I wouldn' have tickey was asked about the of living and traveling ie Rovals are on the road The president of the Dodgers r-iJ plained why he hadn't broken around before. Blasls Griffith "When I was in St. Louis Negroes 'were not allowed in he grandstand, Hence I could not arrange for try-outs.

If I was in authority, I would have changed that. I got the idea When I came to Brooklyn alter watching Negro teams piay at Eb- bris Field Baseball 1 by 1 i beings, regardless I I 0 of is rampant They inviting1 trouble. of Quakers who are not only George Munger Begorrah, Irish Ate on Violet Slate, After All Rumors that Notre Dame ing to cancel its game with Adoiph Schaye ward Sara and Fred Benantl. This Is Howard Cann's 23d sraso as Violet cage coach and N. Y.

U. 39th intercollegiate basketball sea The schedule follows: Sellout Expected For Ice Inaugural Then in'-' line oi li. his brother Max, and Bill Mo-to was rated as perhaps the st in the league. It was ex-ed to make up for defensive ie Bruins, who also have pre- Montrral won thp re hainpinnship last year, iron the Stanley Cup. 1 LaMotta Hands Gomez First Kayo of Career night.

It was the first KO suffered bv Gomez. o1 In the semi-final. Clco Everett. Bronx, outpointed Oscar Newark. Bobo Bouchet Nebraska City.

stoped Sic 146, Sayerville. two rounds King, 153, Harlem, Charley Howard. 149. Pittsburgh. Loughlin Mermen Triumph Over Tech Mermen of Bishop Loughlin Memorial High defeated Brooklyn Terti in a swimming meet in the la iter's poo! yesterday.

36-22. Capt. Bill Irwin of Loughlin won two i i i 0 i- 1 J- ii next Sprint; if Robinson reports for Sonne training, That. Will be In Beach, and anyone who has ever traveled that far South can't help but wonder just how things can be arrange Fundamental things such as where Jackie will sleep and where ho will eat. Not to mention what traveling accommodations they'll let him have in deepest, Dixie.

Those problems would exist, perhaps to a lesser extent, after the regular season started. Should Robinson be graduated to the Dodgers, how would the club board and feed him on the road, especially in such quasi-Southern cities as St. Louis and Cincinnati11 The situation might lead to trouble with white ball players, particularly Southern ball players, but that possibility has never loomed as a bar to the Negro in baseball as much as the other sccial problems involved. These are not social problems peculiar to baseball, but problems that exist in the form of barriers against the Negro of greater or lesser extent everywhere in the land. REACTION Just what ttie reaction to Rickey's move will be among baseball people generally is not yet clear.

Horace Stoneham ol the Giants applauded Rickey's action and said his club would scout Negro teams next season. "But we have hundreds of returning service men, and only if they fail to make the grade will we have room for new players." In a recent statement to a committee appointed by Mayor LaGuardia to study the problem, Larry MacPhail of the Yankees, while declaring that fhe Negro was entitled to a better deal In baseball, said hi- had no intention of signing Negro players, at present. MacPHAIL'S POINT- He took 'he view that signing Negroes at the present time would do the cause of Negro baseball more harm than good. He -jointed out that Negro baseball is now a S2.000.000 business and Negro clubs pay salaries ranging up to $16,000 a year. He pointed out that comparatively few good young Negro players were being developed.

He feared that if Organized Baseball raided the Negro It agues and took their good young players, the Negro leagues would fold, the investments of the club owners would be lost and a lot of professional Negro ball players will lose their jobs. The boss man of the Kansas City Monarchs seems to be thinking along the same lines. Montreal. Robinson is the Mancini Lock-Troublesome To Welters By HAROLD CONRAD Lenny iBoom Boonn Mancini, who has been going through a metamorphosis from a wounded soldier to top-notch fighter, made his second local start last night s.nce his discharge from the army and proed ileal shape as any ol his contemporaries, but that he Is improving. Lenny met Patsy Spataro.

rugged young welterweight from the Bronx, in the eight-round Broadway Arena feature and virtually fought him into a state of exhaustion Despite the ram. a crowd of 3.900 fans When No. 1 lightweight contender, Man-Cinl'S forte was stamina. He was a ceaseless puncher who invariably wore down hi.s opponent with a steady attack. After being wounded four times, there was much doubt as to whether he would ever be able to employ his old style again.

Several weeks ago, Mancini decisively outpointed Baby Sims, but the experts, who wanted to be sure, looked forward to the Spataro fight and "Boom-Boom" even showed an improvement over his last start. He was three and a half pounds lighter and hopes to get down to 146 pounds for his next start. He scaled VoOU last night. Lenny started punching at the opening bell and never stopped until the end of the fight, Patsy did ond, which momentarily slowed eked. Sid Haber of Brooklyn won a decision over Palsy Zoccano.

Brooklyn, the six-round semi-final. In other sixers, Tony Del Gatio, South Brooklyn middleweight, outpointed Freddie Lott. Newark, and Lou Perez. Puerto Rico, won over Baudeho Valencia, Mexico. In the fours, Lou Denton.

Pennsylvania middleweight, lost to Benny Davis, Port Chester, and Nate Hutch-ins. Elizabeth, whipped Jerry Hcimo-witz, Brooklyn welterweight. Morris Reif. outstanding welterweight from Brownsville, who meets Davis in the Garden next month, goes to the post against Johnny Ri-naldi of the Bronx In the Broadway feature Tuesday. Rinaldi is one of the few to hold a decision over Mancini.

