Evening Star Newspaper, December 26, 1928, Page 31

SP ORTS THE EVENIN STAR., WASH NGTON, D. C. WEDNESDAY, 'DECEMB'ER 26, 1928. SPORTS. Sii = Third Base Shifts to Be Numerous in Majors : Hornsby’s.387 Leads N. L. Batsmen BUT 3 OF 16 CLUBS SURETOSTANDPAT Only Giants, Phillies and Chi- sox Likely to Retain Hot Corner Guardians. BY BRIAN BELL, Associated Press Sports Writer. EW YORK, December 26.—One of the big base ball upheavals of 1920 seems about to take place at a corner of the in- field—third base. On the 16 major league clubs only three third- sackers are fixtures for the next cam- paign. Fred Lindstrom of the Giants, Pinky Whitney of the Phillies and Willie Kamm of the White Sox will be re- elected without opposition. Lindstrom is a terrific hitter and fielding genius, Whitney was the best young ball player the Phillies have found in years and Kamm has shown that he is worth all the Sox paid San Francisco for him in | 1922, The St. Louis Cardinals are commit- ted to a scheme to move Frankie Frisch from second base to third and Pittsburgh is understood to have a plan under advisement by which Pie Traynor would be transferred from third to short. The Pirates’ decision probably will depend on the performances of Stroner, a third baseman purchased from Wiehita. The youngster, in the Western League, made 41 home runs, 10 triples and 42 doubles, finishing with a batting average of .367. If he can hit half as many home runs in the National League he may get the third base assignment. Joe Stripp, who finished the season at third base for Cincinnati, seems to have the call for the regular job and Brooklyn probably will start with Wal- ter Gilbert, who was stationed at third in the latter stages of the 1928 war. With Glenn Wright to play shortstop Dave Bancroft may become a third baseman to further complicate the sit- uatlon in the nest of the Robins. Trade Rumors Name Bell. Lester Bell, who played third in all $he games the Braves engaged in last season, may take up where he left off, although almost every time a rumor is blown forth by the trade winds Bell's name is mentioned. The third-base situation on the world champion Yankees remains to be clari- fled. Dugan has gone and close ob- | servers doubt tbat Manager Miller Hug- gins expects to transfer Mark Koenig from short to third or turn the job over to the rather immature Jule Wera. Detroit may have to make a trade for 8 third baseman unless Manager Bucky Harris, a lifelong second sacker, at- tempts to learn new tricks. Marty Mc- Manus and Chick Galloway are avail- able, but neither seems tagged to get the call regularly. ‘The Red Sox got two inflelders, Bob Reeves and Grant Gillis, from Washing- ton for Myer and one may take his place at third. The place seems open on the Browns' infield and Cleveland is reported about to shift Joe Sewell with Jackie Tavener, the former Tiger, tak- ing the place at short. The Athletics split the job three ways in 1928, with Hale, Dykes and Foxx performing, and the same progress may be followed in 1929. IMPORTANT HOCKEY TRIUMPHS SCORED By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, December 26.—The New York Americans, Chicago Black- hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League celebrated the holiday last night by scoring victories of more than usual importance. The Americans turned in a triumph they had awaited all through last sea- son and so far this year, beating the Rangers, 1 to 0. The Americans lost every contest to their fellow townsmen last year and tied in this year's first clash. The victory also gave the Ameri- cans an undisputed hold on first place in the international group standing as the Montreal Maroons, who had been tied with ‘them, lost. “Rabbit” McVeigh, acrobatic little forward of the Americans, played the hero role of the game, scoring the only 1;/gl.l close to the end of the game. For e Rangers it was the first defeat in seven games and the fourth of the sea- son. However, they still lead the Ameri- can group by a 3-point margin over Detroit. Chuck Gardiner, who was released by the