Desert Sun, Volume 38, Number 236, 7 May 1965 — BOOED, BENCHED AND RIDICULED Dr. Strangeglove' Is Immune [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BOOED, BENCHED AND RIDICULED Dr. Strangeglove' Is Immune

NEW YORK (UPI) - They etn’t hurt Dick Stuart anymore because he already has been drained dry of all emotion. That's what he claims, anyway. There were poignant, hearttuggmg pictures in many papers showing Johnny Blanchard sobbing uncontrollably the other night after the New York Yankees traded him to the Kansas City A’s, but Stuart promises there never will be any such picture of him. “Tve had everything bad happen to me that could possibly happen to a ballplayer,” reflected the 32-year-old first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. ‘Tve been booed, benched, ridiculed for my fielding and been traded. I’ve been ~at on every way you can think of They can’t think of anything else to do that I know of. “My mother always told me. *(ry to think everything happens for the best.’ And that’s the way I try to think. If you don’t think positively >n this world- you’re licked, right?”

This sudden soul-searching on the part o{ Stuart came about j because he had been benched \ by manager Gene Mauch. What made it even worse was that he remained on the bench j even when the Mets used lefthander A 1 Jackson against the Phils Tuesday night, “1 sat him down,” said Mauch, “because he wasn’t I playing like 1 expected." Stuart was surprised but he wasn't angry. “I’ve been benched before," he said. “Who am I to argue with the manager? I did it once before with (Johnny) Pesky and I got in trouble. So now I’m keeping my mouth shut. “1 can’t really understand why he did it, though,” he went on. “For an established

player making the kind of money I'm making, it’s hard to figure. "They made a big fuss about me when they got me from Boston, over the Winter and now they sit me down after 13 games. “It doesn’t make sense to me. I had a good senes against Los Angeles and that club has a good pitching staff. 1 went six-for-13 and drove in five runs against the Dodgers. I even raised mv average ,tc .300. ‘‘From there we went to San Francisco. I played there tyvo days and looked bad. Then I looked bad the first two days in Milwaukee and he bencncd me for the rest of the senes.” If you were to put the big guy on the rack you never could get him to admit that hta fielding is. well, for the want of two better words, plain lousy. He thinks it's adequate although he doesn’t get upset when critics coin such unflattering nicknames for him as

“Dr. Strangeglove” and “old iron fingers.’’ “I don’t let names like that bug me.’’ he said. ‘Tm easygoing. The only one I ever get mad at is myself. I know my fielding can be improved and I work at it. Nobody ever says anything when I make some real good plays and I've made some already this season.” Mauch likewise sees little humor in the gags about Stuart’s defensive ability and any time someone mentions “Dr. Strangeglove”. in front of th e Philadelphia manager he savs coldly: “It’s not a joking matter.” That’s easy enough lo understand Most people merely laugh at Stuart’s fielding. But poor Mauch has to sit the'-e and watch it every day.

DICK STUART