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Newhouser Can't Quit Baseball, Plans Comeback
By JACK CUDDY
New York —(U.P.)— It's tough to get baseball out of your blood, which could be the reason why lanky Hal Newhouser—like an endless procession of pitchers before him—won't call it quits until he's assured there is positively no hope left.
The 32-year-old Newhouser, who drew his outright release from Detroit last July after being with the club 15 seasons, has announced he will attempt a comeback with the Cleveland Indians.
Max Lanier, cut adrift by the Giants, tried to make a comeback with the Browns but failed. Big Al Benton, cast off by Detroit, came back for another chance with the Red Sox but didn't last long. Husky Tex Hughson and Thornton Lee were another pair of veterans who tried one more "go-round" after they were through but found they couldn't quite make it.
Some pitchers, of course, have laboriously worked their way back to the majors. Johnny Lindell of the Phillies and John Hetkil of the Pirates are two current examples.
Spurred on by the hope that they can come back, too. Joe Dobson, released by the White Sox last year, is trying for a pitching berth at the Red Sox today and Ewell Blackenbrough has temporarily retired list last summer, is making the same effort with the Yankees.
But Newhouser, the American league's most valuable player in 1944 and 1945, appears to have a higher job than all of them.
When the Tigers handed him his walking papers last summer. Prince Hal was the forgotten man of the Detroit pitching staff. Reduced to the role of a "hanger-on." he had worked only $21\%$ innings up to the time of his release, he owned a negative 0-1 win-lost record and his earned run average was a miserable 6.91.
What was worse, as far as the Tigers were concerned, was that rival American league batters were whispering that Newhouser "doesn't have a thing left any more."
Newhouser, however, insists now that his once-mighty left arm no longer ails him. He feels confident he can even take a regular pitching turn with the Indians. His optimism stems from the fact that he has been throwing the ball a month in Florida with what he calls excellent results.
Newhouser, whose pitching talents once commanded $65,000 a season, will sign for a lot less, naturally, if Cleveland finally offers him a contract.
Oddly, the lanky lefthander came mighty close to wearing a Cleveland uniform back in 1943, a season in which he won only eight games and lost 17. The Detroit front office was all set to paddle him to the Indians in exchange for pitcher Jim Bagby when Steve O'Neill, then manager of the Tigers, halted the negotiations.
"Just give me a little more time with Newhouser," O'Neill pleaded with the front office, "and I think you won't be sorry."
Rio Grande Sets Kansas City Date
Kansas City — (U,P) — Rio Grande, Ohio, college and its fabulous point-maker, Bevo Francis, will make their first Kansas City basketball appearance in a charity double-header program March 22.
The feature of the bill, staged for the benefit of the Shriners hospital or crippled children, will be the annual East-West all-star contest.
Rio Grande will meet an opponent, not yet selected, in the opening half of the twin bill.
First baseman Walt Dropo of the Detroit Tigers signed his 1954 baseball contract yesterday.
HUSTLIN' HEITHOLT—Bill Heitholt, 6-3 junior guard from Quincy, Ill., will start his second game of the year tonight when Kansas meets Kansas State in Hoch auditorium.
Blind Wrestler Leads Spartans
East Lansing, Mich.—(U.R.)-A blind wrestler who has broken even in his college bouts so far probably will turn into the "handyman" for the Michigan State college team.
Although he weighs only 157 pounds, Lennox posted a 5-0 victory Jan. 30 over Ohio State's captain 177-pound Don Whittacre, for the only defeat suffered by the Buckeye standout in four matches this season.
The sightless grappler is Ted Lennox, a 20-year-old psychology student who became a versatile competitor on Coach Fendley Collin's Spartan squad despite his handicap.
Collins said Lennox, who asks no quarter because he is blind, is willing to wrestle in any of four classes, from 157 pounds to heavyweight.
Lennox lost Jan. 18 to Iowa's Ken Leuer, also in the 177-class class, but Leuer has been undefeated this year and rated a top challenger for the Big Ten title.
"We'll use him as a handyman this year, but next season he should be our key man in the 157-pound class," Collins said. At present, Michigan State's 157-pound division is adequately staffed in the person of Bob Hoke, Big Ten champion last year, and thus Lennox must take an understudy role in that class this season.
"So long as he maintains contact, he's not aware of his handicap," Collins says. "Once contact is broken, he must depend on sound to seek his opponent."
Wednesday, Feb. 17, 1954 University Daily Kansan
Lennox started wrestling at the Michigan School for the Blind in his home-town of Lansing and decided to become Michigan State's first totally blind athlete when he enrolled at the Spartan school two years ago.
"All we ask is that the referee cooperate in keeping the crowd quiet until contact is made."
New York—(U.P.)-Flashy F a n k n K Selvy, Furman's one-man point machine, added three more all-time basketball scoring records to his collection today to give him a grand total of 18 national marks.
- The 6-3 Furman senior, who can hook 'em, pop 'em, and lay 'em up, on another spree last night with 57 points in leading his team in a fantastic 123-102 victory over Wofferd at Greenville, S.C. That gave him these all-new time records:
Selvy Breaks Scoring Record
1. A new single-season major college record of 925 points, smashing the old mark of 884 set last year by pint-sized Johnny O'Brien of Seattle.
2. A major college mark of 320 field goals in a season, breaking the record of 315 held by gigantic Clyde Lovellette of Kansas.
3. A career total of 825 field goals, breaking the mark of 808 held by Chet Giermak of William and Mary. Giermak compiled his total in four seasons, while Selvy still has five games to go to complete three varsity seasons.
Two more all-time records now are within his reach: the three-year all-college (major and small) record of 838 field goals held by O'Brien and the four year all-college record of 859 field goals held by Nate DeLong of River Falls, Wis. But it now appears that O'Brien's all-college career record of 2,357 is beyond Selvy, unless Furman gets into a post-season tournament and gives Selvy more games to play before he's finished. Right now Selvy has 2,254.
New York — (U.P.)— Little Joey Barthel, the fast-moving "Luxembourg Express," admitted today he was running out of steam.
The 'Luxemborg Express' Won't Run Until Spring
"Next Saturday's mile race in the National AAU championships will be my last of the indoor season," said Barthel, who recorded his fifth straight conquest of his U.S. tour by winning the Baxter Mile in 4:08.5 at Madison Square Garden Saturday night.
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"I'm pretty tired and I'm breathing more heavily lately," he added. "I've been working pretty hard at my studies at Harvard university and that takes a lot out of me."
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Barthel, who will return to Harvard, said he would be interested in meeting Australian ace John Landy and Wes Santee of the University of Kansas in an outdoor mile competition sometime this summer.
Santee, America's fastest miler in history, proved he's in shape to challenge anyone when on Saturday night at the Michigan State Relays at East Lansing. Mich., he was unofficially clocked in 4:02.6 for the one-mile anchor leg on a medley relay. He then came back to set a new indoor record of 4:04.9 Monday night.
Despite his impressive 15-yard triumph in the Baxter Mile, Barthel was forced to take a back seat to FBI-man Horse Ashenfelter, who set a new world indoor two-mile record of 8:50.5 with the cooperation of Fred Wilt, the old recordholder.
Wilt stationed himself alongside the track for the two-mile event and signalled Ashenfelter as to whether or not he was maintaining a record pace.
K-State Announces Baseball Schedule
Manhattan—(U)P.) A 20-g a m e schedule for Kansas State college's baseball team, including contests with three non-conference opponents, was announced today by athletic director Larry "Moon" Mullins.
STORE HOURS TOMORROW — 9 A.M. TO 9 P.M.