BASEBALL
As your correspondent shyly hinted in the May issue of this family journal, the baseball team looked pretty good on paper this year. But most of the heroes have remained in that somewhat nebulous state which, whatever else it does, fails to win games. The team is currently in next-tolast place, with a record of 3 won and 7 lost. The pitchers have worked out about as expected, with two or three capable operatives who, although no Bobby Fellers, nevertheless could win their share of contests if bolstered by a little heavy work with the willow. That work has failed to materialize and the fortunes of the team have waned correspondingly. In the first Penn game, we made four hits; in the first Yale game we made eight (which is practically par for the course); in the second Penn game we made five hits; against Princeton we piled up six; against Yale at Green Key we made four; and in the Cornell double-header we made six and five hits respectively. See what I mean?
During these depressing sessions with the hickory, the pitchers have been doing adequately;" if not brilliantly. The opposition has been averaging eight or ten blows per session, but they still could have been had with a few timely bingles on our part. Bob Amirault, Will Gray, and Jim Doole have all been serving them up in acceptable fashion, a bit wild at times, perhaps, but still without a great deal to be unhappy about. But in the clutches and almost everyplace else, for that matter —the murderous array of alleged sluggers in the lineup have been unable to deliver. In consequence, the team is currently last in League batting.
This column will not provide a play-byplay report of these unhappy goings-on. We would, however, like to enter one large exception to the uninspiring (but, so help us, true) generalizations advanced above. That exception centers about the solid figure of Captain Art Young, catcher and captain of the team and chief sparkplug and pepper-upper of the organization. As a guard on Coach McLaughry's eleven last fall, Art was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise somewhat drab picture. He is playing the same energetic role this spring, both with his inspiring leadership and his pragmatic performances with the willow. The faithful little group of clients who have sat along the third base line for more seasons than we (and probably they) care to remember have been really brought to their feet only once to date this season. That was during the Yale game when, with three mates on base, Captain Art Young stepped up and belted a triple to deep left field. The sight of the 200 pound Art charging around the bases and sliding into third with all the finesse (but also all the power) of a Sherman tank was practically enough for the whole season. A few minutes later, he participated in a perfect squeeze play (following his second hit of the day: half of the Dartmouth total) to score what might have been the winning run. We almost won that one. And nobody could say that Art wasn't trying.
The following week, we really did win one, much to everybody's satisfaction. Journeying down to Cambridge to play off a regularly scheduled game plus one postponed previously in Hanover, Coach Jeremiah's charges soundly trounced the Can tabs by the score of 5-1 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jim Doole turned in the best performance of the season to date for an Indian pitcher, holding the Harvards to a meager three hits while his mates were amassing the (to them) impressive total of seven blows off a couple of Harvard twirlers. The second game of the twin bill was not so auspicious for the Green, with little Bill Callagy making his first start of the year and also absorbing his first defeat by the score of 6-5. The winning Harvard run came in the last half of the seventh (both games were seven innings) and was ushered in by a wild pitch on the part of the said Mr. Callagy. The Green had previously fashioned five runs in a couple of big innings and had the score nicely tied up when the unhappy pitcher threw one into the dust.
On Saturday, May 17, the team split a twin bill with Cornell, who currently occupies the League cellar, just below the erratic Indians. With a large contingent of visiting class and club officers (in town for their annual fiesta) basking in the sun, the Green edged out the men from far above a certain highly publicized body of water by a score of 5-4 in the opener. Will Gray was on the mound for the Indians and, despite a total of ten hits for Cornell (against six as aforementioned for Dartmouth), managed to last out the victory. The second game saw the visitors lose no time in touching the offerings of Ingram, Dartmouth freshman hurler, who retired in the third inning in favor of Bob Amirault, who was not noticeably more successful. A big fourth inning sewed up the game for Cornell. Both games were notable for their erratic fielding on the part of the Green and for the rugged hitting of Captain Art Young, who belted the ball at a .500 clip for the two contests.
UNDERGRADUATE COACH GIVES HIS CHARGES A FEW POINTERS: For the first time in many years an undergraduate is coaching an organized sport at Dartmouth. Charles L. (Chuck) Sweeney '48, center. New York Yankee farmhand, has been guiding the fortunes of the freshman baseball team. Upon his graduation this month he will join the Kansas City team. Left, Bill West '50 and Bill Abernathy '50, right.
DIAMOND LEADER: Art Young '47, star Big Green lineman on last fall's football team, captains the current baseball team from the catchers' position.
AS THE BIG GREEN CONTINUED UNDEFEATED IN LACROSSE LEAGUE PLAY: Bobby Merriam (No. 1), Alt-American attack man, outraces two Tufts men for the ball, as Dartmouth swamped the visitors last month, 2T-2. Between halves of the game, Merriam became the first recipient of a cup donated by Jack Dempsey to be awarded to the most outstanding Dartmouth athlete of the year. He is a 3-sport man.
