Around The
Clock
- With Duke
By Duke Dennison
The baseball circuits are going
in for a lot of action according
to the big boys who see all and
know all.
The Yankees aren’t letting
any grass grow under their
feet. They’ve added four new
scouts to their roster: Jimmy
Hamilton, who will handle the
South; Tom Greenvvade, the
Missouri Valley; Joe McDer
mott, the Northwest; and
Dutch Lorbeer. The necessity
for these additions is found in
the 14 farms that the Yanks
are maintaining.
Y'anks Eye Flag
The boys are eyeing the pen
nant, and have a better than even
chance, unless Marse Joe Mc
• Carthy decides to jump the team
—in mid-season and Joe DiMaggio
lets his ulcers and family diffi
culties get the best of him. If you
can recall, he was having quite
a bad time of it the season before
he entered the service, encounter
ing tiie enmity of the fans time
and time again.
Marius Russo is definitely an
unknown factor at the moment,
having undergone an operation for
a chipped left elbow, the stitches
of which were recently removed.
He incurred the injury while in
the service.
Portsiders Join
Tommy Byrne, who had a hot
season with Newark in '42, and
who won 2 and lost 1 for the
Yankees in ’43, and Jake Wade,
veteran leftwinger, are a couple of
welcome portsiders who have just
gotten out of the service. These
two will prove of great value to
the Bronx Bombers, their lefties
being on the short side with Russo
ailing, Byrne is felt to be the boy
to replace old Lefty Gomez as top
man.
And, Mr. Reed, never let it
be said that I doubted for one
moment the potentiality of our
mutual friend, Charley Keller.
If you have ever seen Charley
in action over the span of a
year, you would have noted
some very pertinent facts.
Doesn’t Chase
Have you ever seen Charley
chase down a hard hit fly? No,
you haven’t. Neither have I, and
neither have some 100,000 Yankee
fans.
Have you ever seen Charley
on the paths ? That’s what you
would call the buggy looking
for the horse. I’ll grant you
that the Killer hits a long hard
”^*vball; but only off the curve
ballers and mediocre fast-ball
hurlers. Knucklers have him
crying Uncle. Feller and com
pany call him cousin Charley.
I say, let’s all dance.
Keller is a better than average
team player. He tries like mad—
sometimes too hard. DiMaggio
made many a catch when seem
ingly backing Keller up, and its
pretty hard on Joe, cause he likes
to get his licks in when he has
all of his steam.
Now, we’ll take that wild
blue yonder that you men
tioned. Many a day, along with
a mediocre writer by the name
of Considine, did this Rebel
gaze askance at the uncertain
ty of what was actually hap
pening at Yankee Stadium in
the Bronx. You had better
change your sports listings,
w . The Hearst papers in .their
daily “Murder” can brown off
with the same amount of
gusto. So it goes.
HANDBALL
4:00 Phi Delta Theta vs. Beta
Theta Pi
DUCKLING PROVES WORTH
Dependable, clever floor man, sharpshooter—all are attributes
praising the work of freshman forward Marv Rasmussen, 6-foot,
3-inch returned veteran who is slanting toward a top rating on
the 1946 varsity basketball quintet of Coach “Hobby" Hobson.
Du/te, Here ’s Your Reply:
King Kong Still the Man
By Bob Reed
A wide variety of opinions seem
to have arisen over my story about
Keller, but I still think “King
Kong” rates the top position over
both DiMaggio and Williams and
I have three very good reasons
to back this statement up.
Of course, I will admit that
every fan has his own opinion;
one fellow wants a player who
is a great percentage batter,
and the other wants a man
who can win ball games and it
is in this category that Keller
rates tops.
Pointed Query
First, I have a little question
to ask my good colleague Mr. Duke
Dennison. Duke, “Where do you
get your dope on which to base
your own opinions.” Not out of
the blue sky I hope.
Back to Keller and my num
ber one reason regards win
ning ball games for* a team.
Deadpan statistics are worth
less or misleading signposts
in a ball player’s career unless
the figures are translated into
winning games—big money
games.
Here my boy Keller goes to the
head of the class with no chal
lengers in sight, including
Williams. Pitchers really fear
Keller more than any other batter
when the pressure is beginning to
press hard.
Keller’s Average
My second point has to do with
Keller’s batting average. Sure he
is no .300 hitter, but he could be
if he wanted to. Instead he goes
in for long hits that will win ball
games for the Yanks.
Keller is strictly a team
man, and that is a definite ad
vantage that he has over
Williams. It is a known fact
in major circles that Keller
hits a ball farther than any
other player in the league to
day when he gets all power
behind it.
The third and last reason brings
us to compare fielding averages
over the two players’ respective
years in the majors. After five
years with the Yankees Charlie
has accumulated a total fielding
percentage of .979 as compared
with a four year record compiled
by Williams of .964.
