Basebail’s brightest stars

Players of the Decade to

be selected by experts |

By LESTER RODNEY

NEW YORK

Baseball fans will have another interesting award to argue over, thanks to Bob

Feller.

The veteran Cleveland Indians pitching star has suggested that, after all, a Most

Valuable Player award is for one season only,. how about honoring consistent stardom
with a “Player of the Decade’’ pick?

The idea found a willing ear in aed ng News, the weekly baseball “‘bible,’

says it will set up such a citation
at once, and start the process of
picking the game’s outstanding

player for the 10 postwar seasons |.

of 1946 to 1955. Polled will be
all players, umpires, sports writ-
ers and broadcasters who have
seen them all in these 10 years.

As one of those who saw them
all, and expects to get a ballot,
I have a tentative list, though the
final determination will have to
wait till I can pore over the re-
cords. Not that you decide some-
thing like this on cold figures,
‘which ignore factors like defen-
sive range and other non-statis-
tical qualities and coming through
when it is most important, but
the records are definitely a part
of the selection process.

+ 7 *

In my own mind I have already
narrowed it down to six players,
who I will give in alphabetical
order so as not to appear to be
giving premature preference. The
six:

Yogi Berra, N.Y. Yankees.

Roy Campanella, Brooklyn.

Stan Musial, St. Louis.

Robin Roberts, Philadelphia.

Jackie Rebinson, Brooklyn.

Ted Williams, Boston.

It should be understood that
some who had spectacular seas-
ons, or a few such seasons were
eliminated by lack of reasonable
consistency over the 10-year peri-

Helen upset
over her loss

Helen Stewart, back home after
placing second in the 100-yard
freestyle event of the U.S.
Amateur Athletic Union’s indoor
championships, is still mad at
herself for not finishing first.

The 17-year-old. Vancouver
swimming star led for 75 yards,
thought she had the event in the
bag, and eased up slightly at the
end to be nipped by a hand.-

“My own fault,” she said rue-
fully this week. “I should have
remembered my coach’s advice
that you've got to give every-
thing you have all the way.”

Other Canadians aren't
downcast. Helen Stewart‘s fine
showing raises hopes that she
may bring back a medal from
Melbourne.

Miss Stewart holds 24 Canadian
marks as well as two U.S. titles.

YOGI BERRA

so"

’ which

TED WILLIAMS

od. Also, if I understood the
idea of the award, which has
just been announced and not spell-
ed out in great detail, I would
have to rule out such super-stars

as Joe DiMaggio, who left the,

game before the 10 years were
up, and Feller himself, who has
started to hit the skids, though
Joe is already in the Hall of
Fame and Bob will get there.

The six named above have

formidable credentials. Just
chatting offhand, without sta-
tistics and such, the first two
named, Berra and Campanella,
have been far and away the
best catchers in their league,
the bulwarks of their clubs,
which have dominated the two

leagues in the decade. ’

Each has won the Most Valu-
able Player award three times,
an unprecedented achievement.
Both have been solid and destruc-
tive hitters as well as splendid
mittmen, Campanella having es-
tablished himself as the hardest
hitting catcher ever, with the
most home runs and the only one
to ever lead- one of the major
leagues in runs batted in.

As a formidable candidate for
greatest catcher of all time, Cam-

JACKIE ROBINSON

Giant fans).

panella would have the edge over
Berra as between these two for
player of the decade, except for
the sub-par season of 1954 when
an injured hand found his bat-
ting average diving.

* * x

Musial hardly needs any intro-
duction to fans (especially rue-
ful Brooklyn and New York
His consistent hit-
ting well above .300, with extra
base power, puts him in a special
category, and he is a fine, grace-
ful fielder with good team spirit.

*Mr. Roberts” is the hard work-
ing (overworked the past three
years) pitching ace who can’t be
denied his 20 or better victories
a year and went as high as 28 in
52. He has splendid credentials
even though his team only won
the pennant once.

Robinson rates a_ topflight
nomination on the record alone,
without even considering his
magnificent pioneering role as
a Negro player and spark plug
fighting qualities, the “intang-
ibles” which must be weighed
along with the records. Fleet
footed, versatile, and clutch per-
former, he was Rookie of the
Year, batting champion and
Most Valuable in this decade.

‘Williams, the master batsman
of his era, must be considered
even though he lost two seasons
of the decade at his prime when
drafted for the Korean War. That
shouldn’t be held against his
chances of winning an award.
What might weigh in an all-
round evaluation, however, would
be his just adequate fielding.
ak * *

Meanwhile, since the idea has
been launched,
anything to wonder if the win-
ner of the NEXT decade’s award,
this season through 1966,
ready well known. /

Since it will take 10 years to
prove me wrong, I might as well
make my guess right now: Ernie
Banks of the Chicago Cubs.