HAPPY TO BE FIRST OFTO SAYS JACKIE When interviewed at the signing, Robinson said yestcr- "Of ourse. I ran tell you how I am as the first member race in organized ball," quietly, "1 realize how Mnnsignor Raymond Campion, pastor of the St. Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church, whose parish includes many Negro communicants, was "delighted that Branch Rickey of the Dodgers has shown the way. "I have always been confident that Mr. Rickey, in the best Interests of baseball, would take proper steps to eliminate racial prejudice assistant district att.rney, expressed his appreciation I am delighted thai Branch Hirke has taken the first practical step eliminating discrimination in baseball.

Every Negro will be grate. (ul him Effa Manley. who with her husband, Abe. control the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League, refused to discuss the sign- I and bv happy I nanksgivir.g win be back In Red and White feeling anything but blue, The six-foot, nine-Inch center Is eligible for his walking papers under the same provisions of War Department circular cast Charles Trippi, the ir, into a civil. ar armed forces of two years, ineligible duty, and surplus of the Army, Bo; surrender his billy being guarded by the oppos Eligible Year Ago for Release It was in the Spring of '43 that Boykoff was inducted and U- iigned to limited duty.

His height long a proved likewise a problem for the armed forces and he was posted as a guard upstate with his home base Wesi Point. Part of his duties involved walking post at the late President's home at Hyde Park, With the lessening emphasis on continental bases, retrenchment at West Point opened the doors to Harry's release. Actually, Boykoff was eligible for discharge for a year, but the pa- for his separation. Enlistment Kpisode The story of his enlistr of the tingling episodes of this gangling, quiet Brownsvill When he a the Grand Central Pal Har eyed by an medico. "How tall are you?" he Harry hunched himself six and a half, he said.

The doctor understood. He looked the other way and said. in a low son, get your weight I Six months later, Boykoff returned to Brooklyn to le-ad a West Point GI team against, the Redmen at De-Gray gym. scene of some of ment. He'll be doing ditto in the Corbo Dodger Prospect Joe Corbo, who once twirled with the Kcndeks of the Brooklyn Kiwanis League, has signed with the Dodgers and will report to their Thomas- vilie, N.

farm next Spring, Corbo is a right-handed pitcher. He won nine out of 11 Kiwanis games this mg of Robinson untd she knows Robinson is the property of the Kans Mor will have remain declared Mrs Manley. Not Familiar With Move-Mack Philadelphia, Oct. 24 HI R) Connie Mack, veteran manager of the Athletics, was non-committal When informed of the Dodgers' action In signing Jackie Robinson for their Montreal farm club. Mack said "1 am Dot familiar with the move and don't know Robinson.

I wouldn't rare to comment Phillies officials were unavailable General Manager Herb Pennock Is in Miami. checking the club's training quarters. Te. A mem-' lab and t-are of, (j; ROBINSON WORTH 50 G's, K. C.

OWNER SAYS 24 (I Baird, sas City Monarchs, Negr professional baseball team, said todav that Jackie Robinson, signed to play with the Dodgers' Montreal farm learn, was worth at least "I talked long to our Martin, Di J. I Hill I (handler as quickly as possible." Baird said. "If players are going to be taken from the Negro League. I believe some sort of an arrangement should be worked out between the major leagues and the Negro Lragiie. We are not trying to keep any Negro ball player from the major leagues." Marx's Goal Decides Brooklyn Tech Victory Brooklyn Tech es the En? in i Thomas Jel t.H i it Era Jj Wichita, Oct.

24 (U Pi Ray Dumonl. president of the National Baseball Congress, said he believed the large number of Negro perform- ers on service teams during the war period was responsible for the ad- mission to organized baseball of He that nearly a 1 FIGHT RESULTS Boro Leaders Support Rickey's Move BASEBALL LAUGHS Ry HAROLD C. BURR. 'Proper Says Mons. Campion; Dream Comes True Wibecan GcofRP Wibecan.

one of Brooklyn's outstanding Negro leaders, was awakened from a Jeep to be notified that the Brooklyn Dodger baseball organization had signed Jackie Robinson, a Negro shortstop. "I was In the midSI of a beautiful said Mr Wibecan. "and this great news makes me wender If I'm tin aslerp. "It's the beginning of something we hoped and dreamed would develop: that we could participate with cither racial groups on an equal footing It's In line with the trend of the he added. Fred Haney was a young third baseman with the Detroit Tigers and came Into the Yankee Stadium in September without a single home run to his credit.

He had read that morning in the papers that Babe Ruth had 49 circuit clouts. "But in the first inning 1 lifted a fly ball over the Ion parapet In right field for my first big league four-master." said Haney. "When (he Babe came jogging in (o (fie Yankee bench a( (he end of the inning he had (o pass (bird have. Well, you big I couldn't re-sist the temptation to ride him, Tin only 4S behind you. "Ruth didn't say a word.

Bui he came up in Ihe fifth round and hit one a country mile beneadi (he scoreboard atop (he cen(er field bleachers. He had (o pass mi on his way around the bases. He didn't glance up an he rounded (he hag. But I heard what he said. How we stand now, he asked Innocently." SPORTS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1945.