

If the Cardinals heed Manager Gene Mauch of the Phillies , they won't be misled by the Pirates' slower start this season .


`` Pittsburgh definitely is the team to beat '' , Mauch said here the other day .
`` The Pirates showed they could outclass the field last year .
They have the same men , no age problem , no injuries and they also have Vinegar Bend Mizell for the full season , along with Bobby Shantz '' .


Tonight at 8 o'clock the Cardinals , who gave the Pirates as much trouble as anyone did in 1960 , breaking even with them , will get their first 1961 shot at baseball's world champions .
The Pirates have a 9-6 record this year and the Redbirds are 7-9 .



Change in pitchers .

Solly Hemus announced a switch in his starting pitcher , from Bob Gibson to Ernie Broglio , for several reasons : 1 Broglio's 4-0 won-lost record and 1.24 earned-run mark against Pittsburgh a year ago ; ;
2 The desire to give Broglio as many starts as possible ; ;
3 The Redbirds' disheartening 11-7 collapse against the Phillies Sunday .


Manager Hemus , eager to end a pitching slump that has brought four losses in the five games on the current home stand , moved Gibson to the Wednesday night starting assignment .
After Thursday's open date , Solly plans to open with Larry Jackson against the Cubs here Friday night .


Harvey Haddix , set back by the flu this season , will start against his former Cardinal mates , who might be playing without captain Kenny Boyer in tonight's game at Busch Stadium .
Boyer is suffering from a stiff neck .


Haddix has a 13-8 record against the Redbirds , despite only a 1-3 mark in 1960 .


Pirate Manager Danny Murtaugh said he hadn't decided between Mizell and Vern Law for Wednesday's game .
Mizell has won both of his starts .



Nieman kept in lineup .

After a lengthy workout yesterday , an open date , Hemus said that Bob Nieman definitely would stay in the lineup .
That means Stan Musial probably will ride the bench on the seventh anniversary of his record five-home run day against the Giants .


`` I have to stay with Nieman for a while '' , Hemus said .
`` Bill White ( sore ankles ) should be ready .
With a lefthander going for Pittsburgh , I may use Don Taussig in center '' .


`` Lindy McDaniel threw batting practice about 25 minutes , and he looked good '' , Hemus said .
`` He should be getting back in the groove before long .
Our pitching is much better than it has shown '' .


The statistics hardly indicated that the Pirates needed extra batting practice , but Murtaugh also turned his men loose at Busch Stadium yesterday .



Six Bucks over .

Until the Bucs' bats quieted down a bit in Cincinnati over the weekend , the champions had eight men hitting over .
Despite the recession , Pittsburgh came into town with this imposing list of averages : Smoky Burgess , Gino Cimoli , Bill Virdon , Bob Clemente and Dick Groat , each


, Dick Stuart , Don Hoak


and Bob Skinner


.


Bill Mazeroski with and Hal Smith with were the only Pirates dragging their feet .


Perhaps the Pirate who will be the unhappiest over the news that Musial probably will sit out most of the series is Bob Friend , who was beaten by The Man twice last season on dramatic home runs .
Friend is off to a great start with a 4-0 record but isn't likely to see action here this week .


`` We're getting Friend some runs for a change , and he has been pitching good '' , Murtaugh said .
`` Virdon has been blasting the ball .
No plunkers for him '' .



Six Bucs over .

The Pirates jumped off to an 11-3 start by May 1 last year , when the Redbirds as well as the Dodgers held them even over the season .
On last May 1 , the Cardinals stood at 7-6 , ending a two-season fall-off on that milestone .
In 1958 , the Birds were 3-10 on May 1 .
A year later they were 4-13 .


Since 1949 , the St. Louis club has been below on May 1 just four times .
The '49 team was off to a so-so 5-5 beginning , then fell as low as 12-17 on May 23 before finishing with 96 victories .


The '52 Cards were 6-7 on May 1 but ended with 88 triumphs , the club's top since 1949 .
Then last season the Birds tumbled as low as 11-18 on May 19 before recovering to make a race of it and total 86 victories .


Since 1949 , the only National League club that got off to a hot start and made a runaway of the race was the '55 Dodger team .
Those Dodgers won their first 10 games and owned a 21-2 mark and a nine-game lead by May 8 .
The club that overcame the worst start in a comparable period to win the pennant was New York's '51 Giants , who dropped 11 of their first 13 .


They honored the battling Billikens last night .
Speakers at a Tipoff Club dinner dealt lavish praise to a group of St. Louis University players who , in the words of Coach John Benington , `` had more confidence in themselves than I did '' .


The most valuable player award was split three ways , among Glen Mankowski , Gordon Hartweger and Tom Kieffer .
In addition , a special award was given to Bob ( Bevo ) Nordmann , the 6-foot-10 center who missed much of the season because of a knee injury .


`` You often hear people talk about team spirit and that sort of thing '' , Benington said in a conversation after the ceremonies , `` but what this team had was a little different .
The boys had a tremendous respect for each other's ability .
They knew what they could do and it was often a little more than I thought they could do .


`` Several times I found the players pepping me up , where it usually is the coach who is supposed to deliver the fight talk .
We'd be losing at halftime to a good team and Hartweger would say , ' Don't worry , Coach -- we'll get 'em all right ' '' .


