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Well, here he is again, folks. Dizzy Dean, brought to you by the makers of Johnson's
wax for Karnoo, the wax fortified auto polish that cleans and polishes your car in one easy
application.
Howdy, folks. Frank, how about you and me talking a little bit about Stan Musel, the
star hitter of the Cardinals? Ted Williams, a slugging hero for Boston Red Sox and their
respectable batting averages.
All right, Diz. Friends, this is Frank Eschen, very happy to collaborate with Jerome Herman
Dizzy Dean at a discussion of two great hitters. But, Dizzy, you mean Musel and Williams and
their respective averages, I daresay.
Go ahead and dare say all you want, Frank, but I'd like to ask you a question before
you start daresaying any more.
Shoot, Jerome, always eager to cooperate.
Well, Frank, the last time I looked, Musel was hitting.376 and Williams was hitting
.365.
Frank, don't you think them as respectable averages?
Touche, Jerome, touche. Yes, I'll admit you were right the first time. Those are very
respectable averages. Now go even a little further along the Dizzy Dean rhetorical highway.
I'd say that those two batters have hit for a lot of respectable bases.
But what was the other point besides your sinister desire to catch me in a grammatical
trap?
I was going to say, Frank, that I guess most folks will admit that Williams and Musel is
about as good a pair of natural hitters that has come along in a long time. They both got
off to a great start, but they won't finish with that.400 average the baseball writers
and radio commentators was talking about early in the season.
A difficult objective to achieve, Jerome.
It's more than that, Frank. It's just doggone tough to hit.400. At one time they were both
over.400, as I remember, and it was really something to try to keep up that pace. And
any time they'd get only two out of five, which is hitting.400 for the day, they'd
drop a point or two. And that meant that in order to keep pace or maybe gain a little,
they'd have to get two for four, which is.500, or three for five, which is.600.
The point I want to make, Frank, is that anybody who ever hits.400 in the major leagues really
has something to be proud of.
And so to take a leap from your book, Diz, anybody who is hitting.376 or.365 can feel
comfortable in having a respectable batting average.
Now, Diz, we come to the mailbag department. We have two letters today. Mr. William Shamball
of Cincinnati writes about pitchers. He notes that so many of them were unable to hurl many
complete games, wilting after only four or five innings. And he recalls Rube Waddell,
who rarely reported at the park except on days when he was due to pitch. And almost
without exception, Rube was able to finish what he started. Mr. Shamball suggests that
it might be a good idea to give pitchers a couple of days off, Diz, so they'd have the
necessary rest, and perhaps they'd be able to pitch more complete games.
Frank, that idea probably will make a big hit with the pitchers. Boy, that would be
fine to have a couple of days off to go fishing or something without having to worry about
the ballpark. But I think the manager would raise a big kick about that. You see, Frank,
that is the matter of staying in condition. A pitcher has to run a lot. He ain't going
to keep his legs in shape setting on a riverbank with a fishing pole in his hand.
And here's another thing, Diz. Doesn't the average manager like to have his better pitchers
available for an occasional relief job?
Right you are, Frank. The year me and Paul won fifty games between us, I reckon we saved
maybe a dozen more, helping out now and then with an inning or two to stop a rally or protect
a small lead. Then I used to break in now and then as a pinch runner or a pinch batter
myself.
Ah, yes, yes. You were an asset of great versatility, Diz.
It wasn't so much that, Frank. I could get a hold of that old ball once in a while. Boy,
I loved a hit. I'll never forget one game when I went to hit for somebody. The other
club had walked Bill DeLancey, a good left-hand batter, to get at the pitcher. And Frankie
Frisk calls old Diz from the bullpen. He tells me the bases is loaded, but we're three runs
behind. Funny how managers always tell those things, when for pity sakes I was watching
as close as old Frankie was. Anyhow, he told me to try to get on. Well, the count gets
to three balls and nothing, and I don't look at third base at all. I know what the sign
is, though. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Mike Gonzalez was giving the
take sign. But I knew the pitcher was in the hole. He knew the take sign was on. I knew
he'd grew one for old Diz, trying to get back somewhere even on the count. Sure enough,
he grew one, a nice, fat fast ball. And, Frank, I couldn't hold back. I let her have it and
pounded that old ball far into the left field seats. As I passed third base, Mike Gonzalez
was having a fifth. Dizzy, he says, you crazy. Why you swing at that ball? Don't you know
the count? She is three and nothing, and we was three runs behind. And I says, keep your
shirt on, Mike. I know we was three runs behind, but we ain't no more.
What kind of a fit did Frisch have then, Diz?
Oh, he just shook his head and called me some kind of a dumb, lucky stiff.
