THURSDAY. AUGUST 23: 1962
Softball Proves Faster
Than Pro Baseball Game
By KEN tiENLINGER
Sports Editor
Imagine the unlikely prospect
of your.date hurling a shoe at you,
across a dance floor at 96 mph.
Even the most athletic of men
would have a hard time ducking.
But men actually make a living
trying to hit an even smaller
object t hurtling toward them. at
greater speeds. These men play
softball, a game that when played
by skilled athletes, is much faster
than . firofessional baseball.
While the object in hOth games
is to score more_ runs the
opposition, the methods of achiev
ing this' goal are quite different,
Baseball has been stricken with
the hoirie ruff disease. This disease
began quite calmly when - Babe
Ruth• found it more profitable to
utilize his muscles as a slugger
rather than aS a pitcher.
UNFORTUNATELY, this dis-'
ease hai turned into an epidemic.
It 'has reached the point where
such basic skills as speed,,defense
and bunting are overshadowed by
.thick-arrned Goliaths whose only
,-talent is the ability to propel the
!ball out of sight 25 times a season.
•1 1 Club owners claim that the
game is more lively with the
power, 'and they- pay accordingly.
They claim that the game would
become: a travesty if homers de
creased: ;
Major league attendance has
dropped . considerably within the
lait decade, as noted by the con
stant franchise shifts. It can be
Ex-Lion Gridders ,
Shine in Exhibitions
,
. Several ex-Penn State football
Players continue - to show up well
in preseason professional exhi
bition games this season.
Last: week against the Balti
more Colts, Galen Hall of the
Washington Redskins flipped a
29-yard scoring pass to Dick
Jame s, Washington's leading
ground gainer in 4961. Hall also
threw a TD pass in the Redskins'
first game against the Los Ange
les Rams two weeks ago.
Former Lion Lenny Moore
scored:twice for the Colts in their
victory over the Redskins.
MILT PLUM threw a TD pass
as Detroit • downed the Dallas
CowbOys in another NFL exhi
bition last .Saturday. Plum was
traded; to Detroit from the Cleve
land Browns earlier in the year.
Donl Jonas returned a punt 65
yardS for the Philadelphia Eagles
in their win ()veil the Chicago
Bears.l According to club officials
Jonas a cinch to remain with
the club.
Syracuse Rivalry Tight
The I Penn State -Syracuse foot
ball series. one of college• foot
ball's imost spectacular post-way
rivalries ; shows 18 wins for Penn
State, 16 for Syracuse and five
ties.
:, ' ,..V d46 , 00 P
t " : 4 4 4 + 4 .4 7
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I •
said that the power game no
longer captivates people as it once
did. Fans need variety.
•
' Softball, on the other hand, com
bines- timely if not awesome hit=
ting, excellent defense and a far
greater emphasis on pitching.
A GOOD; SOFTBALL player
cannot get by on just his ability
to hit the ball.
Considering that in most soft
games the combined tun
total for both teams rarely exceeds
four, a sharp defense must exist.
With defense is combined super
! lative pitching. In no other major
team sport does one player so
,dominate the outcome of a con
test
. The-softball pitcher is respon
sible for 90 per cent of his team's
success.
TO ILLUSTRATE this fact, con
sider .The King and His Court, a
four-man barnstorming team that
'consistently defeats nine-man All-
Star teams; Why? They have
Eddie Feigner. considered to be
the finest softball hurler in the
game.
•A few• dry statistics are neces
sary to demonstrate the calibre of
his talents. •
Feigner's ' bullets have been
timed at speeds exceeding .110
mph. The fastest baseball pitcher
Cricket Team Bows
In Season's
.Finale
Special to The Summer Collegi4n
The Penn State cricket team.
11 men by, now hardened to a i d=
versify cloAed the season with, a
final extravagant defeat at the
hands of the British CommOn
wealth team in Washington's
West Potomac Park last Sattir
day.
In
The Commonwealth team, co l -
posed mainly of English burin e s
men and al number •of diplom ts,
opened the batting briskly. St to
captured an early wicket when
Leahy acdepted an incredibly
simple catch behind the wicket
off a mis-timed hook stroke. 1
NO MORE wickets' fell until,
with. the score at 70, Price; the
Commonwealth captain and a
once English county-player, was
retired by a fine ball from Hantil;.
ton. I
But the batsmen continued
pile-up runs at an alarming rate.
Finally Denny took a neat catch
at long-on, and Harsha began
bowl'
ii i
g with ' remarkable length
and:drection. But it was late.
