Dodgers Are Backed Heavily By R.A.F.
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| Source: "Tommy Henrich, right, crosses the plate after hitting a homer in the 1941 World Series. He is congratulated by Joe DiMaggio." Associated Press. |
Dodgers Are Backed Heavily By R.A.F.
By WILLIAM DOWNS
United Press Staff Correspondent
London, Oct. 1. — The boys who play for keeps over here like the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Out at the American Eagle squadron of the Royal Air Force there is plenty of Brooklyn money floating around—so much that on this side of the Atlantic the Yankees are only 4 to 3 favorites to win the World Series.
On other airdromes scattered throughout Britain, where members of the Royal Canadian Air Force operate, "the Bums" are being backed heavily with pounds, shillings and even pence by pilots and mechanics alike.
The most popular officers these days are the communications men, because it will be up to them, come 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night, to pull in from across the seas the play-by-play account from Yankee Stadium.
That will give the boys who will have daylight patrols over the continent time to get back and swing their thoughts across the ocean to the Bronx across the banks of the Gowanus.
And there probably will be many an American, Canadian or Australian flyer winging over Germany Wednesday night wishing that the tiny radio in his bomber could pick up America.
This was one year in Britain when Americans here could get the good—or the bad—news from the baseball front, and even many Englishmen have become ardent diamond fans as a result.
Frank Owen, editor of the Evening Standard, was responsible—but only by accident. One night, when his meager war-time sports page needed some "filler" copy, someone on the copy desk put in the baseball scores.
And after that, members of the American colony saw to it that the scores were carried daily. Later, two afternoon newspapers followed suit.
Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak once drew a whole paragraph of English prose—almost as much as a Joe Louis fight gets in these days of scarce newsprint. When the Yanks clinched the pennant, the Dodgers won last week—well, that was worth two paragraphs!
Now there's a campaign afoot to convince Mr. Owen to carry football scores.