Yes, but I daresay Frisch was glad you weren't taking a day off fishing that afternoon.
Yeah, Frank, see what I mean. Yes, I think you win that one for Mr. Shambaud, Diz. And
here's the other letter from the mailbag. Mr. Stuart Boggs of Philadelphia wants to
know something about the importance of jockeys in baseball. And did the old Gas House gang
go in much for that sort of stuff? First of all, Diz, you might explain what a jockey
is. Glad to, Frank. In horse racing, a jockey rides a horse. In baseball, the jockey rides
the other team. And while the baseball jockey don't use no spurs or no whip, he can sting
you plenty. Yes, I guess the dugout jockey always has been and always will be a part
of the game, Frank. And we used to break out in a little jockeying now and then in them
good old Gas House gang days. I'll tell you one time we really went to town, Frank, in
the 1934 World Series.
Yes, I seem to recall there were some sharp harpoons thrown during that October Classic
Jerome, remarks that were very, well, we might say ex cathedra, with authority, that is.
No, we never let religion get into our jockeying, Frank. But we had a lot of fun with them tigers.
We called them pussycats all through the series. And we got a little help from the tigers and
the Detroit papers.
How is that? That sounds like treason.
Well, for one thing, schoolboy Rowe did a little ad-libbing on the radio. He was on
a program and his heart was full of honeymoon at that particular time. And in a pause he
spoke a few words to his bride. He says, How am I doing, Edna? And, brother, I bet he was
many a time he'd never said that. He sure was miserable out there, trying to pitch with
Pat Crawford, our number one jockey, and all the others, asking out loud how he was doing
Edna. Then the Detroit papers give us some material. Mickey Cochran was injured in some
kind of a play, and of course, Detroit was all excited about that. One of the papers
came out with a big headline, flur across the top of the first page, which, with news
of Cochran's injury. And there was a big picture of Mike and under it, also in big type, it
said, Our Stricken Leader. Boy, we got knowledge out of that one. Mickey didn't show his nose
anywhere without some jockey starting a cheer for our stricken leader.
Frankie sure was a lot of fun pitching with that old gas house gang. And, Frank, we got
paid for it, too.
Yes, and here's something that you'll get paid for in the form of extra special Sunday
satisfaction. Some advice, Dizzy, for those who like to get the utmost pleasure out of
their cars. You know, man, if you're going to drive a bright, keen-looking automobile,
one thing is certain. You've got to get rid of road film. You know, that sticky film made
up of exhaust fumes, oil, bugs, and a lot of other things. Now, water can't touch that
film, and so week after week it keeps collecting on your paint and chrome. Your car loses its
sparkle so gradually that you may even forget how bright and shiny it used to look. Well,
you can bring back that sparkle. You can bring it back in one easy application with Johnson's
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car show through. And because car new is wax-fortified, car new polishes your car, too. It gives the
car finish the bright beauty it had the day it left the showroom. And remember, it's all
done in one application. You just rub car new on, let it dry to a white powder, and
wipe it off. Your car is cleaned and polished from bumper to bumper, from top to hubcaps.
So before this weekend is over, drop in on your service station owner or other dealer
and get some car new, C-A-R-N-U, Johnson's car new. Then just rub it on, wipe it off,
and see that brilliant shine come back, that Sunday shine you may have thought was gone
forever. Now, dear, without sound advice on its way, I agree with you that it must have
been a lot of fun traveling with those colorful Cardinals. That's what the baseball writers
used to say, Frank. They didn't get much sleep, but there never was a dull moment. Pepper
Martin and Rip Collins had a fancy Dan Pepper game they'd put on during practice. They always
wove the crowd. But don't forget there was a lot of baseball in that club, Frank. Terry
Moore, Leo DeRosier, Joe Medrick, Rip Collins, and Frankie Fritz.
And it was all good-natured fun, too, Diz. I mean, the boys always were in shape to play
a lot of baseball.
You said it, Frank. Baseball was them boys' life. That's all they thought about, outside
of having a little fun. But I know what you mean. There was no playboys on that ball club.
A playboy just couldn't stay long in that club.
And that sounds like a story, Diz.
I won't say what year this was or what club it was, Frank, because it's a true story,
and I don't want nobody to know exactly who I'm talking about. But there was one pitcher
who liked to stay up kind of late. He didn't know how to take care of his money, either.
And the manager, knowing this pitcher, had a family back home arranged with the front
office to send the pitcher's paycheck to his wife so the family would be sure to have some
money. You see, this pitcher was liable to give it all away. He was so big-hearted when
he got on the evening merry-go-round.