A. atsman's •error ' between
wicke s. led to a run-out. With
that a d the arrival of a welcome
tea iii terval, plus the fact that
Harsh was holding up the run
rti
gettiri , led to the Commonwealth
decla ng,- , the innings closed at
130 fdr five wickets.
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SUMMER COU,EGIAN. UNIVERSITY PARK. PENNSYLVANIA
yet timed was Bob Feller of the
Cleveland Indians, but he couldn't
break the 100 mph barrier.
What is even moreisignificant
is that Feigner is throwing the ball
14 feet closer to the batter than
baseball pitchers. The batters are
obviously at a great disadvantage.=
THERE ARE FEW .300 hitters
in softball. In fact, at:last year's
World Softball Tournament held
in gelarwater, Fla., the champion
Aurora, 111. club had a team bat
ting average of only .164.
The won because a' raw-toned
six .footer named Harvey Sterkel
averaged two strikeouts per in
ning in the 39 innings he pitched
and an air-tight defense
.Isacked
him up. But this doe not mean
that softball hitters are a burz.h
of weaklings who cuoldn't hit well
enough to make a Little League
team., Foll - of the Aurora starters
were former pro baseball players.
Unlike the home run derby in
baSeball, the pitching domination
makes for a faster more exciting
game. - a
Softball - is on the rise. In some
parts of the country such .as
Florida, and Connecticut it out
ranks pro baseball in attedance.
And all because the fans prefer a
hustling spirited 1-0 game to a
drab 9-4 slugfest.
State's batting was consistent
inasmuch as it was quickly over
and of disastrous proportions.
Lacking Rustum Roy. who had
been unable to make the trip,
Vaughan and Dunbar opened the
innings for reasons best known
only to the captain who made the
selection.
DUNBAR LOOKED good but
unluckily 'chopped a bad ball on
to the stumps with the score at
four. Vaughan, with enough luck
for both of them, hit lustily for
eight runs. Denny batted solidly
for a valuable 12, and Hamilton
clouted. a few in Various direc
tions 'before nipping one toli the
wicket-keeper.
Leahy. the captain, really looks
like a batsman but in cricket
looks aren`f everything. A wild
stroke nutgide the off-stump gave
the wicket-keeper a straight
forward" catch.
Carrier connected for-five runs.
Qazi got a single somewhere, and
since Mehta hurt himself and
couldn't bat, the c 4nnings ,closed
for a total of 55, Penn State losing
by 95.
Rugged Ground Troops
Penn State backs rushed for
2,300 yards in I 0 regular-season
games last year. then added I:17
more against Gentgianech in the
- ,lator Bowl.
OK, THE STUFF
BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
STRAW HATS
Shorty P. J.'s
SWIM TIItUNKS
e te the Center ci Painsyivanii.
.53.99
HAS TO GO!
. 51.49
52.99
HABERDASHERY
‘.7ll°Pb
Grid Praclice Begins in One Week;
Successor to Hall Must Be Found
Rip Engle, who in 12 seasons at
the Penn State coaching helm has
almost three victories to show
for every defeat, invited 63 play
ers to return to campus for pre
season football drills which will
begin next Saturday.
From that group Engle must
find a worthy successor to quar
terback Galen Hall and must de
velop the "seconds" and "thirds"
he belieVes will be necessary if
his team hopes to match a '1961
record that saw his Ntttany Lions
post a 7-3 record, win the East
ern title. and AtOtip Georgia Tech
in,the Gator Bowl. -.
THE LION CHIEF is hank to
admit that his all-lettered tenta
tive starting eleven shapes up as
a strong one, but he rightfully
resists the suggestion that 11 out
standing players can succeed
against the likes 'of Navy. Air
Force, Rice, Army, Syracuse, Cali
fornia, Maryland, West Virginia,
Holy Cross. and Pittsburgh.
"We proved by our recent sue
cess with alternating units. and
specialists that it takes at least 25
or 30 good 'players to succeed on
our level of competition," Engle
said. "With potential problems
at end. guard. center, and among
linebackers, we must develop
depth quickly it we hope to come
close to last year's record."
The only question mark -ori
rEngle's - potentially' Atrgng first
unit" is at quarterback, where'
letterman ,Don Caum is a slight
favoriti over four other candi
dates--lettermen Pete Liske antU
Gary Wydnian and sophomores
Ron Coates and Frank -Pellet.
The battle for this position- looms
as the highlight of pre-seasoll
drills.
INCLUDED AMONG -the re
turnees :ire 20 players who kt
tered in 1961. and another—guard.-
Hob Hart—who lettered in '6O
- was limited to 33 minutes
last fall because of knee sur
geiy:
PAGE SEVEN