Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 16

Ifl Tuesday, April 8, 1P31 DETROIT FREE PRESS Dropo Breaks Wrist; May Be Out for. 2 Months Red Wing Eolfe Plans Shake-Up Herbert's Pitch Does Damage Walt's Loss a IHow Hitting Slump $3 Jf, 'f lip 'Ii' As of TODAY DonH Give Up on Tigers Give Them a Chance A Vt 4'ju-( -I. A sJt 4'-i jt.SU11nilli.iw i mMJ1 ilm It li i.m,i 'mH Mliilln'm MlilMl I i ill i I I mull KIM il By Left to right from Cogens is Wally From-hart, Head Coach Dutch Clark and Bill rritula. MIKE COG GINS (left), U-I) football co-captaln, meets the Titans' revamped coach lng squad as spring drills get under way. SO YOU CLIMB Into the plane, pull the safety belt tight for" the take-off, kisa goodby to SO-degree temperatures, circle over Lakeland and head north on a beeline above Atlanta, Chattanooga and Cincinnati.

In alx hours you're back home In Detroit and everybody you ace says hello and what's wrong with our Tigers! The olmplest answer that they are losing more game than they're winning. But you can't satisfy anybody with, that one, so you try again. 'Well," you say, "they just haven't been able to hit, and when they do hit, they don't get any pitching. 'That one takes care of a few souls, but very few. So you go back over the six-week training season In your mind's eye and ask yourself: "Are the Tigers really as bad as their record?" The answer is "Yes," but there are some encouraging things which can alter the gloomy picture by the time the regular season opens here in exactly two weeks.

Sore-Arm Brigade in Good Shape PITCHERS Virgil Trucks and Saul Rogovin have tested balky throwing arms which made them absolutely useless last season. The arms no longer are sore and it has become increasingly apparent that both right-handers will be able to pitch this season. Just how effectively they will pitch still is to be determined. At least they'll pitch and-that is more than they did in '50. Hal Newhouser, Di2 Trout and Fred Hutchinson are ready to open the season 'right now.

Their arms are strong; their stuff is good. Ted Gray has looked terrible, but the little lefty always looks terrible in the spring. His arm is sore after each pitching effort, and that's nothing new either. Manager Bed Rolfe is concerned about Gray's lack of i. ii, i in.

i i. i.in n.iiiniii 'i a Cr i 1 1 "tt wan ismm raw i ii iiw si mum it-1 TssssissjMsMssia i iWnsVf jLasMritesMssssssssssssssssaiMMSSias WnsWiiTi ssaasaMtdsssisSMsmMSssasUiart asawrta ssa -finilsti liJwfcJ to End Outfielders Get Long Bat Drill Jammed Finger Keeps Kell on Sidelines BY BOB LATSIIAW rrM rrm WrtUr LAKELAND The Detroit Tigers will face a ahakeup un less their bats start producing more hits. "We're going to have to make some changes soon." Manager Red Rolf declared. "Our outfielders are not hitting. It means that Pat Mullin and Steve Souchock might get a chance to see a little That was Rolfe's pre-practtce statement as the Tigers worked out for three hours on another "off" day.

1 HOOT EVERS, Vic Werta and Johnny Groth all participated. In a special batting session for more than an hour. Rolfe had Hal New houser and Freddy Hutchinson throwing all kinds of stuff at his slumping power hitters. The reasons for Rolfe's worries are plainly told in the bat ting averages of his "big three." Evers Is hitting only .163, Groth's average is .167 and Wertz, after getting a pair of hits against the Red Sox Sunday moved up to .265. uniy two or the Tiger "regulars" were hitting over the .300 mark after 15 Citrus League games.

Johnny Lipon, having his best year, has been belting the ball at a .340 clip. Don Kolloway has been improving steadily and is now hitting .310. ROLFE got another piece of bad news Monday when George Kell had the bandage removed from his Injured right hand. The knuckle of the middle finger was jammed in the accident. It was not apparent until the wrappings were taken off.

Kell, as a result, cannot straighten the digit, which will delay his return to the lineup. Kell had expected to play this week. Billy Hoeft, the rookie left-handed sensation, will get another chance to show Rolfe what he has. The youngster was belted by the Bosox Sunday in his first bad showing. "Hoeft didn't have sharp control," Rolfe declared.