But look at the oncoming
young talent with which the hom-
er-hitting shortstop will have to
contend — Willie Mays, Al Kal-
ine, Mickey Mantle, Herb Score,
Hank Aaron, and who knows,
Bob Turley, Ed Mathews, Bill
Skowron, Bill Virdon, Ray Mon-
zant, Sandy Koufax, Charley
Neal, Frank Robinson... .

What’s that, you never heard
of the last named? He’s a 20-
year-old rookie with Cincinnati
who can HIT. Mark the name.

i

STAN MUSIAL

*
es
a

it doesn’t cost

is al-| +
‘year that some folks claim they

d by Jean

Beliveau (above), the Richard brothers and

“Horatio” Harvey, Montreal Canadians whipped Detroit
Red Wings last week to bring the Stanley Cup, emblem of

hockey supremacy, back to Canada.

With Les Canadiens

‘growing stronger each year the battered old mug should stay
in Montreal for several seasons to come.

Gert Whyte s

SPORTLIGHT

INCE I wrote that Bridie
S Murphy column last week,
describing my experiences as as
Arabian stallion three centuries
ago, the jokesters have been at
my heels,

For instance, I drop into Car-
nel’s for a milk shake and the
proprietress wanted to konw if
I’d like a bale of hay as a side

order.

Hmmmm,

& * *

Les Canadiens, always the

idols of Montrealers, won plaud-
its from all Canada last week by
copping the Stanley Cup from
Detroit Red Wings.
Canadiens were so good this

should be ‘broken up” as the
fabulous Yankees were some
years back. But how are you
going to “break up’ a guy like
Jean Beliveau?

With players like Beliveau
and Pocket Richard still on the
upgrade, and veterans like Rock-
et Richard still hitting on all
cylinders, and more talented
youngsters available from a fine
farm system, it looks as though
Lord Stanley’s basin will re-
main in Montreal for the next
few seasons, at least.

* x *

Remember why they put back
the Vancouver Mounties’ open-
ing games here? Weather too
uncertain, the baseball moguls
said. So what happened? Two
games in California were rain-
ed out, while we enjoyed glori-
ous sunshine.

For a brief 24 hours Mounties
remained in a tie for top spot
in the league. Then the pitching

fell apart.

Our “Canadian” ehaianiere in
the Pacific Coast Baseball
League (American-owned and
consisting of U.S. and Mexican
players) will do well to finish
in the first division.

Unless Lefty O’Doul rounds
up some experienced hurlers the
Mounties could end up in the
cellar. ¢
* * aS

Big noises in the sports pages
about the new prospects signed
up by B.C. Lions, who failed to

roar in ’54 and didn’t jive in ’55.

Just take a look at the names |
of the new hopefuls. Ever hear
of them before? ’

Lions have: a fat bankroll.
Fans .won’t be in a forgiving
mood if they fail to click in ’56.

* x *

Doug Hepburn, poet, singer
and weightlifter, is opening 2
“health studio” on Commercial
Drive. Anyone here for mus-
cles?

x * k

Inter-high Track and Field
championships will be held at

Empire Stadium, May 25. Eli-

minations start there May 10 and
continue May 11, 14, 15 and 16.

I've made a point of going
out to watch these developing
young thinclads perform each
year, and have always been
amazed that so few sports fans
turn out to watch the young-
sters.

This, it is well to remember, is -
where Olympic contenders begin
their athletic careers.

* * *

With the Olympic Games in
Melbourne just seven months
away, less than half our quota
has been raised at this late date.

George Barit comments in the
Canadian Tribune:

“As a Canadian, I’m ashamed
of the fact that the St, Laurent
government has still done very
little to pay for all the goodwill
our athletes collect whenever
they compete in international
meets.

“Out of an estimated $175, 000
that it will cost to send only
60 athletes to Australia, there’s
still’ $100,000 to come. It’s bad
enough for a country like Cana-
da to send such a small team. It
would be a national disgrace if
some of the athletes had to be
dropped for lack of funds.

“Our Olympic brass doesn’t
seem to have the nerve to de-
mand that Ottawa pay the whole
shot.,They’re mainly concerne
with private donations. But fel-
lows, this isn’t a charity case-
Just imagine the fuss that would
have been made if Mike Pearso? —
had canvassed house-to-house ©
for his fare to Moscow.”

APRIL 20, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 10