Can’t Go Wrong
If a club manager wants a
player who will give the team that
extra punch needed to win ball
games, he cannot go wrong with
Killer Keller. In fact, Keller was
one of the big reasons why the
Yanks won four pennants from the
’39 season through ’43.
Enough for Keller or
Williams; I think a lot of
people are wondering who will
win the major league flags in
the coming season, therefore,
my next columns will deal
with the relative strengths of
each team and then I will stick
my neck out and pick the
Duck Morale At Peak
For Husky Five Visit
Topsy-Turvey Division Tangle
Readies Webfoots for Surge
By FRED BECKWITH
Brimming with confidence, the varsity basketballers went
through a heavy workout yesterday afternoon in preparation
for the weekend series with the University of Washington
Huskies. The Ducks were grateful to the Washington State
Cougars for their second night defeat of the Oregon State
Beavers. The already topsy-turvy Northern division race just
got a little more tangled up as a result of the Cougar victory.
morale iugn
For perhaps the first time this ^
season, the morale of the locals
Is exceptionally high. The Wash
ington series demonstrated the
fact that the Ducks could hold
their own with the best in the
loop. The gradual return to form
of Captain Bob Hamilton and the
remarkable performance of Dick
Wilkins lately have been big fac
tors in this new rejuvenation.
Ccach Hobson is, at the
present moment, undecided
about his starting lineup for
the Husky series. He may re
peat his Saturday night ex
periment of using Hamilton in
the opening combo; he may
decide to play Berg and
Williamson for the greater
portion of the contests.
The Huskies bring with them a
crew of sharpshooters, and on the
basis of previous contests between
the two teams, it would appear
that the Seattle scrappers enjoy
a slight edge where reserve
strength is concerned. The Huskies’
Jorgensen, always an Oregon
nemesis, will be close at hand on
the bench, and ready to answer the
call of Coach Hec Edmundson
when and if the going is rough
for the league-leaders.
nusny-Deaver i\ext
After winding up their series
with "Oregon, Washington moves
on to Corvallis for a two game
series with the Orangemen. Should
Washington annex three out of the
four games on their current barn
storming trip, they would be in a
favorable position to waltz away
with the championship laurels. On
paper, it does not seem likely that
the Huskies will be able to per
form such a trick, and they may
be lucky to grab an even break
out of the two contests here and
the pair of games at Corvallis.
Stan “Salmon” Willimson,
the varsity’s leading scorer in
Northern division competition,
will be out to fatten his point
average. Dick Wilkins, the na
tion’s number six scorer last
year, is coming with a rush,
and may yet surpass the ef
forts of the diminutive
Williamson. Ken Hays’ stand
out performance in the recent
Washington series, indicates
that he, too, may .be one of
the standout performers in the
court clashes Friday and
Saturday nights.
Graduate manager of athletics
Anse Cornell is anticipating
another record crowd, and the fact
that the scheduled games coincide
with the appearance of “Dads” on
the campus, adds up to a large at
tendance.
SPORTS STAFF THIS ISSUE
Co-sports editors:
Leonard Turnbull
Fred Beckwith
Staff W’riters:
Carl Cluff
A1 Cohen
Duke Dennison
Bob Reed
Lynn Smith
Audrey Kullberg
position each team will finish
in. This task will be a wild
goose chase, but it will be fun
at any rate.
Position Race
Tightening Up
The race for first place honors
in the Northern division of the
Pacific Coast conference is tight
ening up with the force of a vise,
as tabulations show the leading
University of Washington quintet
a scant game-and-a-half ahead of
the fourth place Webfoots.
Washington State, bolstered by
the return of Gail Bishop, are
making bids for top rings on the
ladder in an effort to relinquish
their role as cellar dwellers.
Northern division standings:
W L Pet. Pts. Opp.
Washington . 5 3 .625 395 371
Oregon S.5 4 .555 414 411
Idaho .5 4 .555 419 415
Oregon .3 4 .428 336 365
Wash. State . 2 5 .286 301 302
Mermen Trim Time
For Beaver Splash
Mermen of Coach Vaughn Corley
are stepping up their stroking pace
in daily workouts at the men’s
pool in preparation for a return
meet with Oregon State at Cor
vallis, February 8.
Driving Huskies downed the
splashing Webfoots last weekend
in a nine-event meet that saw the
Seattle visitors take first place
honors in all races. Impressive
times were clocked in all the
events.
Coach Corley is presently work
ing the aquamen on endurance.
This factor more than any other
beat the Webfoots in the Wash
ington meet, as Ducks tired and
fell behind the leading Huskies in
all races.
In the first meet with Oregon
State paddlers Ducks had little
trouble in downing the paddlers.
Since this meet the Beaver mer
men have been stressing condition
and speed and a much closer meet
is slated for the Ducks on the Cor
vallis visit.
—e.
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