The Key West Citizen Newspaper, December 31, 1952, Page 6

1 Havana Cuban Manager Protests Use Of Over-Age Players BY OSCAR MILIAN An estimated crowd of 500 base- ball fans who had turned out to see the second contest of a five game international baseball series be- tween the Havana juvenile cham- pions and a picked Key West team at the Wickers Field Stadium last night walked away--some disap- t “Over-Age” Baseballers pointed; others angry and all of|_ them puzzled. The game was called off; the series was cancelled and the spec- tators sat wide-eyed wondering what was happening. Keller Watson could be seen walking across the field from the Key West dugout to the Cuban bench--one conference followed another and Julio Cabanas, who was partly responsible for ar- ftanging the international series, ealled to Eduardo Valdez, mai ger and director of the Havana ¢lub and asked him to line up all of the players along the first base line, and this was prompt- ly done, The spectators thought they were going to be photo- phed by the Citizen photo- grapher who was present. ’ But this was not the case and the fans saw something new in baseball. What was the reason for it? Cabanas had asked Wat- son fo line his players up along the third base line so that he could compare them in size with the Cubans--to prove that some of the local players were larger than the visitors although the difference in ages couldn't have been more than two months. It didn’t matter at the time---the big question was the size of the kid. &. manager Valdez walked away from the line with his boys, “no bajo de ningun concepto juego esta menos que no me quiten esos muchachos mayor de 14 anos” meaning that he would under no cireustances play the series until the kids over 14 years of age were removed from the lineup. Those passing the age limit of 14 were: pitcher Jerry Pita, 15; shortstop Julio Santana, 15; first baseman Leeburg Knowles, 15 and center fielder Tony Herce, 15. In pointing out the ones he want- ed out of the lineup, manager Val- dez made one mistake “ese tam- bien,” he said pointing to catcher Sidney Kerr, Kerr is 13 years old but tall for his age. The whole hassel grew out of a misunderstanding among the principle people behind the affair. City Recreation Director Paul Al- bury was displaying a letter writ- ten by the management of the Ha- vana team dated in November which specifically stated that in selecting a team, the Key West management should not use boys over the age of 14, This letter, Albury said, did not reach him until last night when it was handed to him by the per- son who received it and held it in his possession since early in November. “If L had seen this letter before,” said Mr, Albury, “this would not have happened and we could have made better arrangements, but under the circumstances, it is too late to do anything about it and if Mr. Eduardo Valdez decides to cancel the series because of a dif- ference in ages of from two to six montis, there is nothing I can do about it.” The age limit is 14. The fans, who wanted to see. the ! Citizen Staff Photo THE SEXTET of “veteran” American Legion Junior League baseball players shown above, all of whom are 15 years of age, who were declared ineligible to compete with the Cuban Juvenile Champion baseball team here last night. From the left: (front), Everett Atwell, Jerry Pita, and Julio Santana. (Back row), Tony Herce, George Haskins and Leeburg Knowles, All-Americans To Meet In Bowl Tilt JACKSONVILLE (®#—When two all-American linemen tangle and when two high powered fullbacks match strides, it has the makings of a Jan. 1 bowl game. And that is exactly what it is- Tulsa vs Florica in the Gator Bowl. Tulsa has Marv Matuszak, all- America guard on offense, and Howie Waugh, the national leader in rushing. Florida has Charlie LaPradd, all-America tackle on defense, and Rick Casares, a triple threater- plus with his running, passing, punting and place kicking. The men who set the odds say Florida will win by seven points. Tulsa followers dispute this. They say--and it seems logical--any team which tops the nation in offense as Tulsa did this fall and has such polished perforniers as Waugh, Morris, halfbacks Dick Kercher and Bobby Holladay and a fully experienced, capable offensive line rates better than