1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Hello baseball fans. This is Harry Heilman speaking for American Legion Junior Baseball. 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:21,000 Today we're all set to bring you a clubhouse interview with a former Legion player who is now one of the brightest stars in the major leagues. 4 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:25,000 We're talking today from the clubhouse of the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium. 5 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:31,000 And right now we have a tall, sinewy left-hander who will pitch today's game. 6 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:38,000 He looks unusually fit, and I wonder the batters in the American League like to be somewhere else when this boy is fogging them in. 7 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:45,000 Fans, we're talking about Hal Neuhauser, whom baseball experts consider the best south port chucker in the league. 8 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:51,000 We've got a little talk scheduled with him, and here he is right now. How's the old wing feel today, Hal? 9 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:58,000 Never better, Harry. This is one of those days when the ball feels light as a feather, and that's one of the signs a pitcher likes best. 10 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,000 It usually means he'll have his good stuff working good. 11 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:08,000 Well, after glancing over your playing record, I would say that there aren't many days that you don't have plenty of stuff on the old ball. 12 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:15,000 You've won 118 games in the last five years, and that gives you an average of almost 24 victories per season. 13 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:19,000 No other pitcher in the majors can boast such a record. 14 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:24,000 Thanks, Harry, but speaking of records, I happen to know that you are quite a ball player yourself. 15 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:32,000 American League batting champion four times, a lifetime batting average of 342. That's exactly the same as Roos' lifetime record. 16 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:37,000 Yeah, now, Hal, no comparing me with the babe. He stood alone. 17 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:42,000 And anyway, we didn't have to bat against anybody named Neuhauser in those days, thank goodness. 18 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:47,000 But tell us, Hal, do you have any special goal or personal objective as a hurler? 19 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:51,000 Well, of course, my prime aim each season is to help the Tigers win the pennant. 20 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:56,000 And by the way, Hal, you must have started playing baseball at a pretty early age. 21 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,000 Yes, Harry, I started early thanks to American junior baseball. 22 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:05,000 When I was 15 years old, I started playing junior baseball, and it really got me going. 23 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:11,000 In 1938, I played for Roos Vancker Post 286 here in Detroit, and we really had a crackerjack team. 24 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:16,000 As I remembered, Hal, that club went a long way in the Legion National Tournament, didn't it? 25 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:22,000 That's right, Harry. We went to the semifinals in the national tournament at Charlotte, North Carolina. 26 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:28,000 San Diego, which eventually won the championship, stopped us, and I was defeated by pitcher Chuck Keane 2-1. 27 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,000 Keane later went up with the Dodgers for a time. 28 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:35,000 And I have a few statistics on your performance in Legion ball that year. 29 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:40,000 Prior to the defeat by San Diego, you had pitched 65 consecutive scoreless innings, 30 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:45,000 had 119 straight games, and had three no-hit games to your credit. 31 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,000 I'd say that was great throwing in any league. 32 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:55,000 Would you say that your Legion junior baseball experience has been of value to you as a professional ball player? 33 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:01,000 Harry, American Legion junior baseball is just about the finest sandlot baseball organization in the world. 34 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:05,000 I got my first taste of tough competition while playing in that league, 35 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:11,000 and the many little things I learned while playing junior baseball helped me to get to the majors more quickly. 36 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:15,000 I spent only one season in the minors before coming up to the Tigers, 37 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,000 while most of the fellows require four or five years of seasoning in the lower leagues. 38 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,000 Yes, sir, I'm a real booster for American Legion junior baseball. 39 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:30,000 Well, thank you, Harold Neuhauser, and may you keep firing that wicked curve through there for many more years. 40 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:35,000 This is Harry Heilman reminding you we'll be back from time to time with more diamond interviews 41 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:43,000 with baseball's brightest stars presented in the interest of the 22nd consecutive season of American Legion junior baseball.