view raw text
FRANK LANE — White Sox general manager receives word of advice from Biliy Evans, of the Detroit Tigers. Evans Warns Lane of Final Drive Recalls How Tigersj Lost in September Reveals Details of Pierce For Robinson Deal; Thinks Evers Will Overcome Slump By MILTON RICHMAN United Press Sports Writer NEW YORK, N. Y., June 18.— General manager Billy Evans of Detroit, a fellow who knows how it feels to be on top, today warned general manager Frank Lane of the league-leading White Sox to "beware of the Ides of September." "Sure, Frank can afford to strut now," Evans grinned, like a man who knows, "but let him wait until September before he starts thinking in terms of a pennant. "I know how he feels now," Evans added. "Dont forget, we were on top ourselves for 133 days last season, but then came September and the roof caved in. IT he takes my advice, he should fortify himself now for the inevitable Ides of September." While on the subject of Lane jand the White Sox, Evans recalled how he turned over pitcher Billy Pierce to them in November, 1948. "We were desperate for a catcher at the time," Evans said, "and the White Sox were willing to give up Aaron Robinson. "We wanted a catcher who we could defend on for at least three seasons and Robinson turned out to be exactly that for us. Anyway, Lane said we would have to give up Ted Gray for Robinson but we didnt like that idea too much. Offered to Buy Pierce Back "Finally, he settled on Pierce and we threw in 0,000 just to keep Lane from hollering that we beat him on the deal. Then, we heard that Lane still figured we had beat him on the deal so we offered to buy back Pierce, but he said nothing doing. Dont let anyone tell you he doesnt know- what hes doing." The subject turned from the White Sox to the Tigers and Evans sadly admitted that Detroit wasnt quite strong enough to be a legitimate pennant threat. "Hoot Evers batting slump has hurt us a lot," he admitted. "We thought he would snap out of it but he didnt. Hes such a fine fellow, too, that you cant help but feel sorry for him. "We think Evers is pressing too much. We know he felt badly that he didnt begin hitting right away and then he began to press at the plate. That only made it worse." Evans revealed that Evers is the third highest-salaried outfielder in the American League and that the Tigers were sure he eventually would regain his former batting skill. "Hes too good a ball player to be shackled for long," Evans said. "He may take a while to come around but were all sure that he will." While- talking about the Bengals, Evans said that Virgil "Fire" Trucks arm is perfectly all right again but even so, opposing clubs have been teeing off on him. "Trucks is as fast as he has ever been,/ Evans said, "and his return to the staff will help us considerably." That should come as bad news to seven other American League clubs because, when he was "right" in 1949, the husky fireball pitcher won 19 games for Detroit and led the league with 153 strikeouts. "Yes," sighed Evans, "better days should be ahead for us." Then, unable to resist, he added laughingly, "But Lane and his White Sox ought to watch out for those awful Ides of September."