that. Both Tulsa and Florida were high scoring teams and the expected 30,000 fans look for a flock of touchdowns. The forecast is for fair to partly cloudy weather with temperatures in the 60’s—not hot enough to please Florida and not cool enough to please Tulsa. kids play, sat patiently, some of them for two hours until an agreement would be reached be- tween the two managers in order that the series could be resumed but this was not the case. TV Fans Will See LaMotta Bout In Coral Gables MIAMI, Fla. —Jake LaMotta, the veteran “Bronx Bull,” and Danny Nardico, free - swinging Tampa, Fla., fighter, meet in the Coral Gables coliseum tonight with a light heavyweight title match in prospect for the survivor. Only 3,500 “‘live’” fans are ex- pected, but the fight will be viewed by millions of television watchers on a nationwide network (CBS) starting at 10 p. m. (EST). An Internationa: Boxing Club spokesman said in New York that the winner would be in line for a crack at Archie Moore's light heavyweight crown, although Moore is under contract to make his first defense against Joey Maxim, from whom he wrested the crown Dec. 17. LaMotta, the 31-year-old former middleweight champion who lost that title to Sugar Ray Robinson in 1951, is a 7-5 favorite over Nardico, although he is rated only ninth on the list of light heavy- weight contenders, four places be- hind Nardico. The fight, to be judged by the Point system, will be the first to be televised nationally from Florida. A connection between the Nile and the Red Sea, in effect forming a Suez Canal, existed at several periods in ancient times. ESPIRITO TOPS WIN MARK SET IN 1906 By GENE PLOWDEN MIAMI, Fla. &—The turf world teday hailed a new riding cham- pion in apprentice jockey Tony De- Spirito, who hoped to boost his record of 389 winners for the year still higher in the final program. The dark-eyed, 18-year-old Law- rence, Mass., boy rode four winners After watching that effort, stew- ards told him he had much to learn and couldn’t ride any more for the present. Hs father, Anthony, Sr., to Florida and on Jan. young Tony brought in winner, Again, stewards he wasn’t ready. took him 22, 1952, his first told him a week later cancelled all mounts after “blacking out” twice, com- plaining of severe head pains. Tony moved on to Bowie, Md., jwhere he rode his 364th winner on | Dec. 1. When rains forced the track |to close the following day, De- Spirito packed his tack and drove jto Tropical Park at Miami in seven mounts at Tropical Park} J. H. Carr, his contract employ- |. He rede one winner on the after- Tuesday to better the old mark of 388 set by Walter Miller back in Joe Culmone and Willie Shoe- maker equalled Miller's record in 1950 but few other jockeys have approached it in all racing history. Only eight American jockeys have ridden, more than 300 winners in a year. } DeSpirito, quiet, soft-spoken son | of an unemployed textile worker, | became the darling of race follow- | ers in Jess than 12 full months of | riding. He broke the record with raw ou . acquired skill and grim | mination in spite of i-uck | that followed him most of the way. | Jockeys are permitted to ride two races before applying for a/ license and Tony rede his first | race at Rockingham Park, Salem, | N. H., in the fall of 1951 jockey Bob Wholey of Pittsburgh added additional tutoring. DeSpirito got his license and won | 10 races at Sunshine Park before the track closed and he headed north. Jockey Louis Olah probably | saved Tony’s life at Lincoln Dor R. I, on April 17 when the sa on his mount slipped kept him from being to the track. Tony finished the race without stirrups. He beeame the eig Tider to bring in 300 winn year when he scored at Re ham Park on Oct. 24. He 5 a head injury when throwa his mount at Lincoln Downs on Nov. 14 and missed six days of racing Returning to action on Nov ~” ihe had three winners that day but irace on Kings Quest. jer, gave him some pep talks and |"00" he arrived. Dec. 4, but the }record was still far down the stretch. | He had ridden 370 winners on | Dee. 12 when Tropical Park stew- jards set him down for 10 days j because of a riding foul. To every- one but Tony, that apparently end ord try to break ned } day, Christ- He drew a Friday but r winners at Tropical Monday and s! Neyland