Out of the Bottle

People have asked me many times about what happened that day, in that seventh-inning clutch, when Alexander was called in from the bullpen to relieve Haines. They wanted to know what I said and what Alex said, and whether he had a gin bottle out there in the bullpen.

--Rogers Hornsby

The Rajah never bothered to deny that Grover Cleveland Alexander had sipped a few before he took over from Haines and struck out Yankee Tony Lazzeri to save the 1926 World Series for the Cardinals. It seemed a workable way of staying calm in the clutch. Now there is another way.

No manager would tolerate a gin bottle in dugout or bullpen. So what explained the sudden spurt of skill of Detroit Third Baseman Reno Bertoia? For two full seasons, and even this spring, Bonus Baby Bertoia sometimes performed like a crossfoot clown in the field and was too tense at bat to hit his hat size. Still, as the season started, Bertoia was given the nod over Jim Finigan to play third. He has yet to make an error, and at week's end he was second in the American League in batting with a hefty .375 (behind Boston's Ted Williams' .385).

Last week Reno explained. "I swallow one little white tranquilizer pill a half hour before each game. Occasionally, if things get a little tense, I'll take the top off my bottle and take another."

Reno's release from tension was first suggested by former Giant Mel Ott, now a Detroit sportscaster, who noticed that tenseness was hurting Bertoia's swing at the plate. Tiger Trainer Jack Homel took the message to Reno, and the young man (22) promptly tried Equanil, later switched to Sedamyl. Reno, it turned out, was not the first Detroit athlete to try tranquilizers. Says Osteopath Richard Thompson, team physician for the Detroit Lions football team: "We used them on at least five Lions last year, and we intend to continue to use them." The Tigers' Dr. Luther Leader thinks that Bertoia can soon dispense with the pills. Says Reno: "I wouldn't give them up for the world--not with this batting average."

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