April 15, 1957 Table Of Contents
Coming Events
COMING EVENTS April 12 through April 21
Jimmy Jemail's Hotbox
By Jimmy Jemail
Doug Ford And The Masters
TWO SHOTS THAT WON THE MASTERS
'No good at playing it safe' and covering the course like a man in a hurry, Doug Ford shot a last-round 66 to rescue the Masters from galling inconclusiveness
His smashing victory in Detroit brought a sense of order to the light heavyweight division—and a promise of excitement to come
JIM BREWER, 18: HIGH ON A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION
At an age when Cornelius Warmerdam and the Rev. Bob Richards were under 13 feet, Brewer pushes 15
Events & Discoveries
BASEBALL: A MILLION MANAGERS, NEW RULES AND OLD FAVORITES AT AUGUSTA, THE BLUE AND THE GRAY, THE TEE AND THE GREEN, BULLS AND BOX OFFICE IN MEXICO
A special message from THE PRESIDENT of THE UNITED STATES
He is a man of a thousand moods and sides, but with one universal quality: a deep knowledge of his game
Scouting Reports
American League
Seven times in the past eight years the Yankees have won the pennant; in '56 they could have started to print their World Series tickets in July. Yet Casey Stengel now comes up with a ball club he says is better than any of the others. Unless you are a Yankee fan, it looks like a long season ahead
The Indians have been in a second-place rut for five of the past six years. Although most major league cities would happily settle for much less, in Cleveland the frustration of always being the runner-up has come to a head. A new manager has been added, but once again it looks like second best
For five straight years the Sox have finished third. Now they have a new manager and some promising rookies but all else is the same: with one hand they must claw their way up toward the Yankees and Indians, with the other hold off the Tigers and Red Sox from below. That's asking too much of two hands
The Boston Red Sox are New England's pride and despair. Annually hope rises that this year the Sox will finally unseat those top-dog New York Yankees, and annually there is frustration. But, even so, hope rides high again on such as Ted Williams, Jim Piersail, Tom Brewer and a dozen bright young men
This is the team they said last winter might shake up the Yankees—but that was last winter and now no one is quite so sure. The Tigers are good, only there aren't enough of them; where Casey Stengel experiments to find out which player is best, Jack Tighe must experiment to find a player good enough
The Baltimore Orioles have improved steadily in their three seasons in the American League. There has been a continuous flow of ballplayers, coming and going, as Manager Paul Richards has tried to field a winning club. This year the team has a more permanent look, but there is still a lot to be done
The Senators finished seventh a year ago which, on the record, may have been an even greater miracle than the pennant triumphs of the 1914 Braves and the 1951 Giants. They had the worst fielding in the league and by far the worst pitching. Only a couple of big sluggers saved them from the bottom
This will be Kansas City's third season in the major leagues. The first year was one grand party: a lively, eager team fought for victories all year long. But last season was quite different: the team was listless, as well as bad, and finished a dull, dreary last. Kansas City fans expect something a good deal better in 1957
National League
The old, old Dodgers have been the class team of the National League for a decade. Cracks have appeared in their armor, but it is fondly hoped in Brooklyn (and Los Angeles) that bright young players will fill such gaps. In the most unlikely event that they do there'll be yet another Yankee-Dodger World Series
Now it is next year. With a superb pitching staff built around the great trio of Spahn, Burdette and Buhl, and boasting some of the league's best ballplayers in Aaron, Mathews, Adcock and Logan, the Braves are prepared to make a strong bid for the pennant they missed by the narrowest of margins last September
The personable, colorful, lively Redlegs are the most popular ball club in the National League. Last season strong hitting, brilliant fielding, shrewd managing and an astute front office combined to lift them to third place after 11 dismal years buried in the second division. Now they have their eyes on the pennant
Improved by trades and boasting one of the most impressive starting lineups in the league, the Cardinals are hungry for a pennant. Yet the bench is weak, their pitching can hardly equal the Dodgers or Braves, and the Redlegs have more power. It may be a long, tough climb from fourth place first
It's seven years now since the youthful Philadelphia "Whiz Kids" stole the National League pennant. They have grown old in the interval, and none too gracefully at that. A slowly dwindling band of truly topflight players has heretofore saved the club from utter disgrace, but who knows if they can do it again
The Giants looked better toward the end of 1956, moving from the cellar to sixth in the last five weeks of the season. Then the armed forces took regulars Jackie Brandt and Bill White, and regular Catcher Bill Sarni had a heart attack during spring training. Yet despite all the team still shows plenty of spirit
Last year the Pirates spent nine glorious and dizzy days atop the National League. This, however, was in June, and at season's end they were seventh. They may not spend even one day in first place in '57, but the Pirates are a young ball club on the way up and they aren't going to finish seventh either
After 10 years of bitter frustration in the depths of the second division, Owner Phil Wrigley swept the club clean during the winter and reorganized from front office down. Despite this broom treatment of last year's cellar team, the Cubs' tenure in the bleak second division is assured for another year
Sport In Art
Fame Is For Winners
A PREJUDICED BASEBALL FAN ARGUES FOR RESTRICTING THE HALL OF FAME TO PLAYERS WHO WON AND LAYING TO REST THE COBB SYNDROME
By James Murray
With one eye looking ahead to the glories of the 1957 season and the other searching back into the past of the fine arts, Joe Kaufman discovers some startling kinships—and some mutual problems
For a ballplayer's wife, life is as exciting as her husband's last hit, as miserable as his last error
Figuring It Out
The 1956 season under the X-ray
Fisherman's Calendar
By Thomas H. Lineaweaver
Acknowledgments
19th Hole: The Readers Take Over
19th HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER