Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1949)
Section Three The Battalion PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF A GREATER A&M COItLEGE Pre Registration Edition Volume 49 COLLEGE STATION (Aggieland), TEXAS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1949| Number 32 Grid Team Handicapped By Inexperience The men pictured above will have a great part of the responsibility in determining whether the 1949 Aggie team has a successful season or not. DICK TODD, upper left, played eight seasons with the Washington Redskins before he became t the Cadets’ new backfield coach last spring. DICK GARDEMAL of Port Arthur, upper right, is expected to handle the major share of the Ag gie quarterbacking this fall. BOB SMITH of Houston, lower left, is expected to be the out standing fullback on the Aggie team this year. Head coach HARRY STITELER, lower right, will oversee the whole operation. 7 Ti rjf'f Aggies to be in Running For ’50 Baseball Title r By BILL HAILE Marty Karow, whose varsity baseball team landed in the runner- up spot behind Texas University in the final conference baseball standings last spring, expects to field another good team when the grass begins to green again next year. Karow’s varsity nine next year will probably be made up mostly of second and third year men. Only three men were lost to graduation this year but their loss hit the team heavily. Gone are Cotton Lindloff, all conference second baseman, star second sacker, and heavy hitter, Russell Mays, rifle armed hot corner man, and Bobby Fretz, leading conference pitcher last spring. Fretz was the only pitcher to go through the season without losing a game. His six wins in six games were very important factors in bringing the Aggie nine to the second place spot in the confer ence race. Besides this, Fretz was a remarkably consistent hitter who played outfield when he wasn’t on the mound. Karow’s biggest problem in the coming season will be his pitching staff. There will be three letter- men pitchers back to help out on the mound along with a good crop of freshmen. Also returning to the team are Truett Mobley, a squad- man last season, and Albert Good- loe, who was ineligible in 1949. The returning lettermen pitch ers are Bruce Morisse, lefthano • er from Nordheim; Blanton Tay lor, right hander from Hondo; and Pat Hubert, right hander from Kingsville. Sophomore hurlers who are ex pected to see duty next spring are Bill Bybee, Amarillo, Bob Tank- ersley, San Antonio, and Sam Baseball coach, Marty Karow will be gunning for the SWC baseball crown this year. A&M was runner-up last season. Blanton, Beaumont. All of these freshmen earned numerals on the Fish team last season. The catching of the 1950 team should be good with two returning lettermen back for those duties. Returning are James “Cal” Calvert from Dallas and Bobby Graham from Houston. Graham was a sophomore last year and showed up very well under fire. Calvert will be playing out his last year of eligibility. Calvert was held out of play a great deal last year because of an operation just before the opening of the season. Both are fine catch ers and most of the 1950 catching duties will be divided between them. Over on first base will be Hershel Maltz, Blanton Taylor or possibly a sophomore up from last season’s Fish team. As yet the position isn’t sewed up. Maltz is a good defensive first sacker but his hitting isn’t up to par. Taylor, who is a good pitcher, is also a good first base- man and a long ball hitter like his buddy from Hondo, Stan Hollmig of the Philadelphia Phillies. Covering the keystone sack will be Joe Savarion, a letterman soph omore from the 19^9 team. Last year Savarion helped Lindloff at second as well as filling in at short stop when needed. There are two good men up from the Fish nine that will give Sav- arino a run for the position. They are Lester Lackey and Joe Ecrette. Back to take over the short stop position will be Guy Wal lace, all-conference short stop in 1949. This summer in semi-pro ball, Wallace is hitting well into the .400’s, has stolen 19 bases and driven in 39 runs. This re port goes to the middle of Aug ust and his record should be even higher Avhen the season is over. The hot corner is wide open to the best man. Russel Mays left the varsity without a good substitute. There are four men that will try out for that spot and the top con tenders for the position are Sug McPherson, letterman outfielder last season, and Charles Oper- steny, a Fish numeral winner last year. Returning to the gardens are two varsity lettermen, John De- Witt and Wallace Moon. Trying out for the fielder positions will be several freshmen of last year. The (See BASEBALL, Page 8) Sixteen Lettermen Return For Duty As we anxiously await the kickoff that is to bring the Texas Aggies face to face with the Villanova Wildcats, we hear from different circles within the sport’s world that it is inconceivable to believe that Coach Harry Stiteler’s team may be considered a contender for the ’49 SWC championship. Anyone who has followed and-t studied the facts that go to make up the