"It was the first time his control was off, and you can't get away with that stuff against the Red Sox. NEWHOUSER, HUTCHINSON, Ted Gray, Saul Rogovin and the other regulars will get most of the work on the way north, Rolfe said. Virgil Trucks, the big question mark of the mound staff, will make his second start of the season Tuesday when the Tigers wind up their Florida exhibitions against the St. Louis Cardinals. Trucks has worked only four innings so far, going that distance against the Philadelphia Phillies on March 25.

He was fairly impressive In his only start, despite a first inning homer that accounted for three Philly runs. Trucks gave up four hits in his four-inning stint. TEAMS WITHOUT A effectiveness in 6pring games. That is the chief reason Billy Hoeft, the kid southpaw from Oshkoch, is heading north with the team. Hoeft will be an experiment.

better than another he attempted in Florida when he alternated blame them either. Rosenthal, an Army vet-eran, is 'the only draft-proof player on the Wayne grid squad. Joe Ginsberg and Frank House tion games. He had his fingers crossed They didn't. Neither one hit a plate, with little exception, was House is going to Toledo; GETTING A GOOD grip on Halfback Frank Rosenthal (second, from right) are Wayne Coaches Lou Zarza (right), Sam Ketchman (left) and Bob Wyman.

You can't 37 AWAIT SERVICE CALLS early-spring declaration that Joe would be No. 1 catcher now is fading in favor of the experienced Aaron Robinson and Bob Series Too Quiet Uneasy Peace Likely to End 0 BY MARSHALL DANN Tr Tr Staff Writer MONTREAL This cholr-boy routine between the Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens may be headed for a fast breakup. Tha peace which has marked the first three tames of their playoff series seem too strange, too impossible to last. Tension has been mounting, personal feuds develop ing and an explosion could break any minute. And, strategy could demand It, too.

The moat unique feature ex- rept Montreal's pair of upset vlo toriea has been the total lack of brawling and almost complete absence of fouling. It simply Isn't natural. ONLY 14 PENALTIES, all ml nors, have been recorded as the teams head into the fourth game her Tuesday. The Canadiens, who carry a 2-1 lead In the best-of seven scramble, also own a 9-5 edge In the penalty department The two statistics appear unre- lated. The pattern of play hasn't varied a bit from the start.

Doth clubs opened last Tuesday under 1 A- It A- .1 urui'rs to buck to cauvious, conservative brand of hockey. The going has been so close since that no one dared risk penalties. Still these weren't cream-puff games. Bodychecking has been rugged and the action rough, but always within legal limits. Each was thriller, Montreal taking 3-2 and 1-0 overtime de cisions in Detroit before the wings recovered for a 2-0 verdict here.

JUST TIIE opposite feeling has existed in the wild and bloody round between Toronto and Boston, where mayhem rather than hockey seems the real issue. That vendetta also will resume Tuesday in Boston, with the teams even at one victory and one tie. The same referees have worked the two series, and Red Storey and Bill Chad wick dis-, covered the difference the hard way. Each handled one of the marathons in Detroit, enjoying an easy time with a. minimum of nenaltieo.

Then they switched. Storey had to assess 22 penalties In the rioting Saturday In Toronto, and Chadwick followed with 20 penalties in Boston Sunday. Neither was able to keep things under control, at that. 5 Why such a radical difference In the identical series? The truth Is that the players are acting under orders. It's an old trick, copied from 'lacrosse, to attempt to maim the opposition early, beat them into a crippled condition so that winning games later becomes a simple problem.

TORONTO appears to have gone for that strategy after suffering a stunning 2-0 upset in the opener. And, it seems to be worKing. Such strategy hasn't been adopted In the Detroit-Montreal affair. But that doesn't mean It won't be used yet The clubs have been so balanced that both sides were willing to see which way the breaks went Let either team show a decided margin of superiority and you can bet the other will shift to the "beat 'em up and beat em" plan. Hockey PLAYOFF STANDINGS SCRIES A (Best of seven) Ii OF GA Montreal 2 1 4 4 DETROIT 12 4 4 TUESDAY'S GAME DETROIT at Montreal.

