Page 4 University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, March 16, 1954
Cardinal Owner Wants Pennant
St. Petersburg, Fla.,—U.P.P.Baseball has found a new financial angel in Gus Busch, the St. Louis beer baron who is going all out to win a pennant in his second year as owner of the Cardinals.
So far since the close of last season, he has spent nearly a half-million dollars for ball players and the end is not yet in sight. And he is renovating Sportsman's Park at a cost of a million and a half.
to sell an awful lot of beer, but he insisted today that he was not interested in financial returns so far as baseball is concerned.
"When I bought the club I had only one thing in mind and that was to win a pennant for St. Louis Cardinal fans and I mean to do just that," he said. "I hope it comes this year, but if not we'll keep on trying until we win it. And I'm not interested in winning only one pennant. We want to win a lot of them, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure we do."
But, why if he was thinking for the future beyond this coming season, did he shell out $75,000 for Vic Raschi, who is 35?
"Because we want to win this year if we can," he explained. "I think we made a hell of a stride toward the pennant when we bought Raschi from the Yankees. I wouldn't have bought him unless I was convinced he could help the club, not only for this year, but a couple of more years after that."
"And it isn't the money that's important. You have to take financial risks in any business and I guess more so in baseball than most of the others. I wouldn't have bought the Cardinals had I not been willing to take these risks. I have to take them, too, so I can give St. Louis fans the kind of a club they deserve—a pennant winner."
In addition to Raschi, his major cash outlays since the close of last season included $100,000 for Negro first baseman Tom Alston, although he hit only .297 at San Diego last season. Scouts for other major league clubs report that it's doubtful if Alston will be able to hit in the majors.
"But our scouts told me they believed he could hit up here, so I bought him." Busch explained.
He paid $75,000 in cash and players valued at $15,000 for rookie shortstop Alex Grammas, a .307 hitter at Kansas City. Grammas also is a question mark as far as hitting is concerned, although he comes up to the majors labelled as a fine fielding shortstop.
3 Unranked FivesinNCAA
With only one of the nations top 20 teams, LaSalle, in the four team bracket, the NCAA championships will be played Friday and Saturday nights in Municipal auditorium in Kansas City.
The Explorers from Philadelphia meet surprising Penn State in the first game of the tournament at 8 p.m. Friday. LaSalle should rank as a solid favorite in this game. The Nittany Lions have a modest record of 15 victories and five defeats against mediocre competition, but have beaten favored Toledo, Louisiana State, and Notre Dame to get to Kansas City.
Two other teams which scored major upsets in regionalists last weekend will meet in the second game. Bradley upset highly-favored Oklahoma A&M on its home court to win the Stillwater regionals, and Southern California upset Oregon State and Santa Clara to represent the West coast.
LaSalle, ranked No. 12 nationally, Bradley, and Penn State were all member at large teams. In this tournament it may prove to be dangerous to be the favorite.
Basketball Dinner?
We Didn't Know
We understand that there was a basketball banquet in the Student Union last night. However, since the Kansan wasn't invited, we can't give any details of the affair.
It is the usual custom to invite the student newspaper to affairs of this sort, but evidently the man who handles the invitations didn't think that the Kansas was worthy of attending.
That would be Bill Kyne, the track's general manager.
'Give Away Man Irks Directors
San Mateo, Calif. — (U.P.)— The board of directors at Bay Meadows race is having a little trouble with the "give away man."
Kyne, who is known far and wide as the softest touch in the sports business, now is reported ready to boost the prize money for the William P. Kyne Handicap from $100.00 to $200.00.
The big handicap doesn't come for two months. So between now and that time maybe the board of directors will have some success in talking him out of his "share the wealth" plan.
"We are going to have our greatest racing season," says Kynne, "so why not pass the money around? We will average 10,000 customers a day, and a pari-mutual handle of $800,000 per day."
Kyne has been known to be over-optimistic before, but he usually has a good promoter's insight into the pulse of the public.
However, even his closest friends tremble when he starts giving things away. A year or two ago he was given a testimonial banquet and his hundreds of pals got together and gave him a new Cadillac.
"But there is one stipulation," they added in a note, "and that is that under no consideration, can you give this car away."
Friends recall that a few years ago when Bill and his wife were boarding a ship for a winter vacation in Hawaii, he was met at the dock by someone who still owed him several thousands of dollars.
it was reported that, in moments of supreme benevolence, he had been killed.
"What do you want?" said Kyne, with a scowl on his face.
The fellow, a "hanger-on" in the fight mob, told a pitiful story of being down and out. Bill slipped him a $100 bill after listening to the sorrowful story.
Dallas, Tex. — (U.P.)— Elmo (Topper) Rigney, a better-than-average-hitting shortstop during his major league days, likes to reminisce about his fielding feats more than his batting prowess.
Former Detroit Shortstop Never Wanted to Play
That broiling afternoon in Boston, the former Texas A&M product set an American league record that still stands by handling 24 chances in a doubleheader without an error.
