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PU... ! SPORTS CLOSE-UPS By Ira Seebacher NEW YORK, N. Y., May 6.— Stung into 1 some sort of action, the powers that be in ] baseball did make something more than a | feeble effort in finding out just what it is that is wrong , with baseball. We are ! not quite sure there is ! anything wrong ba-1 j sically, or even that if | there is something . | wrong, the investiga- | j tion found out what it J is. But we do know, I merely, from counting heads, that a lot of people are just no longer interested. Tuesday night last, was a real test. It was a gloriously wonderful night, weatherwise. Neither hot nor cold nor muggy. Moreover, at Ebbets Field, the Dodgers were making their first home stand against a western club, the Cubs. At the Polo Grounds, the Milwaukee Braves were on deck for their first appearance. Moreover, at Brooklyn the setup was sweetened by the fact Sal Maglie was to pitch while Johnny Antonelli drew the starting assignment at the Polo Grounds. . . . One would think that this, being the first chance for a great many fans to see their club in action, theyd have turned out by the thousands. Well, the Brooks drew 7,300, although they even went to the length of making it Ladies Night. The Giants did somewhat better; they drew 13,800. Nevertheless, neither club drew_.well and in the 1 ] | ! j . | | | j J I instance of the Dodgers, they didnt even have an attendance large enough to insure paying expenses. Is it any wonder that Walter OMalley is considering moving? Who can blame him? He hears on all sides that he has the best franchise in base- ball. This is an oipinion contrary to the red -inked contradictions stated boldly in the clubs ledgers. This isnt to say that Brooklyn could not again be made the best franchise in baseball — or one of the best — but not while the club remains in Ebbets Field and not while TV brings the game into the living room for free. . . . One might point out that if Brooklyn thinks it once enjoyed the most faithful following in all baseball, it could be argued that there were others who felt the most lush setup was that of the Giants. Of course, long since has it been conceded that the club has been run downhill for too long a time to be able to boast owning a golden frnacihse any longer. After all, it is in the hub borough of the countrys largest city. It should have been a good franchise and it certainly was/ in the gold-rush days of John McGraw. It is still a very good franchise considering the value of the mechandise on display, but like Brooklyn, a large number of its fans have been permanently disillusioned and disaffected. Still, the difference is that the Giants could do very well again if they were to make a pennant drive of it, but the Dodgers who have just finished winning a pen- Continued on Page Fourteen I SPORTS CLOSE-UPS I By IRA SEEBACIIER Continued from Page Two nant still cant bring out the fans. It is something to wonder at. « * » With boxing at an ebb so low one has to stop to think who the champions are of the various divisions, hardly a stir was made by the announcement this week that Joe Brown, the lightweight champion who gained his crown by beating Bud Smith, will defend that crown against Orlando Zulueta some time in June and in Denver. Moreover, the promoter will not be the IBC, but a local gent named Joe Dupler who has not made his millions, if any, as did Jim Norris father, In the Chicago wheat pit. Consequently, we have no way of knowing just how responsible Mr. Dupler may be in the role of a championship fight promoter but even conceding that he stands high in Dun and Bradstreet, pays off 100 cents on the dollar, and calls every banker in Denver by his first name, the fact remains that Denver is hardly the seat of boxing in this country and that the tide of boxing is definitely on the ebb when a champion consents to show his wares somewhere out in the Rockies rather tha"n in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia or Detroit. Possibly this spells the beginning of the end for the IBC, which may well have been dealt a mortal blow by the courts which have ruled the IBC a monopoly. While we are perfectly willing to sit by and watch the plums fall to out-of-town promoters, sooner or later something sticky will occur and boxing will sport a new shiner. It can ill afford it.