Still late in the season there was an important ball game coming up the next day. Maybe the
pennant would hang on it. And this pitcher, I'm telling you about, really could throw
that ball when he was right. So the manager tells him he's going to pitch that important
game the next day, and would he please get home early that night so he'd be in shape.
It didn't do no good, though. The pitcher got on the merry-go-round just the same that
evening and didn't get home till the sun was up. You could see when he checked in at the
ballpark that he hadn't been taking care of himself. The manager catches on right away,
and he's madder than a wet hint. He said to the pitcher, Joe, that was the pitcher's name,
wasn't the pitcher's name, Frank. I'm just using a tone guitar. I just call him Joe.
Anyhow, the manager says, Joe, I asked you to take care of yourself so you could pitch
this important game. And just look at you. But in shape or not, I said you were going
to pitch, and doggone you, you are going to pitch. And the pitcher crouched back, I'll
be doggone if I pitch, Mac. You send my paychecks to my wife. Let her pitch.
Well now, Diz, it's your turn to pitch. Coach Dean, will you give out now with your weekly
parcel of advice to young Americans to help them in their ambition to become big leaguers?
Yes, Frank, and maybe sometime we'll get some organized hip from this idea out for the young
ball players. I am talking about the hip young ball players can get from good coaching. Up
to a certain stage, boys can go along on their own. They can learn to hit by praxis. They
can learn to catch flies and handle grounders the same way. But when they get a little older
and are thinking about getting a tryout in a year or two, it's time to polish up their
baseball. In other words, there's a right and a wrong way to do many important things
in baseball. That's where it would help if the boys could arrange to have some expert
coaching. In almost every city in the country, there are a few old ball players retired but
still interested in the game. Why not try to find such an old ball player in your town
or a neighborhood? I'll bet he'd be tickled to death to have you call on him and ask if
he wouldn't give you a couple of hours of his time each week. He can show you how to
tag runners. He can show the first baseman how to shift. He can show the start-stop and
second baseman how to work double plays. You've got to know how to do them things right. And
it wouldn't take much work to put a little sliding pit in how some old-time ball players
learn you how to slide properly. Many a game in the big leagues is won by a hook slide
or a quick double play. Baseball now has a fine-tension plan. Old ball players can retire
with some security. And my idea is to have baseball do something about this. And I am
talking right now to Mr. Ford Frick and Mr. Will Harris, the two big-legged presidents.
If they don't include some kind of a coaching project in that fair-pinching plan, Mr. Frick
and Mr. Harris, it'll give the old players something to do in the game they lack so well.
And it will do an awful lot for the kids. And it will help to develop more and better
ball players to make the big leagues bigger and better.
Say, those are words of profound wisdom, Coach Dean. And now if you'll grab that crystal
ball, you are now Dizzy Dean the reporter. How about the big league setup, Diz, as you
see it entering the head of the stretch? And what's going to be the deciding factor in
the two races?
Pitching, as I see it, Frank. For instance, the Yankees have been doing all right lately.
Frank Shea, who was off-form early in the year, seems to be OK now. That added hip down
the stretch could give the Yankees a big advantage. And in the National League, George Munger
could make a big difference for the Cardinals. The Braves need some help for Spahn and Sane.
Two men can carry the load for a while, but they get tired. If either should crack, it
would be too bad for the Braves.
Diz, do you think the schedule favors any particular club?
Well, most people think it does, Frank. For instance, the Yankees and Red Sox will close
the season playing each other. The strength of the league is in the East. Some believe
it gives Cleveland an edge down the stretch. In the National League, the Cardinals will
have the tough Cubs and Pirates to play in the last few days. But the Dodgers and Braves
play a late September series.
The way I see it, Frank, you've got to win those games down the stretch. And the second
division clubs may be tougher than the ones up near the top.
Well, folks, we hope you'll be right back with us at this same time next week to listen
to Dizzy Dean. He's brought to you by Johnson's Carnu, the wax-fortified auto polish that
cleans and polishes your car in one easy application. Carnu cleans when you rub it on, loosens road
film and carries it right off your car. Then Carnu polishes when you wipe it off, makes
your car sparkle almost like new. Ask for Johnson's Carnu today. Save time, save work
while making your car as bright as a dollar. Remember to give your car that Sunday shine,
rub it on, wipe it off, is all you do with Carnu.
And this is Old Day. I hope all you folks are on the stand this time next Saturday.
I'll be pitching across again for Johnson's Carnu.
This is Frank Eschen saying goodbye until next Saturday for the makers of Johnson's
wax-fortified auto polish, Carnu. This program came to you from KSD St. Louis. This is NBC,
the national broadcasting company.
WMAQ, NBC in Chicago.