THIS WORLD OF SPORTS’
j Stan Musial and Warren Spahn, two of
[the grand old pros of Baseball, are set
I for another banner season, but Robin
iRoberts definitely stands at the cross
iroads of his .career,
: Almost,no one doubts the ability of
[Musial and Spahn to keep going and al
most no one is willing to predict that
[Roberts "will make it all the way back,"
i Musial, who won. his seventh batting
[title at the age of 37 last season, re
ported at 185 pounds and has been hitt
[ing well over‘,300 in the,Cardinals’ ex
hibition games. His splendid condition
[is so obvious that Cardinal manager Fred
[Hutchinson quips: "All he had to.do to
[get ready was run a little in the out
[field just in case he hit a triple,"
Spahn,a 21-game winner for the. Braves
[last season, also looks as sound, as * ever
[despite his 36 years and the wear- and
[tear of 13 Big League seasons.'
[ . ."It’s possible he’ll stop all of a
jsudden," says-manager Fred. Haney, "But
[there’s no sign of it in the foreseeable
[future,"
[ Roberts, who at 31 could be in. his
‘prime, is entirely a different •. story
[however, Robin,who won 20 or more games
[six straight years from 1950 through. 19
;55, slumped to 10-22 last season and.the
[consensus among the players who hit rs.ga
iinst him this spring is that he must
jchange his style. ■> ....
"He just can’t keep throwing his fast
[ball for strikes," says Phillies mana
ger 'Mayo Smith, "He needs to- master, a
[new. .type of control — pitching to spots
land nicking the corners of the plate,"
Perhaps the.most talked-about player
iin any camp down south was the Lo.s Ange
lies Dodgers’ 21-year-old pitcher, Don
[Drysdale. A 17-game winner. last season,
[this 6-foot, 6-inch, 205 pounder right
[hander is being tabved as one of.Base
ball’ s future greats. He was personally
[championed two years ago, incidentally,
[by Los Angeles manager Walt Alston,
EXHIBITION BASEBALL RESULTS:
[Pittsburgh 4 Kansas. City 3
[Boston 7 Detroit 1
\ ■; ; ;. %. con at top of page
| EXHIBITION BASEBALL RESULTS (con't)
j New York 6 CPhiladelphia 1
: Cincinnati 3 Washington 2
i Milwaukee 9 Los Angeles 5
i St. Louis 7 Chicago White Sox 5
i San Francisco 5 Cleveland 4
! Chicago Cubs S Baltimore 4
i 1958 Versions of Major League Teams j
r -■ Pittsburgh Pirates i
j Big Ted Kluxzewski is the biggestnifM i
j of the promising Pirates. The squad is •:
young,' averaging only 26 with just four j
i, athletes out of their twenties. Hard- I
muscled rookie John Powers will be up i
; trying again and could be just what this j
i squad' needs, -Add' the batting power o:tffc
i Bob Skinner and Frank Thomas and the Pi^T
j rates bould cause a lot of commotion, j
j particularly among the Leagues middle;
j barcket teams. I
Los Aneelos Dodgers :
There is no question but that the loss j
: of: Roy- Gampanella will hurt the Dodgers, j
;■ badly. Since there were no trades made j
i in? the off-season, all of last year’s I
j-headaches plus the staggering Campanella \
\ blow now bear heavy on the shouldersof ;
j manager Walt Alston.
j: The infield should'be good to excellr I
; ent, depending on Fee Wee Reese getting j
pin shape before injury strikes ,> Don Zim- ;
j. flier may surprise and go all the ' Way : at^L
i • short ; Charley Neal and Junior Gillianl^P
A will play a -lot of baseball somewhere, j
j The outfield is set with Duke Snider, j
| Carl Furill0 and Gino'Cimbli.
:. San Francisco Giants ’* I
j A: In California or New York, these are i
j ,still the Giants,a second division club, j
I Thier big attraction is Willie Mays !
; certainly a NL All-Star.
i However, the Giants are looking for j
I great things from another Willie; Kirk- j
!. land Is - the last name. • j
Willie No,2, an Amy- returnee, is j
: slated for the outfield; Paul Giel, an- j
i other bright, sport, is also a returnee I
j In the infield,Orlando Cepeds is a long- j
j shot to-dislodge- White Lockman at first; I
; .the'Puerto Rican hit 29 homers at.-Minne-vj
I apolis last season.A . : • ' - * |