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University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, May 18, 1954
Sauer's Hitting Slump Broken With Home Run
By UNITED PRESS
Hefty Hank Sauer of the Chicago Cubs, who has even turned base-sealer in his anxiety to prove that this is 1952 all over again, today came busting out of a batting slump that had threatened to block his campaign.
Hank's first grand-slam home run of the season, highlighting a seven-run outburst in yesterday's fifth innning, carried the Cubs to a 10-6 victory over Pittsburgh and wrote a resounding finish to a batting let-down that had gripped the Bruin outfielder for a week.
Sauer, the National league's "most valuable player" in '52 but a bust in '53 when injured hands hampered him, broke fast from the starting gate this year, his slugging including a 15-game hitting streak, before the recent week's slump hit him.
As a result, the six-foot, four-inch slugger stands tied with Stan Musial of the Cards for the major-league lead in homers with 12, ranks third in runs scored with 29, and fifth in runs-batted-in with 30. To top it off, he has a thundering .343 batting mark—far above his lifetime. 269.
Sauer really cracked his slump with a flourish, adding two singles and a walk to his grand-slam and even delighting his fans by scampering to his first stolen base of the season—on the back end of a double steal, of course.
That seven-run rally wiped out a Pittsburgh 2-0 lead, which was created in the third innning by Bob Skinner's two-run double. It tagged Pirate rookie Bob Purkey with his fifth defeat of the year against a single win and made it possible for veteran lefty Howie Pollet of the Cubs to gain his first win of the year, with relief help.
In the only other National league action, the Philadelphia Phillies split a pair of games with the St. Louis Cardinals, winning 8-4 and losing 8-0, and thus falling into a first-place tie with the idle Brooklyn Dodgers for first place.
The only American league game yesterday saw Jackie Jensen blast a three-run homer in the eighth inning, right after Ted Williams had been purposefully walked, to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 win over Detroit.
The Phillies' first-game win was the completion of a game interrupted by a curfew law on Sunday after six innings when the Phillies were leading, 6-3, veteran Murry Dickson hurled the last three innings to protect the first major-league win for rookie Paul Penson.
The Cards walloped four homers to win the regularly-scheduled night game, three of them off Phillie ace Robin Roberts. Wally Moon, leadoff batter in the game, clouted the first and later Rip Repulski and Ray Jablonski rocked Roberts, and Musial bagged his 12th homer of the year off reliever Karl Drews. Moon's blast would have been enough to win, since Joe Presko went on to shut out the Phils on seven hits for his third win.
Softball Title Game Set for Tomorrow
Detroit was leading the Red Sox, 3-1, in the eighth inning with a runner on second and two out when Ned Garver intentionally walked Williams.
Locksley-Monchonsia and th e Tri Delt's will meet tomorrow for the women's softball championship.
Winners of the semi-finals over the Pi Phi's and North College, the finalists have not been defeated in division play. The game, originally scheduled for yesterday, was positioned because of muddy grounds.
Santee to Meet Whitfield
Stockton, Calif. — (U.P.) — M al Whitfield and Wes Santee will run against each other for the first time in the U.S. when they meet in the 880 at the Pacific association meet here June 5, P.A.A. officials announced yesterday.
Musial After Batting Crown
New York—(U.P.)The "new" Stan Musial was looking avidly at both the home run and batting championships of the National league today but his main targets still were a couple of fellows named Rogers Hornsby and Honus Wagner.
There has been much speculation this early season as to whether Musial would rather win his first home run title or take the batting championship for the seventh time. Stan has proved reluctant to reveal his plan of batting battle.
But it is obvious from here that "The Man" intends to let nothing stand in the way of matching Hornsby's total of seven batting crowns this season—and move to within one of Wagner's all-time National league total of eight.
The Cardinal star naturally would be delighted to win it. But to him the batting championship is foremost, and he looks like a shooter over the long haul this year.
At 33, Musial apparently has a long way to go in baseball. But the years are shortening in which he can expect to lead the league in batting and he wants three more titles to become the all-time tops.
There is a baseball expression that the high average hitters ride in Fords but the home run hitters ride in Cadillacs. Stan, by making a career out of high average hitting, has disproved that. Even these days $80,000 a year will buy more than coffee and doughnuts.
Musial almost took the homer championship once. That was in 1948, when he hit 39—and Ralph Kiner and Johnny Mize tied with 40. Speculation started that he might be out to win it this season with his fast getaway which has put him right at the home run top with Hank Sauer and Ted Kluszewski.
Consider that at this time last year Musial was hitting almost 100 points less than the .360 bracket in which he is today. As late as June 17 he was batting only 251, a morose and miserable man who
idmitted disconsolately that the file apparently was lost.
But it is a "new" Musial—or possibly just the "old" one back in the groove—who delightedly is driving the pitchers crazy again this season. He credits it to an all-out stint in spring training.
Yet he came on so strong in the stretch that he lost the batting championship by only five points to Carl Furillo's .342.
"I usually rested as much as possible in the spring to save myself for the long grind of the regular season," Musial recalls. "Well, this spring I played in every single league and won when this season opened, I was sharp. I was hitting the ball better and with more confidence."
"I'm in better hitting form right now than I've ever been at this stage of the season," he grins, all smiles. "I'll have a tougher throughout a long, winter dissolved."
His pace at the start is even better than his opening drive in 1948 when he led the league in just about everything and won the batting crown with a 376 mark. His early home run pace has been phenomenal compared with his average of 22 a year for he's half-way there already.
But the man he's aiming at is Hornsby—with Wagner next on the list.
The Jayhawk golf team lost its third dual meet of the season yesterday when they were defeated by the University of Missouri. 9-3, at Columbia. The KU team had defeated the Tigers May 8 on the Lawrence Country club by an 11-1 score.
Clarence Benage, M, defeated Harlan Hise, 3-0.
Bob Richards, K, defeated Rene Bockenkamp, 3-0.
Kansas Golfers Lose to MU, 3-9
John Baumgardner, M, defeated John Prosser, 3-0.
The Kansas loss gives the team a season record of 11 victories and three losses entering the Big Seven meet scheduled for Boulder May 21-22.
The results:
Theta Chi defeated SAE 16-10, Jollie defeated Shackers 11-4, and Delta Chi won from Phi Kappa by a forfeit in men's intramural softball yesterday. These three games were makeup games from Sunday's schedule.
James Douglas, M, defeated Pete Rush, 3-0.
4 p.m. Field 1 Pearson vs. Mox
4 p.m. Field 2 AFROTC "A" vs.
4 p.m. Field 3 AFROTC "B" vs.
Big Scores In Softball
Theta Chi scored 16 runs on 12 hits and 14 walks. Tony Pagedas made three hits for the winners, including a home run, and Benny Croyle was the winning pitcher. SAE made 20 hits in their losing effort, and Bill Snyder was the losing pitcher.
Jolliffe scored 11 runs on 13 hits and four walks with Don Flory pitching the victory. The Shackers made 12 hits and four walks good for their four runs. Ralph Silver got four hits for the Shackers.
Today's schedule:
4 p.m. Field 3 AFROTC "B" vs Ph
Physics
KU Tennis Team Defeats MU 7-0
Only one of the matches in yesterday's meet went the full three sets, and that was in the first match
The Kansas tennis team closed its regular season schedule with a 7-0 victory over the University of Missouri in a dual meet at Columbia yesterday. The KU tennis team will be idle until the Big Seven meet at Boulder on May 21-22.
By DANA LEIBENGOOD
Kansan Sports Editor
Probably some fans were a little disappointed with the KU football team after seeing the varsity-alumni game on Saturday, but actually when all things are considered the varsity didn't do badly.
In the first place it was up against a line which was probably as good or better than any that will be fielded by a Big Seven team next fall. Men like Mike McCormick, S. P. Garnett and George Mrkonic have played professional football. McCormick played with the Dallas Texans before going into service, Mrkonic played last season with the Philadelphia Eagles, and Garnett went through "spring" training with the San Francisco Forty-Niners and was the last tackle cut from the team, only because of his lack of size.
In addition there were Galen Fiss and Merlin Gish backing up the line and men from last year's team such as Joe Lundy, Jerry Taylor, Harold Patterson, and Joe Fink.
When these men are put up against a line that had only two regulars back from last season, playing the same positions this year, Dick Knowles and Don Bracelin, they are bound to make the varsity look unfavorable, for there is a vast difference in experience.
Added to that there is the fact that the football team got a late start in spring practice and then was handicapped by not having a complete squad to work with because of baseball and track.
Knowles, Bracelin, Ralph Moody, and Gene Blasi were out for track part of the time, and Bob Conn, Bob Allison, John Handley, Dick Wogan, Fuzz Martin, and Don Pfutzenreuter were on the baseball sound.
With such a short time to work together a team is bound to be ragged, especially against a team like the alumni had.
Some definite improvements were shown by the varsity. Probably the most noticeable is the much improved spirit which has been shown all through spring practice.
Despite the fact that the alumni completed a lot of passes, one of the quarterbacks for the alumni told us that the varsity covered its receivers better than it did in the varsity-alumni game last spring.
At least on several occasions the tackling was harder and more sure than it was a year ago.
We agree that the varsity does have a long way to go but we certainly aren't going to pass judgment after one game with an alumni team as good as the one that played Saturday.
We think that the team will look much sharper next fall and will give a good account of itself, although it may not even win half of its games with a schedule such as the one that it will be facing next fall.
The results:
between KU's No. 1 player, Al Hedstrom, and the Tigers' No. 1 man, Bill Wickersham.
Hedstrom, K, defeated Wickersham, 6-2, 6-8, 6-4.
Dick Hadley, K, defeated Bob Simpson, 6-1, 6-2.
Roger Youmans, K, defeated Darrol Caldwell, 6-1, 6-0.
Merl Sellers, K, defeated Art Casper, 6-0, 6-1.
Don Franklin, K, defeated Don
Kiester. 6-3, 6-1.
Hedstrom and Hadley defeated Wickersham and Simpson, 6-4, 6-2.
Youbans and Sellers defeated Casper and Caldwell, 6-1, 6-2.
For Extra Cash, sell those items with a Kansas Classified.
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