Two Old Pros

Tommy Henrich and Stan Musial, at the moment baseball's leading indispensable men, are alike in temperament and talent--except that Musial cannot sing.* Both are southpaws. Both are versatile outfielders, who have filled in at first base in emergencies (and forthwith won rank among the best first-basemen in their leagues). Unlike many other stars, they are specially distinguished by players and sportwriters as "old pros," team players without ego or flamboyance.

In St. Petersburg, Fla., where they both limbered up for the season (Henrich with the New York Yankees and Musial with the St. Louis Cardinals), they were less conspicuous than the greenest rookies. Nobody had to give them orders about getting in shape; they trained themselves. Many a player turns up at camp hog-fat; Musial, who had put himself on a winter schedule of two meals a day, reported five pounds underweight and built up to his normal 175. When the season began, Stan Musial dug in at the plate with his peculiar crouch. "He looks like a kid peeking around the corner to see if the cops are coming," explained one coach.

Cardinal Spark. As usual, 28-year-old Stanley Frank Musial, three times National League batting champion, was expected to spark the Cardinal attack. When he got off to a slow start the club sagged into seventh place. But last week, the indispensable Cardinal hit his stride and began to earn his $50,000 a year.

In Brooklyn, his big bat thumped out two home runs to knock the Dodgers out of first place (6-3). Next night, Musial's 14th-inning triple with two men on base upset the Dodgers again (7-4). In Boston, he connected for home run No. 9 to help beat the Braves, 8-1. Musial's batting average jumped 39 points in one week--to a healthy .297--and the Cardinals were within striking distance of the National League lead.

There was more early-season pennant talk in the American League where the Yankees, paced by Henrich, had rolled up a solid six-game lead. At 33, modest, Ohio-born Tommy Henrich was having a new experience; he was the Yankees' big wheel. The great Joe DiMaggio had held that role for nine years, but a bone spur put him out of action before the season opened (TIME, April 25).

Yankee Spark. Henrich really took over as the Yankees' leader two weeks after the opening. It was a tight moment, and Pitcher Joe Page had been summoned from the bullpen to cool off the aroused Boston Red Sox. As Page began the long trek to the mound, Henrich stepped up to him and said: "You hold it and I'll win it." Page did his part. Two innings later, with the Yanks trailing, 3-2, Henrich picked up a bat and smashed a home run into the rightfield seats, with one man on base, to win the game, 4-3. Page spread the story and a new feeling of confidence and cockiness hit the Yankees. Pitchers like Vic Raschi and Ed Lopat settled down to become the deadliest in the league, and the other hitters perked up. Henrich was sailing smoothly along this week with an average of .315.

In the dressing room, Henrich is the most imperturbable man on the squad. Although he makes $40,000 a year, Henrich is careful how he spends it, wears store suits and shirts (DiMaggio was always "a custom-made guy"). Henrich never volunteers advice to another Yankee, but when players come to him for help his blue eyes light up. Says one mate: "He's the kind of guy, you give him a watch and he'll take it apart and put it back together, and then write the watchmaker telling him what's wrong with it."

* Henrich, an accomplished tenor, is a member of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America.

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