Little Lefthander

To a baseball scout, the ideal pitcher is a rangy, muscular six-footer who can rear back and burn the ball across the plate all afternoon. Such a man was Lefty ("Old Mose") Grove (6 ft. 1 1/2in., 170 Ibs.), the pitcher who in 1931 won 31 games (four losses) for the Philadelphia Athletics. When the Athletics' Scout Ira Thomas, still in search of a new-day Grove, took a look at stocky (5 ft. 7 in., 143 Ibs.) Bobby Shantz, he echoed other scouting reports on the little lefthander: "The general opinion is that Shantz is too small." But, added the baffled scout: "You can't discount the fact that despite his size, he beats everyone."

Last week, in his fourth year as a major leaguer (and only his fifth in organized baseball), "Jumbo" Shantz was still beating everyone. He was the first pitcher in either league to win eleven games (one loss). Off and running at a faster clip than Grove's fabulous 1931 pace, blond, blue-eyed Bobby Shantz, 26, is getting the ultimate compliment from buzzing Philadelphia fans: "As good as Grove." On the early season record, he is better: in six of his victories he allowed only one run or less; his earned-run average is an impressive 1.72.

Sensational Debut. Son of a Pottstown (Pa.) semi-pro player, Southpaw Shantz was first noticed, at 19, in Philadelphia's semi-pro Quaker City League, where he was a 9-1 pitcher and batted .485, playing center field in his off-pitching days. That was in 1944. He spent the next two seasons in the Army. Back in the Quaker City League in 1947, he improved his pitching (14-0), his batting (up to .497), and kept busy on weekends by pitching another team, Souderton, to the Eastern Penn League championship with eight more victories.

The A's, finally convinced, signed the little lefthander to pitch the 1948 season for Lincoln (Neb.) in the Class A Western League, brought him up to the majors the next year. Injuries to two regular Philadelphia pitchers gave Shantz his first chance. He made the most of it with the most sensational pitching debut in the history of the major leagues. Coming in as a reliefer, he pitched a full nine innings of no-hit ball, beat the Detroit Tigers 5-4 in 13 innings.

Fifth Infielder. Despite his start. Shantz finished the 1949 season with a 6-8 record. Next year he was 8-14. For the first half of last year he was still only so-so (8-8). Then he suddenly blossomed, won ten of his next twelve games, and was the American League's most effective pitcher for the last half of the 1951 season.

Besides his pinpoint control, sweeping curve and baffling knuckler, Shantz has a sneaky fast ball that draws "ohs" and "ahs" from the fans whenever he lets it go. Old (89) Connie Mack, who has seen them all, calls him "the greatest fielding pitcher I ever saw." As a major leaguer, Shantz has allowed only two bunts to become hits. Says Manager Jimmy Dykes: "Anyone who bunts against Shantz is nuts. Bobby comes off that mound like a cat at a mousehole. When he's pitching we have five infielders." Dykes's one "complaint" about his little lefthander is made with a wide grin: "The only trouble with Shantz is his frailness. He can't pitch every day."

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