SERIES (Best of seven VV Boston 1 1 GF GA 2 Toronto 11 3 TUESDAY'S GAME Toronto at Boston, DIFFERENT RING 'Don Eagle Meets Match in Ohio Co-Ed uujuuMtJUS UP) Don Eagle, the full-blooded Indian "wrestler, revealed his mar- riage to a 19-year-old Ohio State University aophomore, Beth Hamilton. The 23-year-old grappler with the distinctive haircut aaid that they were married March 22 at his lodge at Island Pond, Vt. THE WEDDING was a simple ceremony, with everyone but the justice of the peace wearing jodhpurs and high boots, the wrestler said. Swift. Zarza Greets Groth Gives Red Gray Hair, Too to liosox's Hopes SARASOTA, Fla.

W) Big Walt Dropo, who led the Boston Red Sox in home runs last was lost to the team for possibly two months with a broken right wrist. The slugging first baseman was hit on the wrist by a pitched ball in the seventh inning of Sunday's exhibition with Detroit, which the Sox won, a to 1. He was unaware of the extent of the injury until Dr. Harold T. Lawler took X-rys Monday morning at Sarasota Hospital.

His loss will be a blow to the Sox. la ISA garnet last year he rolled up a batting average of ,332, clouted 34 home runs and tied Vcrn Stephens for the runs-batted-in loaJ, with 144, MANAilEK MTKVK O'NKIM. aid Billy Goodman, the clubs handy ntao and last year's American League batting king, would take over first base. O'Neill said that Goodman had played the position well until he was injured in May last year. That injury, Incidentally, gave Dropo his chance to return to the Sox line-up and he made the most of the opportunity.

p0 1 1 Goodman had play right field In the Red Sox's Dropo power- laden line-up. O'Neill said either Tom Wright or Clyde Vollmer would fill it at right. Lou Boudreau, who played sev eral games at first when he was managing the Cleveland Indians, has played shortstop for the sox right through the exhibition season. He apparently has forced Stephens, last year's shortstop, to third base. Johnny Pesky, the third sacker, has been used In several positions in a utility role.

DROPO WAS brought uo from Louisville early last season after Goodman, the Sox reeular first sacker, broke an ankle. When big Walt started slugging, he was kept as first baseman and Goodman was assigned an emergency role. Dr. Lawler said the X-rays showed that Ray Herbert's pitch broke Dropo's wrist in two places. It caused a fracture of the tip of the ulna (the Inner of the two bones of the forearm).

Although the bone showed "good alignment," according to Dr. Lawler, Dropo will be "immobilized for four to six weeks. It may take even longer before he can play. He will have to exercise the hand after it is taken out of the cast." Dropo was more optimistic. "I'LL BE ABLE to get in there sooner than they said," he told reporters.

"After about three weeks I'll be able to bandage the wrist and play." Injury Is nothing new to the big slugger. In 1949 he broke his right leg while playing for Sacramento In the Pacific Oast League. Last year he was beaned twice -by Dizzy Trout of the Tigers and Hank Wyse of tha Athletics. LIPPY FED UP Play Ball or That's All, Kramer Told JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (U.R) Fiery New York Giant Manager Leo Durocher unzipped his lip and told Pitcher Jack Kramer "to change your attitude or else." Durocher was incensed "when the veteran righthander, who held out for two weeks this spring, failed to appear for the Giants' game with the St.

Louis Cardinals Sunday. HE COLLARED Kramer aboard a train enroute to Mobile, for Tuesday's exhibition game with the Boston Braves and delivered an ultimatum to buckle down or get off the team. Three Japs Enter Boston Marathon TOKYO Up) Three Japa nese runners "are en route by air to compete in the Boston mara thon April 19. Tsuruml Haigo, Shunji Koya-nagi and Shlgekl Tanaka left Monday. They were accompanied by Manager He it a Okabe and Coach Seichiro Tsuda.