Now balding and retired, except for occasional dabbles in stocks at his San Antonio home, the spry old-timer looks back fondly on the sport he had no intention of playing—even when he signed a Detroit contract.
The 57-year-old Rigney, who hit an even .300 and played in all of Detroit's 155 games in his first fling in the majors in 1922, looks back with greatest pride upon a mid-July afternoon in 1926 after he had been sold to Boston because of a run-in with Tiger manager Ty Cobb.
Rigney, son of a real estate man,
fully intended to follow in dad's
footsteps upon his graduation from
Texas A&M.
But a determined Detroit scout, Mike Finn, sold him a "bill of goods" about how he (Finn) would lose his job if he didn't sign up the players he was sent to scout. Finn capped his plea with a $50 bonus offer.
So, Rigney signed, but assured Finn at the time he had no intention of playing professional baseball.
Along came World War I and Rigney went into service. Upon his discharge, the real estate business wasn't doing too well and Rigney still had that Detroit contract—he decided to give the game a fling. He was assigned to Dallas of the Texas league at $400 per month.
He did so well, Detroit decided to call him up—only to have commissioner Kennesaw M. Landis declare him a free agent due to a contract irregularity. The New York Giants offered Rigney $10,000, but Rigney sold himself back to Detroit for $7,500 because of "moral obligations and loyalty"—plus the fact the Giants had "a guy named Dave Bancrook installed at short."
In his second year under Cobb at Detroit, Rigney hit 315, but it still was his sure hands that made the fans remember him. He once collected eight straight hits that year.
In 1925, Rigney had his run-in with Cobb and refused to report to Detroit in 1926. So he was sold to Boston.
A hip injury began to take its toll in 1927 and started Rigney toward the end of his career—to Washington and then to Kansas City. At the age of 32, Rigney decided to forsake baseball for the insurance business back in Texas.
Phone 151
For Appointment
Baseball Roundup
Athletics Hottest Outfit in Florida
By UNITED PRESS
Eddie Joost, who hasn't lost a game since he was named manager, had his undefeated Philadelphia Athletics at the top of the Grapefruit leage standings today and many experts agreeing that they are "the most improved team" in Florida.
The Athletics won their sixth straight game of the spring by beating the Boston Red Sox, 10-7, yesterday, but even more important, as far as Joost is concerned, the winter trade with the Yankees is continuing to pay off.
Don Bollweg, one of the players acquired from the Yankees, slammed his second homer of the spring as did big Gus Zernial. Ray Murray and rookies Tommy Giordano, and
Lou Limmer also homered for Philadelphia.
Manager Phil Cavarretta of the Cubs, on the other hand, keeps wondering when his club is going to win a ball game. The Cardinals beat the Cubs for the fourth time in a row, 16-7, at Fresno, Calif., and the loss was Chicago's eight in nine games thus far. Stan Musial, Ray Jablonski, and Wally Moon each hit homers at St. Louis.
The Yankees continued having their troubles, too, as southpaws Fred Baczewski and Harry Perkowski limited them to six hits while pitching Cincinnati to a 4-3 victory at St. Petersburg, Fla. It marked the Yankees' sixth setback in nine games.
Final Big Seven Statistics
School Games FG FT TP Av. PG
Iowa State 12 248 241 737 61.4
Opponents 282 270 834 69.5
Kansas State 12 297 271 865 72.0
Opponents 264 317 845 70.4
Colorado 12 287 289 863 71.9
Opponents 257 278 792 66.0
Kansas 12 308 301 917 76.4
Opponents 266 294 826 68.8
Missouri 12 292 277 861 71.8
Opponents 285 271 841 70.0
Nebraska 12 290 276 856 71.3
Opponents 311 275 897 74.7
Oklahoma 12 252 321 825 68.7
Opponents 309 271 889 74.0
LEADING SCORERS
LEADING SCORERS
Haldorson, Colorado 105 46 256 21.3
Reiter, Missouri 103 46 252 21.0
Johnson, Nebraska 88 69 245 20.4
Lane, Oklahoma 65 99 229 19.0
Born, Kansas 72 77 221 18.4
Waller, Oklahoma 66 53 185 15.4
Dobbs, Kansas 70 43 183 15.2
Seger, Nebraska 54 66 174 14.5
Duncan, Iowa State 57 51 165 13.7
Kelley, Kansas 57 46 160 13.3
Stewart, Missouri 57 40 154 12.8
Jeangerard, Colorado 42 63 147 12.2
Prisock, Kansas State 46 43 135 15.0
Blue, R., Oklahoma 53 27 133 14.7
Patterson, Kansas 41 45 127 10.5
Weber, Nebraska 38 48 124 10.3
CONFERENCE STANDING
CONFERENCE
School W L Pet
Colordo 10 2 .833
Kansas 10 2 .833
Missouri 6 6 .833
Kansas State 5 7 .416
Nebraska 5 7 .416
Oklahoma 4 8 .333
Iowa State 2 10 .166
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