history of this rough and tumble conference will know that not until the final compilation of this season’s facts and figures, will any sports scribe official, or arm chair quarterback, know just who is the winner of the nation’s great est grid scramble. We do know that anything can and probably will happen. We do not believe that we are being ov erly optimistic in taking this at titude about our team. We know the players—what they can do, what they can’t do. Handicap: Inexperience The team will have as its init ial handicap, the inexperience of sophomore gridmen. The travel ling squad will be dominated by 18 and 19-year-old men who have just this summer made the transition from the ranks of the freshmen and ineligibles. This will leave the team loaded with question marks, some of which may not be solved until the season is well under way. There are no soft spots in the schedule that has been designed for a team that is rated through out the nation as the one most un likely to succeed. To overcome these staggering obstacles that have been set before (See FOOTBALL, Page 3) Irvin Is in First Grid Year As Athletics Head Entering his first football season at A&M in his new position is Barlow (Bones) Irvin, Aggie athletic director. A member of the Class of ’26, Irvin assumed his duties July 8 when his predecessor, W. R. (Bill) Carmicha<(, resigned to become superintendent of schools in Bryan. At the time of his appointment, Irvin was Fish football and track coach on the A&M coaching staff. Born in Cotulla, Texas, 44 years ago, Irvin’s name was first as sociated with football when he played guard for the old Main Avenue High School in San An tonio in 1918 after he had moved to that city. Coming to A&M in 1921, Irvin played three years as a guard on Aggie elevens between 1922 and 1925. All Conference Stiteler Is In Second Year As Ag Grid Coach Harry Stiteler, the little prematurely gray man who graduated from A&M in 1931, is entering his second year as head football coach here at A&M. Stiteler, the man whose job it is to bring A&M’s football fortunes out of the chaos created by WW II, first took over his all-important position in the spring of 1948 after Homer Norton’s x-esignation. Previous to that he had been as sistant football coach here. Stiteler’s record of coaching is long and outstanding. Graduating from A&M in 1931, he went to Smithville, his home town and be came assistant* football coach. The next yeai’, he took over the head coaching job at Bellville High School and held that position through 1933. In his two years there, his teams placed second in the district once and won the dis trict title once. In 1934, Stiteler went back to Smithville as head football coach and established an enviable record for a man so shortly out of college. From 1934 through 1937, his teams won the regional title twice, won the district title once, and tied for the district once. In 1938, he took over the helm of the Corpus Christi High School grid team and it won the state title that year. His next three years there, his teams went to the state semi-finals once, won the bi-district once, and placed second in the district. Going to Waco in 1942, Stiteler improved his coaching record more. Waco won the bi-district that year, went to the state quartei’finals in 1943 and 1944, and tied with High land Park for the state champion ship in 1945. In 1946, he went to Rice as as sistant football coach and came to A&M in 1947. While here at A&M as a stu dent, Stiteler lettered three years in ti’ack and earned one numeral in football. In 1931, he was the conference pole vault champion. He was president of the Texas High School Coaches Association in 1942. Stiteler is married and has a son and a daughter. Fish Footballers Play Three Here All three of the 1949 home foot ball games of the A&M Fish team will be night tilts starting at 7:30 p. m., Athletic Director Barlow Irvin has announced. The schedule: Oct. 6—Weatherford JC here. Oct. 13—Baylor Cubs here. Oct. 20—TCU Wogs here. Nov. 11—Rice Owlets in Hous ton Nov. 19—Texas Shorthorns in Austin. He was named all-conference guard while playing here. After' graduating, he played two years of pro ball for Buffalo. In 1930, Irvin became head foot ball coach at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and stayed there two years. In that period, his teams won 17 of 20 games played. In 1932, he returned to A&M to serv6 as assistant football coach under Matty Bell. In 1933, he was made line coach. While here, the Aggie lines he turned out were noted as some as the best that have ever been fielded at A&M. When Homer Norton became head coach here in 1934, Irvin resigned and returned to San An tonio where he was appointed line coach and track coach at Bracken- ridge High School. In 1942, he became head football coach and head track coach at Thomas Jefferson High School in the same city. During his six years there, his football teams won 48 games, lost 16, and tied three, advancing to the state quarter-finals twice and to the state finals in 1946. His track teams won the state high school championship once, finished second