On Tap For Cotton Bowl DALLAS (#—The dramatic re- turn to his team of Gen. Bob Ney- land, famed coach of the Tennessee Vols, was the big news along the Cotton Bowl front today. The general, who has been in Florida for his health and is ex- pected to retire soon--maybe to- morrow after Tennessee plays Texas in the Cotton Bowl-came in by plane last night and said he would be with the Vols, although not coaching them, when they bat- tle the Longhorns. Harvey Robinson, the offensive coach who has been acting head coach during Neyland’s illness, will be in ‘charge of the team, the general declared, “‘but I will be in the dressing room and on the bench, available to help.” Observers saw the return of Ney- land as a great boost to the Vols, who will be out to repeat their 1951 Cotton Bowl triumph over a Texas team that was favored that time, too. The Longhorns are one and one-half point choices. Ole Miss In Good Shape Physically NEW ORLEANS (®—Coach John- ny Vaught brings his Mississippi football team and his worries to New Orleans today, only to meet a new concern on the eve of the Rebels’ Sugar Bowl date with Geor- gia Tech. Vaught describes his worries with one word--“Tech”—and his team with four--“in good shape physi- cally.” The weatherman had new wor- ries for both Vaught and Tech Coach Bobby Dodd. he predicted rains tomorrow, but said it was too early to decide whether they would come before, during or after the game. Both Tech and Mississippi planned light workouts today after being forced indoors yesterday by rain. Dodd said Tech would practice longer than it usually did on the eve of a game. “It looks like we'll have a wet field,” he said, “so we want to} work on our kicking game.” | {6:30 p. m. yesterday and Biloxi | sot more than two inches. Boxing Results TUESDAY'S FIGHTS By The Associated Press MIAMI BEACH, Fila Oscar ngham. Ala son, 192, Balti hree that day |™° mas day | j her, resigned last month to 180, Newark, N. J., eutpointed d Lee, 18274, Springfiel a, 1S ANGELES—Ramoa Fuentes 47%, Ls e knoe kee Clifton Lester, 14, Los Angeles, 8. -Key West Baseball Series Ends O Page 6 “THE KEY WEST CITIZEN Wednesday, December 31, 1952 == UTAH Ts — COURT THREAT By ORLO ROBERTSON NEW YORK (#—The two teams which travelled the farthest to com- pete in college holiday basketball tournaments are likely to return home with a major share of the honors. Utah State, the dark horse of eight teams entered in the holiday festival at New York’s Madison Square Garden, came through with the title last night. And at Raleigh, N. C., Brigham ung shot into the finals of the Dixie classic along with North Carolina State, the de- fending champions. The other tournaments produced the following winners: Southwest Conference -- Southern Methodist. Sugar Bowl--Louisiana State. Big Seven--Kansas State. ‘Gator Bowl--Florida. Boston Invitational--Georgetown. Hofstra at Hempstead, N, Y.-- Cortland, N. Y. Teachers. Midwest at Terre Haute, Ind.-- Indiana Central. Meanwhile play in the all-college tourney at Oklahoma City also reached the final stage, where the favored Oklahoma Aggies will op- pose unseeded Idaho tonight. A long one-handed shot in the final second of play by little Bob Harbertson gave Utah State a 59-57 victory over previously unbeaten Manhattan. Before they staged their nip-and-tuck affair, DePaul took third place by edging Miami of Ohio 81-78 and LaSalle, third ranked nationally, romped over New York University 80-63 for con- solation round honors. Dick Knostman was the scoring star of Kansas State’s 93-87 triumph over Kansas. The ace of the na- tion’s No. 1 team tossed in 38 points. Missouri downed Yale 57-55 for third place. Bob Pettit was chiefly respon- sible for the ending of St. Louis’ two-year reign as Sugar Bowl champs as LSU won 70-67. Pettit contributed 28 points. Villanova won the consolation title, defeating St. Bonaventure, 75-66. The Gator Bowl went to Florida by a 73-60 decision over Georgia Teachers and Cortland chalked up its 21st successive win in beating Hofstra 66-58. Third place in the Gator competition went to Georgia Tech with a 71-54 victory over Georgia. Georgetown took the Boston tour- nament by whipping Rhode Island State’s Rams 77-72 after Seattle’s Johnny O’Brien racked up 41 points in the West Coast team’s 99-86 