The trio who shared the most-valuable honors were introduced by Bob Broeg , sports editor of the Post-Dispatch .


Kieffer , the only junior in the group , was commended for his ability to hit in the clutch , as well as his all-round excellent play .


Mankowski , the ball-hawking defensive expert , was cited for his performance against Bradley in St. Louis U.'s nationally televised victory .
Benington said , `` I've never seen a player have a game as great as Mankowski did against Bradley that day '' .


Benington recalled that he once told Hartweger that he doubted Gordon would ever play much for him because he seemed to be lacking in all of the accepted basketball skills .
After the coach listed all the boy's faults , Hartweger said , `` Coach before I leave here , you'll get to like me '' .


Mrs. Benington admired Gordon's spirit and did what she could to persuade her husband that the boy might help the team .


As Hartweger accepted his silver bowl , he said , `` I want to thank coach's wife for talking him into letting me play '' .


Bob Burnes , sports editor of the Globe-Democrat , presented Bob Nordmann with his award .
Bevo was congratulated for his efforts to stay in shape so that he could help the team if his knee healed in time .
Within a week after the injury , suffered in St. Louis's victory in the final game of the Kentucky tournament , Nordmann was sitting on the Bill's bench doing what he could to help Benington .


On the clock given him was the inscription , `` For Outstanding Contribution to Billiken Basketball , 1960-61 '' .


Other lettermen from the team that compiled a 21-9 record and finished as runner-up in the National Invitation Tournament were : Art Hambric , Donnell Reid , Bill Nordmann , Dave Harris , Dave Luechtefeld and George Latinovich .


`` This team set a precedent that could be valuable in the future '' , Benington pointed out .
`` By winning against Bradley , Kentucky and Notre Dame on those teams' home courts , they showed that the home court advantage can be overcome anywhere and that it doesn't take a super team to do it '' .


St. Louis University found a way to win a baseball game .
Larry Scherer last night pitched a no-hit game , said to be the first in Billiken baseball history , as the Blue and White beat Southeast Missouri State College , 5-1 , at Crystal City .


The victory was the first of the season for the Billikens after nine defeats and a tie .
The tie was against Southeast Missouri last Friday .


Scherer also had a big night at bat with four hits in five trips including a double , Len Boehmer also was 4-for-5 with two doubles and Dave Ritchie had a home run and a triple .


St. Louis U. was to be in action again today with a game scheduled at 4 against Washington University at Ligget Field .


The game opened a busy week for Washington .
The Bears are set to play at Harris Teachers College at 3:30 tomorrow and have a doubleheader at Quincy , Ill. , Saturday .



Happy hitting
If it's true that contented cows give more milk , why shouldn't happy ball players produce more base hits ? ?


The two top talents of the time , Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays , have hit the ball harder and more successfully so far this early season than at any period in careers which , to be frank about it , never have quite reached expectations .


And that's meant as a boost , not a knock .


Mays and Mantle , both 10-year men at 30 , have so much ability that , baseball men agree , they've never hit the heights .
Their heights , that is .


Mantle , the bull-necked blond switch-hitter , had one sensational triple-crown season , 1959 , when he batted and also led the American League in home runs , 52 , and rbi's , 130 .


Like the Yankees' slugger , Mays , the terror of the Giants , has had seasons that would be considered the ultimate by most players , but not by -- or for -- Willie .
His best years were 1954 when he hit with 41 homers and '55 when he belted 51 home runs , drove in 127 and stole 24 bases .


Now , apparently happier under new managers , Mays and Mantle , the perfect players , are behaving as though they're going to pass those previous peaks .



Labor relations
Yes , we know , they're professionals , men paid to play , and they shouldn't care how they're handled , just as long as their names are spelled correctly on the first and fifteenth of each month .


The truth is , though , that men react differently to different treatment .
For that matter , Stan Musial is rare , possessing the disposition that enabled him to put out the same for seven managers , reserving his opinions , but not his effort .


Mantle , it's apparent , resented Casey Stengel's attempts to push and prod him into the perfection the veteran manager saw as a thrilling possibility .
The old man was almost too possessive .
Stengel inherited DiMaggio , Rizzuto , but he brought up Mantle from Class C to the majors , from Joplin to New York .


With the speed and power of the body beautiful he saw before him , Ol' Case wanted No. 7 to be not only the best homerun hitter , but also the best bunter , base-runner and outfielder .
Stengel probably preached too much in the early days when the kid wanted to pop his bubble gum and sow his oats .


Inheriting a more mature Mantle , who now has seen the sights on and off Broadway , Ralph Houk quietly bestowed , no pun intended , the mantle of authority on Mickey .
The Major decided that , rather than be led , the slugger could lead .
And what leadership a proud Mantle has given so far .


The opinion continues here that with a 162-game schedule , pitching spread thin through a 10-team league and a most inviting target in Los Angeles' Wrigley Field Jr. , Mantle just might break the most glamorous record on the books , Babe Ruth's 60 homers of 1927 .



Four for Alvin
Mays' day came a day earlier for Willie than for the kids and Commies this year .
Willie's wonderful walloping Sunday -- four home runs -- served merely to emphasize how happy he is to be playing for Alvin Dark .


Next to Leo Durocher , Dark taught Mays the most when he was a grass-green rookie rushed up to the Polo Grounds 10 years ago this month , to help the Giants win a dramatic pennant .