twice, third once and fifth once. Irvin lived up to his reputation last year when his Fish football team compiled a 4-1 record, the best that a first-year team has done in quite a few years. “Bones” acquired his nickname while he was seven years old. He was recovering from a severe ill ness and one of his friends des cribed him as just “skin and bones.” The name has stayed with him throughout the years although it cannot be said that it aptly ap plies to his looks now. Irvin is married and has two sons, 12 and 19 years of age. AGGIES’ [949 SCHEDULE Sept. 17 — VILLANOVA COLLEGE at College Station. (Night game.) Sept. 24 — TEXAS TECH at San Antonio. (Night game.) Oct. 1—UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA at Norman, Oklahoma. Oct. 8 — LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY at Ba ton, Rouge, Louisiana. (Night game.) *Oct. 15—TEXAS CHRIS TIAN UNIVERSITY at Fort Worth. *Oct. 22 —BAYLOR UNI VERSITY at College Station. *Oct. 29 — UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS at Fayette ville, Arkansas. *Nov. 5—SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY at College Station. **Nov. 12—RICE INSTI TUTE at Houston. # Nov. 24 — TEXAS UNI VERSITY at College Station. * Denotes conference games. Kyle Field Stadium Finished In 1931 at Cost of $340,000 By BILL POTTS Kyle Field Stadium, around which all Aggies’ interest centers about this time every year, is the culmination of many years work by a great number of people. When interest in football began rising at A&M during the last decade of the 19th century, intra squad games were played on the ground in front of Ross Hall where the YMCA now stands. Later, games were held at the Brazos County Fair Grounds which was situated where Kaz- meier’s Chicken Farm is now lo cated on College Avenue. It was there in 1902 that the Ag gies were given the title of “foot ball champions of the south” af ter they had defeated Tulane. In 1905, a new football stadium was opened and named Kyle Field in honor of various members of the Kyle family that were active in promoting athletics at A&M. The new field ran east and west instead of north and south as it does now. The college bought the wooden grandstands that had been at the Brazos County Fair Grounds and had them moved to the new field on the campus. At different times during the first few years, addi tions were made to the stands un til their capacity was well over 2000. In 1908, the Battalion spon sored an election for the student body so that it could choose a name for the field which was hailed as the “finest in the state.” The name Kyle was se lected and ceremonies were held to dedicate the area which in cludes Kyle Field Stadium, De- Ware Field House, P. L. Downs Natatorium, and the Baseball Stadium. The modern concrete stadium now stands crosswise on the ap proximate position where the old wooden stands were. This modern stadium was built in sections and the last was fin ished in 1931; built in a horseshoe shape, the south end was left open. The most tireless worker on this project was James Sullivan, business manager of the Athle tic Department from 1919 to 1931. When he was made busi ness manager in 1919, there was no concrete stadium on Kyle Field. When he left the depart ment in 1931, the stadium had been built at a cost of $340,- 967.75. This accomplishment, according to the 1931 Longhorn, was a direct result of James Sullivan’s zeal and foresight in business management. Sullivan lived to see the stadium completely paid for after the big football season of 1941. A x'ecent addition of the facili ties of Kyle Field are the new dressing x-ooms built under the west stands of the stadium. Containing offices for all the coaches of the staff, a large class room, a dressing room for the varsity football squad, one for the freshmen football squad, and a training room complete with all necessary physical ther apy equipment which is the most modern in the southwest. The name Kyle Field has be come synonymous with Aggie ath letic teams and is a revered name in any Aggie’s memory. Its fame is known throughout the southwest as a place where the Aggies are toughest to whip and many teams arrive to play the Aggies here, Confident that they will win, only to find out that Kyle Field is too tough for them. It is an inspiration to all A&M men. There are many stories float ing around about Kyle Field and the many teams that have met their doom on it, but one of the best is connected with the 1939 A&M-Texas University game. It seems that a bunch of the boys from the “forty acres” load ed a truck with dirt from Memor ial Stadium in Austin and trans ported it to Aggieland. They spread the Austin soil on Kyle Field the night before Thanksgiving Day and went home with the assurance loved Longhorns would win the game with ease because A&M had never been able to overcome the Memorial Stadium jinx. The TU boys’ efforts went in vain because the next day the Aggies smashed Texas 20-0, on Kyle Field and the transported Memorial Stadium dirt. Incidentally, that was the last time that the Aggie football team beat the Longhorns.