Babies at Vero Beach

As the rookie digs in at the plate, the sun-soaked fans at Vero Beach, Fla. nudge each other and lean forward. Down on the field, leathery veterans turn away from their pepper games and sliding drills to watch. When the Los Angeles Dodgers' Frank Howard, 23, puts the power of his 6-ft. y-in., 240-lb. body behind the swing of his 37-in. bat, he can smash drives that make infielders repent choosing their profession, and send outfielders scrambling back to the orange groves. Says Dodger Coach Pete Reiser: "I've never seen anyone hit the ball like Howard, and I saw Kiner when he came up, and Greenberg in his prime."

The most celebrated rookie in years, Howard already has the stuff of legend. Playing for Victoria last year in the Class AA Texas League, Howard hit one ball that was finally tracked to a neighboring golf course--some 600 ft. from the plate. With the Dodgers last week, Howard reached out one-handed for a wild pitch, knocked it 360 ft. over the leftfield wall. But First Baseman-Outfielder Howard may not even be with the Dodgers after the roster is slashed: he lacks polish, still has trouble with change-up pitches, goes after bad balls, is a tanglefoot in the field. And the World Champion Dodgers can ill afford the sort of mistakes Howard would surely make if they are to keep their title against strengthened opposition. The top three challengers:

P: The San Francisco Giants, needing another starting pitcher, traded for Baltimore's Billy O'Dell, 27, who had a fine E.R.A. of 2.94 last year and a 10-12 record. Needing a second baseman, they got one of the best and a crack lead-off man to boot: St. Louis' Don Blasingame (.289) who should score freely, batting ahead of Willie Mays (.313), Willie McCovey (.354) and Orlando Cepeda (.317)P: The Milwaukee Braves have New Manager Chuck Dressen, a nonstop talker and one of baseball's finest tacticians, to shake new life into aging but still skilled veterans. Fatal flaw of the Braves last year was the hole at second base. This spring Red Schoendienst, 37, back from a bout with TB, is trying to plug the hole. P: The well-balanced Pittsburgh Pirates depend in the end on Pitcher Bob Friend, who had a miserable season last year (8-19). This spring, with Friend apparently back on the track, the Pirates ripped off ten straight victories.

Faced with such opposition, the Dodgers make a point of coddling their young. Time was when major-league rookies grew so tense under the pressure that Baltimore Manager Paul Richards can recall one shortstop who fell in a dead faint when a ball came his way. But at the Dodgers' training camp, Manager Walter Alston confines his criticism of Howard to such laconic reproaches as, "Wait until you see the ball before you swing." Shrugs hard-bitten Veteran Outfielder Carl Furillo: "Now it's all brotherly love with the Dodgers. I've got to pat the head of some goddam busher who'll take my job away."

The in-acre Vero Beach camp is thus bouncing with baseball babies. Aside from Howard, Negro Outfielder Tommy Davis, 21, can cover 60 yds. wearing baseball gear in 6.3 sec. (world track record: 6.1 sec.), last year was top hitter (.345) in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Even faster is Outfielder Willie Davis (no kin), 19, who last season led the California League with .365. Moreover, the Dodgers' regular lineup is a young one, including Centerfielder Don Demeter, 24, Catcher John Roseboro, 26, Shortstop Maury Wills, 27, and six top pitchers who average out at a sprightly 26.

Surrounded by so much young talent, Manager Alston cannot help taking the long view. Says he: "If these prospects are as good as they look, we ought to be safe for years to come."

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