BASEBALL
Spring Clubs, On Verge of Launching Their Schedules, Seem Capable of Ringing Up a Goodly Number of Wins
WE LOOK PRETTY GOOD THIS YEAR remarked the Sage of the Ozarks in a copyrighted interview just before this column went to press. "In fact," he mused, "we look better this year than we have for the past three or four. We have some fellows back from the service, you know, and then we got outside earlier this spring than ever before. That's helped us. The hitters still are a little behind, but we'll be ready to go Saturday (against the Army at West Point).", So saying, genial Jeff Tesreau ambled off toward the dug- out, where he has been holding forth for some 28 years in the same stand.
The exigencies of magazine publication, it should be added at this point, are such that this report, like its predecessor last month, is limited to prognostications. None of the spring seasons has actually opened yet, with the last week in April the earliest anyone dares schedule any athletic event involving Dartmouth performers, whether here or out of town. So if you want to know what has happened, as contrasted to what may happen, you can stop right here and wait another month. If you want to hear the personnel and general prospects of the spring teams, bear with us.
The team tentatively picked to open the baseball season against the Army on April go is (with several optional choices) as follows: Behind the plate, either Don Evans (Navy and the alternate catcher last year) or Charlie Cashin, who returned from the wars in time to play a little hockey this last semester and get in shape for the baseball season. The probable starting pitcher is Jim Doole '45, also just returned, or Bob Grunditz '45 ditto. Other hurlers making the trip are Bob Amirault, a freshman, Phil Brown '45, and E. F. Grell '49. At first base will be either a newcomer named Durham or Marine A 1 Gould, the firststring end on last fall's eleven. Two veterans of last year's nine are battling for the starting position at the keystone sack. They are Charlie Cooper (Navy) and Bob Shallow (Marine). The other side of the infield is pretty well settled, with a sensational freshman named Stockwell at short and the veteran Walt Snickenberger (a Hanover boy who made good in the big time) back from the Marines to play a last season of baseball at third. Walt played a regular infield position two years ago, before he went on to get his commission with the Marines.
The outfield will be peopled entirely by veteran ball players, some from last year's team and others from Dartmouth teams of prewar and early war vintage. The five outfielders making the Army trip (whose ultimate starting line-up will depend upon the latter's choice of pitchers) are Roy Duke '45, Bill Carey '45, Dave Barr (former Marine and now a '48 civilian), Tom Killick '47, and Dick Hyman '49. Incidentally, the classes given in this preview are for the most part the original entering class of the man concerned and bear little, if any, relationship to the year in which they will ultimately graduate.
That is the baseball situation at the moment. From what Jeff, in his cautious way, has intimated, the current aggregation wields considerably more potential power with the willow than the hitless wonders of last spring and summer, whose power at the plate was something less than atomic. We could use big Hal Swanson back on the mound this year, but a couple of the pitchers are alleged to have considerable class. The group is considerably older and presumably more seasoned than the junior aggregation that performed a year ago. Beyond that, we can merely wait and see.
