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Braves No.1 Threat To Dodger Dominance
Bradenton, Fla.—(U.P.)-The Milwaukee Braves rate as the No. 1 threat to break the National league dominance of the Brooklyn Dodgers and there are many who are picking them to win the pennant.
But Manager Charley Grimm is not among them. He is optimistic, of course, but insists "any manager would be foolish to predict a pennant when there is a club as strong as the Dodgers you have to beat."
The Braves' chances were set back when Bob Thomson, one of their two expensive off-season acquisitions, broke his ankle in a spring exhibition game. He is not likely to see service until June 1 and that has scrambled Grimm's outfield plans. Otherwise the club, except for the second-string pitchers, is set.
As of now, O'Connell has won the second base job from Jack Dittmer, last year's regular. O'Connell is hitting the ball better than ever this spring so Dittmer will be the first time he is going to second base if O'Connell is needed for emergency duty at short or third.
The team will have a better bench than last year and Grimm believes he could come up with the best pitching in the league, although he lost Max Surkont, John Antonelli
and Don Liddle, who between them won 30 games in 1954. Surkont went to the Pirates in the deal whereby the Braves acquired Danny O'Connell, while Antonelli and Liddle went to the Giants in the Thomson deal.
Big Joe Adecow will be on first with Johnny Logan at short, and young Eddie Mathews, the home run king, at third. Many baseball men feel that if Babe Ruth's home run record of 60 in a season ever is broken, Mathews will do it.
With Thomson out, the only outfielders sure of regular berths are Andy Pafko in right and speedy Bill Bruton in center. When Thomson returns he will play left. Until then, either Jim Pendleton, who
299 as a part-time performer
last season, or rookie Henry Aaron
probably will get the job.
Aaron is not even on the Milwaukee roster. He hit 362 with Jacksonville last season and was named most valuable player in the Southern league in 1952. Scouts for the other major league club have him tabbed as a sure-fire star, if not this year then in 1955. He is fast and has a lot of power.
In Grimm's pitching plans, Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, Bob Buhl, and Chet Nichols are sure of regular starting spots. Nichols, who was the leagues earned run leader in 1951, is back out of military service.
Del Crandall will be the No. 1. I believe Dereonde and Paul Burger in reserve.
To He and Gene Conley, a rookie up from He toldo where he won 23 games last season, are counted upon to take up the slack left by the departure of Surkont, Antonelli, and Liddle.
The Braves feel that Buhl could be their leading winner this season. In 1953 he won 14 while losing eight. Spahn had a 23-7 record while Burdette was 15-5.
Behind them will be Ernie Johnson as the No. 1 relief man. Jim Wilson, who has been dogged with tough luck, will get starting chances despite his 4-9 record of last season. Three rookies-Ben Johnson and Phil Paine, both just out of military service, and Ray Crone, a 19-game winner at Jacksonville, have a chance to stick. Dave Jolly, who saw little service last year, is another hurling possibility.
Shannon Named as K-State Assistant
Manhattan—(U.P.)—It will be familiar ground for Howard (Howie) Shannon when he assumes his new job July 1 as assistant basketball coach at Kansas State.
Shannon's appointment was announced yesterday by Larry (Moon) Mullins, K-State athletic director. He will succeed Keith (Dobbie) Lambert, who resigned to enter private business
Shannon was an all-America cager in 1947-48 on the first K-State team to win the Big Seven championship. The last four years, he has coached Topeka High school. His Trojans compiled a 20-6 record this year and finished third in the class AA tournament.
CunninghamSays Santee Will Run 4-Minute Mile
Tuesday. March 23.1954 University Daily Kansan
Charles, W. Wa.,—(U.P.) G l e n n Cunningham, looking as fit as the day he set a new American indoor mile record 16 years ago, said today the four-minute mile isn't "nearly as difficult as people seem to think."
Cunningham, here for a week-
long lecture series on "clean liv-
ing," said there are "any number"
of milers around today who are
capable of running the distance
under four minutes.
Asked if he felt Wes Santee, now a senior at Cunningham's alma mater, the University of Kansas, was the man to do it, he replied:
But Cunningham, the 1933 Sullivan award winner as the outstanding amateur athlete of the year, was quick to point out that Josy Barthel of Luxembourg and John Landy of Australia were just as apt to be the first to break the elusive record.
"Yes, I definitely think he can run a four-minute mile. I know Santee. He's a fine boy and has a lot on the ball."
Santee, who bettered most of Cunningham's records at Kansas, ran the fastest mile in American history last June when he broke the tape in 4:02.4 at the Compton, Calif., relays.
"I don't think a good miler needs competition to push him-to a four-minute mile." he said. "A good miler can pace himself regardless of competition. However, a limited field probably would help."
The famed Kansas Flyer, chosen the most popular member of the United States Olympic team in 1936, said he still gets enjoyment out of a workout.
Colorado Springs, Colo. — (U.P.) Rensselaer Polytechnic institute won the NCAA hockey title by defeating Minnesota, 5-4 in overtime here Saturday.
Rensselaer Cops Hockey Bid
Baseball Roundup
'Stan the Man' Tans Rival Pitchers' Hides
Bv UNITED PRESS
Stan Musial, who is trying to give the St. Louis Cardinals a rosier pennant complexion, was tanning rival pitchers today even more than the celebrated Florida sun.
Musial, stopped only by the White Sox hurlers this spring, made a shambles of four Phillies' flingers who faced him yesterday with a homer, a triple and a single that were the highlights in St. Louis' 9-3 conquest.
In the 14 games the Cardinals have played so far, Musial has hit safely in 12 of them, failing to connect only in two games against the White Sox.
Ex-American leaguer Howie Judson limited Detroit to one run in six
First baseman Dick Gernert of the Red Sox enjoyed a good day, also, by blasting two homers and driving in another run with a sacrifice fly as he披ed Boston to a 4-3 triumph over the Milwaukee Braves. Bill Henry, Tom Herrin, and Ellis Kinder limited the Braves to six hits.
Sandy Amoros, making a bid for outfield employment with the Dodgers, delivered a sharp single with two out in the ninth inning to drive in the run that beat Pittsburgh, 3-2. Amoros' double in the fifth inning also drove in Brooklyn's second run.
innings in pitching Cincinnati to a 4-3 decision at Lakeland, Fla.
The champion Yankees mailed the Athletics, 12-6, in gaining their second straight triumph, longest victory "streak" of the spring for them.
Southpaws Alex Kellner and Morris Martin were racked for 16 hits by the Yankees, including a homer, double and two singles by first baseman Bill Skowron and four doubles by Bob Cerv. As a result of Cerv's showing so far this spring, Manager Casey Stengel announced that he was withdrawing the husky outfielder from the trading block.
Although the Chicago Cubs enjoyed a day off at their Mesa, Ariz., training site, Manager Phil Cavarretta announced that Hank Sauer and Frank Baumholtz might share the right field assignment this season.
Cavarretta said "Baumholtz is a great hitter when he's fresh, but he tires, and Sauer hits very well at home but not so well on the road. Both might benefit from occasional rests."
Wet grounds canceled a game between Cleveland and Baltimore at Yuma, Ariz., while rain wiped out a scheduled charity contest between the Giants and a Mexican all-star team at Phoenix, Ariz.
837-39 Massachusetts