Scorecard

THE SHADOW (CONT.)
Although the AFL has evinced little interest in the fact that some bookies are refusing to take big bets on games involving certain AFL teams (SI, Nov. 14), the NFL is not so unconcerned. Last week William Hundley, the NFL's chief investigator, was nosing around in Houston for two days. Hundley heard conflicting stories, and the investigation is still in progress. Meanwhile, the apprehensive bookies continue to shy away from AFL action; in fact, last week one wouldn't handle anything but the New York-Buffalo game.

THE THIRD WHAT?

Walter J. Dilbeck of Evansville, Ind. is the president of Walter Dilbeck Enterprises, a firm that deals chiefly in Kentucky real estate; Dilbeck lost his Indiana real estate license in 1955. Last year Dilbeck was briefly in the news when he offered to buy the Kansas City A's for $10 million and was turned down, so Dilbeck is now forming the Global League, which, he says, will be a third major league and will play ball in 1968. Don't laugh. Dilbeck's thinking of forming a fourth league.

At Dilbeck's invitation, representatives from Milwaukee, New York, Phoenix, Evansville, Indianapolis, St. Paul, Cincinnati, Chicago, San Juan and Manila foregathered in Evansville last month to hear Dilbeck tell them how they could play in his league by posting $50,000 for a franchise and a $1 million performance bond.

Dilbeck said stadiums would be no problem; Memphis and Seattle, among others, were building new ones. Evidently, he didn't know that blueprints call for enlarging Memphis' present ballpark from 2,300 to 7,500 seats and that Seattle voters recently turned down a bond issue for a new stadium. As for players, Lincoln Hackim, president of the American Amateur Baseball Congress, was on hand to say that "amateur players are available," and Mickey Martin, an Evansville resident who captained Murray State's baseball team last spring, said there are "plenty of players with pro potential in college."

Said Dilbeck: "We can find better players than there are in the major leagues. I'd say there are only 20 or so in each league who would be good enough to play in our league."

Said Vincente Corea of the Philippine consulate in Chicago: "Our people in Manila are very much interested and enthusiastic about your plan. Today we use the butt of a gun to settle differences; perhaps next year, or in two years, we'll swing a baseball bat."

Perhaps. In 1958 Dilbeck ran for mayor of Evansville, campaigning on a mule and passing out free barbecue in saloons. He polled 586 votes.

MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED

This week the Dallas Cowboys are second in the NFL's Eastern Division. Their eminence is not so much attributable to signing All-Americas as it is to culling the overlooked, unappreciated and unwanted—the free agents, 15 of whom are now on the Cowboys' roster. Two regulars, Cornerback Cornell Green and Split End Pete Gent, played basketball in college, while Safety Mike Gaechter was primarily a track man. And Dan Reeves, who is second in the league in scoring, wasn't even picked on the 20th and final round of the draft. What, for example, did Dallas see in Reeves that the other 14 teams didn't? "Just say we're lucky," says Gil Brandt, the Cowboys' scouting director.