triumph over Boston College in the consolation final. Johnny’s per- formance boosted his new collegi- ate four-year scoring record to 2,687 points. Indiana Central beat Indiana State 77 to 72 in the Midwest Tourney finals. Oklahoma’s Aggies, gunning for their 10th tournament title, elimi- nated defending champion Oklaho- ma City University 75-58 and Idaho disposed of Wyoming, 66-53, in the semi-final bracket at Oklahoma City. Brigham Young’s classy Cougars caught fire in the last half to whip Wake Forest 84-58 in the Dixie semi-finals. North Carolina State, defending champions, had a close call but nosed out Holy Cross 76-74 on two free throws in the last minute by Herb Ap- plebaum. Southern Methodist, the team rated least likely to succeed in the Southwest Conference compe- tition led the favored Rice Owls virtually all the way in winning 71-62. Arkansas beat Baylor, 59-54, for third place. In non-tournament games Minne- sota whipped Michigan State, 64-47; Illinois trampled St. Mary’s of California, 94-65, and Vanderbilt beat Tennessee, 77-69. Lady Golfers Will Vie For Top Prizes MIAMI BEACH, Fla. —Purses totaling more than $100,000 -- the richest ever offered--will be await- ing America’s women golfers when they open their 1953 campaign next month in the Tampa open. Ladies PGA tournament director Fred Corcoran said 25 events have been scheduled for the women next year, four more than in 1952 when prize money reached a new high of $85,000. The Tampa open, oldest fixture on the women’s PGA schedule, will open the winter tour, as usual, Jan. 15-18. Prizes for this event have been hiked from $3,500 to $5,000. Women’s open champion Louise Suggs, Carrollton, Ga., is defending champion. Four other Florida events follow-- the $3,500 Miami Beach Open Feb. 6-8, the $6,000 Orlando Lady-pro Feb. 17-22, the $3,500 Sarasota Open Feb. 27-March 1, and the $3,500 Jacksonville Open March 6-8. The women go from Florida to the Titleholders Tournament at Augusta, Ga., then head westward. This year’s greater purses will offer an opportunity for the girls Santa Clara To Quit Football SANTA CLARA, Calif. —The University of Santa Clara, once a national football power, has quit intercollegiate football because it cost too much Officials of the Jesuit school, New Grleans got 4.46 inches of |last of the Pacific Coast's Catho- | rain in the 24 hours ending at |lic colleges to succumb to the fi- | nancial strain, said the school lost | about $80,000 this season on the | sport and $72,000 in 1951. Santa Clara's president, the Rev. Herman J. Hauck, S. J., said today {the move was made regretfully ;“in deference to the general eco: |nomic welfare of the university.” | The Broncos had scheduled eight | | games for 1953, including Stanford, | Texas, Rice, California, Miami, | | Idaho. San Jose State and Coilege lof the Pacific. | Santa Clara's head coach, Dick | rej the professional Cle nd }Browns as scout. Three assistant icoaches now lose jobs. bas fielded foot- bell teams since 1932, except in| | world wars. It went twice to the (Sugar Be in 1937 and “38. and pset K in Miami's Orange Bowl in 195, } SPORTS MIRROR By The Associated Press TODAY A YEAR AGO — Russia failed to enter an application for the Winter Olympics before the deadline. FIVE YEARS AGO — Chuckin’ Charley Conerly, Mississippi’s ace football passer, won the Helms Foundation award as “Player of the Year.” TEN YEARS AGO — Gil Dodds ran the mile in 4:13.2 at the Sugar Bowl Track Meet at New Or- leans. TWENTY YEARS AGO — War- ren (Tex) Tilson was named head football coach at Washington and Lee. to shatter the women’s money - winning record of $15,085 set in 1951 by Tampa’s Babe Zaharias. Sports Roundup By GAYLE TALBOT ADELAIDE, Australia — It’s a case of “wait until next year” for the Amerian Davis Cup team, too. Vie Seixas, captain of the team which finished getting a royal shellacking from the Australians today, hasn’t a doubt we'll recap- ture the famous tennis trophy a year hence at Melbourne. If Frank Sedgman and Ken Me- Gregor announce tomorrow night they're turning pro, then Austral- is’s in trouble,” said the hand- some Philadelphian. Seixas, like everyone else, knows the Aussies will make their in- tentions known tomorrow, but Ten- nis protocol forbids him to jump the gun in public