Scrapbook Page 3367

              Fanning 8/30/40 rpHE PHILS, hopelessly mired in last place in the National League race, are getting more attention from local baseball fans these days than the clubs up front and battling for the pennant. The reason is Dannj Litwhiler. ???There are many who feel that Danny deserved much more of a trial in the Spring, on the basis of his work in the South, than he was given and who can t 566 why a youngster of promise was kept out of there and a veteran like Chuck Klein, but a shadow of his former greatness, was used regularly. But then seeing problems from a distance is different than seeing them from the bench and with the responsibility on your shoulders. Pleased With Start At any rate local fandom was highly elated when Danny was taken from Wilkes-Barre about a week ahead of schedule and immediately sent into action to aid the crippled Phillie infield. They were more elated over the fact that in his first full major league games he had a hit in each one and drove in a run in the second contest. Up to that time, Litwhiler???s major league participation had amounted to a fly ball clouted as a pinch hitter in an early season contest. Encouraging It was fine that Danny had such a good year at Wilkes-Barre, where he was a good fielder and the best batsman on the Baron club. Sports writers of the Eastern League recently voted him the sixth most valuable man in the circuit and plenty of the boys make the jump from that loop to the big time and stardom. It was fine, of course, that Danny went so well in his hitting but the big thing was that his leg injury is apparently a thing of the past. It had kept him out of baseball for a year and it was a question mark when he was in the south. But he played regularly at Wilkes-Barre and while you read plenty about Danny you didn???t get any notices that his leg was hampering him. Took A Chance There are many unkind things that are said about the Phils but few can criticize their judgment of player talent. When they trade they generally get the best of the bargain and when they reach down into the ranks and pluck a boy such as Danny he generally turns out o. k. They certainly got the best of the Johnny Rizzo-Morrie Arnovich deal. Before that they trimmed the Cubs a couple of times. Once in the Hurst-Camilli transaction and later in the deal that sent Passau to Chicago for Kirby Higbe and a bundle of cash. But those Quakers do have faith. They became interested in Litwhiler through Johnny Ogden, now in charge of their farm system, after the Tigers had given up on him because of that trick leg. Their with wasn???t shared by minor j league clubs. When Prothro felt that [ Litwhiler needed a year in the minors he had plenty of trouble getting him placed. Litwhiler had no record in organized baseball in 1939 ! for the minors to gauge him by. A Young Man That???s the principal reason why Baltimore, which had Danny a few days in early season, allowed him to go to Wilkes-Barre when the Phils farmed out another fly-chaser, Benjamin.They had forgotten all about Danny???s work with Alexandria in the Evangeline League of 1938. or probably they knew about that but felt he couldn???t duplicate because of the bad leg. Danny had hit .369 in the Evangeline loop that year to grab off top honors and he seemed sure of a job with the Toledo Mudhens when he slid during a practice game and injured the leg. The boy who took his place in the Toledo outfield, and made good, was a youngster who had batted a substantial 100 points less in the Evangeline loop in ???3B, The Ringtown native is a young man. There are some who feel that he is a little old to be starting out but he is just about to celebrate his twenty-third birthday and that means he has plenty of years ahead, even in the field of athletics where they speak of you as ???old??? about the time you???re considered ready to go places in most professions. Long Ball Hitter Once known as an outfit of hitters with no pitchers, the Phils now have good pitching but need some sluggers. They got a boost in that direction when Rizzo started knocking the cover off the ball and  ed to the form he displayed as a big league frosh at Pittsburgh. This entire section is hoping that they get further assistance from Litwhiler. He hit them high wide and handsome for Wilkes-Barre where his .307 average was built on 113 base clouts which included 28 doubles, 9 triples and 14 home runs. Always Working Frank Golder, who put Bloomsburg High on the baseball map, is constantly working to make himself a better coach. The fact that Golder is a modest fellow who is an untiring worker is one of the many reasons why he is such a good coach and so popular. He???s just back from attending a basketball clinic at Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn. * That???s why he wasn???t with the local Tri-County club last weekend. Frank was evidently getting some new theories on this court game to put into use in a drive to get Bloomsburg back in the top spot in the Susquehanna League. NEW TEACHERS AT BERWICK WTtt I C3-0 HAROLD BORDER Litwhiler Gets 2 Hits ???????????? Phillies Shut Out Again ???yAo/4-a Bow To Pirates 4-0, as Lit- whiler Hits Double And Single Pittsburgh, Aug. 29 {&}???With timely hitting and three double * plays, the Pittsburgh Pirates white- i washed Philadelphia 4 to 0 today for their eighth straight triumph over the Quakers. Mace Brown, who has shown a tendency to weaken in the late innings, was summarily yanked by Manager Frankie Frisch in the eighth after rookie Dan Litwhiler singled and Johnny Rizzo bounced a double off the left field fence. Danny Macfayden halted the potential rally. Debs Garms and Bob Elliott gathered three hits apiece. Garms??? triple with two out in the htird and Elliott???s surprise bunt scored the first Pirate run. Pittsburgh clinched the game in the fourth when Arky Vaughan tripled, scoring Fletcher and came home on Vince DiMaggio???s towering fly to center.