Events & Discoveries

Aside from the rather obvious fact that his club was in sixth place, what happened—really—to persuade Frank Lane to fire Bobby Bragan as manager of the Cleveland Indians? The day after the execution there wasn't much doubt in Bragan's mind about the reasons for it.

"Turnstiles," he said. "Just turnstiles, mostly. Frank Lane was all right. He was just fine, we were in unison on players. But theah was a lot of pressure on Frank from the directors. They were watchin' the turnstiles—not the team. Win or lose, nobody came to the games.

"If Herb Score's arm had been all right Ah truly believe we'd have been five games up from .500 instead of five games down—but it wouldn't have made 10,000 people difference in the attendance.

"It's a tough situation. When Hank Greenberg hired me, he said, 'A lot of people want Joe Gordon, he played heah a long time, the directors think he'd draw. But you're my man.' In Tucson an American League umpire told me, 'You think you had it tough in Pittsburgh, wait till Cleveland.'

"It ain't just winnin'—you gotta belong. Ah never did get into the pool over heah—I just walked around it and stuck mah foot in but I couldn't get under that water. As an old Cleveland hero, Joe Gordon belongs, but it's goin' to be tough for him, too. Ah'll say one thing, though—if he can't bring 'em in, it wouldn't help to recruit, well, one of the blessed saints."

What now, Mr. Bragan? "Ah got two offers from two minor league clubs—one Coast, one International, to take over right now."

Was Bragan prepared to settle for a minor league assignment?

"Temporarily, let us say," said Bragan, sounding entirely undismayed. "Aftuh gettin' fiahed twice in one year, the time may be at hand to regroup—to consolidate the forces, you might say."

Competitive Spirit

Remember that dusty sculpture depicted in your high school Latin book showing Romulus, Remus and the She-Wolf? Well, they have just been drafted for the 1960 Olympics in Rome. The Italian National Olympics committee has picked the old statuary cluster, over 248 other designs submitted in open competition, as the symbol of the XVIIth Olympiad.