Kronh Champ Kronk Recreation won the Junior Recreation basketball championship by defeating 'Lasky Center, 33 to 28, in tne nnais. ri but Future Looks Dark BY GEORGE PUSCAS Wayne University opened its spring football training sessions ONLY SHORTSTOP Johnny Kolloway among the regulars George Kell was just coming was spiked on the right hand are LYALL SMITH' Rolfe hopes that it will work as catchers in the first 13 exhibi that the kids would look good. lick and their work behind the weak and spotty. Ginsberg will stick. But Rolfe Lipon and First Baseman Don hitting the ball consistently.

out of the doldrums when he and sidelined. even after he had been fooled be done before it can expect to the best rookies tu head toward the majors this season. Saucier played ball three seasons and led his league every season, fie climaxed It by. being named the minor league player of the season last summer with a 4)43 mark at San Antonio. That means the outfield will include Ray Coleman Ken Wood (.225) and Don Len- hardt (.273) with Jim Delsing (.269) as fourth man.

IN SLENDER Ned Garver, Manager Zack Taylor has one brilliant pitcher. Garver's 3.39 earned-run average was the league's second best although he had a-13-18 record with a seventh-place club. Garver is the Brownies' workhorse right-hander while Stubby Overmlre, the Yankee killer, is the top southpaw with a 9-12 mark. Taylor does have some fairly strong right handers in Al Wldmar, a big strong-armed tosser; Dick Starr, Cliff Fannin, Don Johnson and young Duane Ptllette. But the club doesn't have enough hitting or defensive brilliance to back up its hurlera.

The infield is shallow. Hank Arft Roy Slevers Billy DeMars (.247) and Tommy Upton (.237) are the strongest components and they can't compare with others in the league. Catching is very good wit-Sherman Lollar and Les Moss alternating with good receiving and capable power. Both Vic Wertz and Hoot Evers are starting to show signs of life while Johnny Groth still is not. The unorthodox "hitch" in Groth's swing refuses to disappear.

Groth's fast wrist action made it possible for him last year to clip out hits at the last second on the pitch. So far this spring, even that last-ditch gesture has been absent. Two brighter spots are Steve Souchock and Charley Keller. Souchock should help the club. He is In excellent condition and can hit the ball for distance.

While, like Keller, he is being counted on for pinch-hit duty, Steve can play first, third and the outfield. That's the Tiger picture when I left it It wasn't good, but In Lower Depths: Chisox, Browns 75 Hopefuls Turn Out atU.ofD. Scarcity of Linemen Clark's Top Problem BY DICK PETERS Earl (Dutch) Clark picked up the reins of University of De troit football and looked down a gridiron path which has plenty of bumpy spots. The new U-D head coach and athletic director greeted 75 play ers Monday as the Titans opened six weeks or spring drills. "We have our problems Just like any one else," the easy-going Dutchman mused, "We'll do the best we can." CLARK ENUMERATED his assets for the 1951 grid, campaign as these: fresh and anxlous-to-make-good coaching staff Including newcomers Wally Fromhart, first assistant; Bill Pritula, line coach, and Johnny Greene, end coach.

Eddie Barbour, chief scout and coach of squad, is the only holdover from 1950, when Clark was an assistant to Chuck Baer. 2 A promising schedule of possibly 10 or 11 games. The slate hasn't been- completed entirely, but the announcement that Notre Dame will come to Detroit Oct. 5 already has stirred Titan followers. 3 A squad which appears to be sound at the moment from military reduction.

This asset could quickly turn Into a liability by next fall, however. CLARK'S CURRENT liabilities are earmarked like this: 1 The thinness of his linemen. The U-D squad was sharply decimated by graduation with the losses of Guards Nick Ga-lante, Ed Wood, Alex Small, Tackle Lee Wittmer, Center John Packo and End Tom Cos-tello. 2 Getting U-D's schedule problems solved as soon as possible so that he can concentrate on coaching duties. The Titans face a completely opposite problem this year as compared to a spring ago.

Then, Baer had lost heavily in his back-field by graduation. This time, all i the first-line backs are on hand except Halfback Jocko O'Leary and Quarterback Red Connor. U-D will hold 30 days of spring drills, including several full-dress scrimmages late In the session. 38 Gridders its 1951 prospects: Only one of 38 players on hand could be reasonably sure of wearing a gridiron suit next September. He's Halfback Frank Rosenthal, a former All-City star from Central High School, a regular last year and an Army veteran who automatically is exempt from the draft under current conditions.