statements. “They won't find players to re- place Frank and Ken in one year or even two,” he continued. “They'll be much weaker and we'll be much stronger as by that time Tony Trabert will have come out of the Navy and had nearly six months hard competition.” Seixas was reminded most Aus- tralians have the complacent feel- ing their two junior hotshots, Lewis Hoad and Ken Rosewall, will be ready in another 12 months to step into the Sedgman-McGregor shoes, He didn’t seem to think the shoes would fit that soon. “There’s no question they’re a pair of wonderful young players,” Seixas conceded, “but after all they’re still very young to assume Davis Cup responsibility. It’s dif- ferent from anything else, be- lieve me. “For that matter, we have a very fine young player coming up ourselves in Bob Perry of Cali- fornia. He defeated Rosewall at Newport last summer and did the same to Hoad in the Pacific South- west tournament at Los Angeles. He has the advantage of being a year older than they are, too.” Jack Crawford, one of Australia’s all time tennis greats, did not agree with Seixas that the cup is likely to return to America next year. He said in his opinion Rosewall and Hoad probably are the second best doubles team in the world now and are certain to improve greatly both in singles and doubles | before another challenge round. He said the two 18-year-olds might hold the cup for years. Australia Routs U.S. Davis Cup Team On Tuesday ADELAIDE, Australia 9 — Aus tralia completed its bout of Amer- iea’s Davis Cup team today by splitting the fincl two singles matches and making the final score, 4-1. Vie Seixas of Philadelphia s>1- vaged the only victory for the U.S., beating Ken McGregor, 6-3, 8-46, 6-8, 6-3, after Frank Sedgman had whipped Tony Trabert of Cincin- nati, 7-5, 6-4, 10-8. In gaining the lone U. S. victory Seixas never let up in his attack. His keenly placed passing shots always had McGregor worried at the net. McGregor got to some of these but when he did he continu- ally made errors. Altogether McGregor had 42 Sour Note Nearly A Half Million Will See Bow] Games. NEW YORK @#~If you’ took poll today on the continuance of New Year’s Day football bowl games you would be certain te get a block of 400,000 “yes” votes —that many tickets have been solé for tomorrow's eight games. The bowl games have met pub- lic favor for years but have. bees frowned upon by many ‘top-flight educators the past two’ seasons. Future of the bowls may be de cided next month when the NCAA fathers meet in Washington, D. C. New Year’s top attendance, a8 usual, will be at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif, where some 103,000 will watch Wisconsin of the Big Ten, bid to continue the Mid- west’s dominance over the Pacifi¢ Coast by whipping Southera Call- fornia. Some 82,000 will sit in at the Sugar Bowl, which pairs unbeatea Georgia Tech and unbeaten but twice tied Mississippi. The Cotton Bowl! will lure an expected 75,000 paying guests with its Tennessee vs. Texas attraction while the Orange Bowl plans for 64,000 to see Alabama and Syracuse mix it up. Jacksonville’s Gator Bowl, striv- {ing mightily to make the ranks of major bowls, hopes to entertain 37,000 with its Tulsa vs. Florida battle. Another 45,000 fans will be dis- tributed about equally among the Salad Bowl at Phoenix, Ariz. which pairs San Diego Na’ against 101st Airborne; the Bowl at El Paso, Tex., where sippi Southern bumps into the lege of the Pacific; and the Tan- gerine at Orlando, Fla., which lists East Texas State and Tennessee Tech as its attraction. Southern California, Bowl host, stormed along unbeaten until it met Notre Dame in its final game and is a 7-point favorite swift halfback, who is troubled a sore knee. Bill Hutchinson slated as Carl’s replacement. The weatherman predicts for the Pasadena area today promises it will be dry tomorrow, Georgia Tech, which rolled through 11 games without a defea' has been installed as 8 ite over man predicts rain tomorrow which ma: MIAMI, Fla, #—The A King Orange Jamboree through downtown Miami aces. had 6 double faults and A New Year is here ... and with it come new opportunities for making our nation — our town — ourselves, better than ever before. Our wish — that ‘53 will leave fond memories for the years to come! KANTOR'S ‘ svnp