ALL THE OTHERS, including 13 freshmen, either have enlisted and are awaiting their calls; are prime draft eligibles or are staying in school indefinitely by joining ROTC units. Among 17 squad absentees Monday, there were fewer than a half dozen veterans, 4Fs or fathers on whom Coach Lou Zarza could count. From the offensive team of a year ago, only two players are missing, Co-Capialns Bob Wyman, a guard, and Chuck Mllo, a tackle. Wyman, who is slated to replace Jack Fallon as the Wayne line coach, was on hand to help handle the opening day drills. Milo is the youngster who became involved in a jewelry store holdup two weeks ago He had used up his football eligibility.

FROM THE REST of the first team, there likely will be few to survive military calls before next September. Capt. Bob Langas, an end; Center George Marth and Quarter back Dick Browns are Air Corp cadets awaiting calls. End Jack Crittendon Is In the ROTO and Tackle Mike Suchara, Guard Bernie Love and Halfback El Richmond are draft eligibles. They would form a solid nucleus for Wayne's 1951 outfit, but Zarza now is relying "heavily on his freshmen.

AMONG THE 13 newcomers were two of the Detroit area's standout high school players. Miller's Dave Mann and Eastern's Larry Kuznlar, Mann, a stellar track prospect, will miss the spring football drills, however. Kuznlar, who captained the Eastern team last fall, has been impressive in Indoor drills. Zarza indicated that he expected to have 50 more freshmen on hand when fall drills open In August, and that he would take the first-year men to camp one- week ahead of the rest of the squad. it wasn't hopeless.

A lot more hard work must be awarded any "Oscars." FUTURE which sent Pitchers Bill Wight and Ray Scarborough to the Bosox. EDDIE ROBINSON is a year older at first. Nelson Fox will team with the brilliant Chico Carrasquel around second base while Floyd Baker will alternate with Hank Majeski at third. Majeski, incidentally, has been beaned again. 'Zarilla, Gus Zernial and Dave Philley comprise the outfield.

The top pitcher will be little Billy Pierce, the Highland Park southpaw Bob Cain, Joe -Dobson and Randy Gumpert are the other front-liners and they don't appear to be enough. The Browns were hit hard by the induction of Dick Kokos and the decision not to play ball by Frank Saucier, probably one of Monday and this should indicate Tyson to Sub for Ailing Heilmann Ty Tyson, veteran Detroit sports announcer, has been selected to do the play-by-play broadcasts of Tiger games during the Illness of Harry Hellman. Tyson was named to the post Tuesday by Edwin A. Anderson, president of the Goebel Brewing sponsors of the baseball broadcasts. Tyson has been closely associated with the airing of major sports events since 1924, when broadcast University Michigan football games for the first time.

He did the play-by-play of Tiger games starting in 1927. Heilmann began handling Detroit's srames in 1934 and has Tyson been under the Goebel sponsorship for the past nine seasons. The former Tiger outfielder now is at Ford Hospital recovering from a neart and lung ailment He became ill two- weeks ago at Lakeland, Florida. Kovaleski, Pal Five-Set Losers MONTE CARLO UP) Tiny Fellcisimo Ampon, of the Philippines, played magnificent tennis as he teamed with John Garrett, of San Diego, to defeat the American combination of Straight Clark and Fred Kovaleski In the five-set final of the Monte Carlo men's doubles tournament," 6-4, 12-10, 2-6, 6-4. Clark Is from Los Angeles and Kovaleski from Hamtramck, Mich.

Clinton Wins Fencing Trophy CHICAGO (P) Dave Clinton, representing the Highland Park Fencing Club, won 16 of 17 matches in gaining the Hans Fischer Trophy and first place in the Men's Junior Foil fencing tournament at Chicago. i tA 1 LJti (This is another In a series analyzing pennant chances of major league clubs.) BY LYALL SMITH rr Praia Sport Editor 1 It looks as if the St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox will have their own race this summer for sixth place. The Sox have the best chance to reach that berth, but the Browns seemingly are destined for lower things. Neither club is strengthened for the season and that, perhaps, is putting it mildly.

Chicago does have a new manager in Paul Rapier Richards, the ex-Tiger catcher. That is about the best thing that could happen to the club. It also has a good outfielder in Veteran Al Zarilla. He was received from Boston in the deal 7 If I I OVERMIBE RICHARDS PIERCE Ex-Tigers in big roles with Browns, Chisox 1 1.