Canadians to manage Chicago, made his first appearance on the ice | since he received official position to serve in the tottering Blackhawks’ goal and played an important part in Chicago’s 2-to-1 triumph over Boston. Dick Irvin and Alex McKinnon tallied the goals that brought the Blackhawks thelr third victory of the season. ‘Toronto staged a scoring spree to re- verse the decision of last Thursday ‘with a 4-to-1 triumph over the Montre- al Maroons. The Canadian rivals staged a real battle on the ice with 23 penal- ties and a flock of injuries coming out of it. “Red” Horner of Toronto was forced out early in the game with a broken hand, his teammate, Art Smith, received a cut scalp while Dave Trot- tier of the Maroons received a gashed neck. Manager Connie Smythe got a souvenir of the fray in the form of a $100 fine for protesting a decision. The Leafs moved into fourth place in the international group, a point ahead of Ottawa, by winning. THREE HOCKEY PLAYERS TIED FOR SCORING LEAD | MONTREAL, December 26 (F).— Howie Morenz, dashing center of the| Montreal Canadians, who ran away with | high scoring honors in the National | Hockey League last season, again is| forging to the top. | In the latest official statistics, includ- | ing games of last Sunday, Morenz is | tied with Nels Stewart of the Maroons and “Ace” Bailey of Toronto for the top | of the scoring column. ! The scoring leaders: Goals. Assists. Points. s ) 3t i1 ewart, Maroons. wnnmoSl Burch, Americans Joliat. Canadiens Blair. Toronto Bmith, NORTHERN PREPS CHANGE TEAM TO FACE PALACE | It is probable that Northern Preps will make two changes in their line- up when they face Palace A. C. Sunday at 2 o'clock in Union Park in the game to determine the 135-pound champion- | ship of the Capital City Foot Ball League. Palace, which downed the Preps last Sunday, 6 to 2, to get on even terms srvaaaan PO with Northerns probably will make no | changes. Ercole Leonardo, manager, will be at | | an end post after having been out all season, because of bad health and Harrell Miller will fill the halfback post held by Pete Dyer who was injured last Bunday. ‘There are 8,000,000 bridge players in the United States, THERE’S AT LEAST ONE IN EVERY OFFICE. ] Tom < 1 wisH You'D' CoME Dow ‘To THE OFFICE TODAY AND MEET THE MEMBERS OF THE FIRM -, S \ Q)KE - DAD / DANCES — WELL WELL HELLO Sue--! SAY' How ABOUT TeAa AT FOUR AND A COUPLE WOT SAY . HELLO A SHoW HELLO THERE MARY SAY You'RE LOOKING SWELL- HOWJA LIKE To BE MY LADY OF Tue EVENING To- MORROW NIGHT = ALL TRE HIGH o SPoTS -~ wWoT woT -/ N i (w10 38 | THRILLED | To PiECES T()M - Down the Line With W. 0. McGEEHAN: An Engineering Game. ROPOSALS for some weird and wonderful changes in intercollegiate foot ball are to be brought up at the foot ball coaches’ meeting at New Or- leans this week. Pop Warner, coach of Stanford University, is charged with contemplating proposing the weirdest change of all. Perhaps I am wronging Mr. Warner, and, if the idea is not his, apologies are extended in advance. The plan, as I read it, is to change the sys- tem of scoring games by eliminating credits for the touchdowns and the points after touchdown and allowing one point for each first down. This would eliminate the melodrama of the last stand on the one-yard line and the final swarming across the line with the touchdown. In fact, according to this plan, the matter of scoring a touchdown would not count unless, of course, the scoring included the making of a first down. It would reduce the game to an accumulation of yardage made by rushes and the yardage ‘would not count for anything unless it was accumulated 10 yards at a time. If the game is to be a contest of yardage it does seem a bit unfair that yardage should count only when it results in first downs. For instance, 9 yards, or even 9 yards 2 feet and 11 inches, would mean nothing at all in the new scheme. It would be a case of the full 10 or nothing. Since it seems impossible that this plan will be considered, I would propose an amendment to the effect that every foot and even every inch gained by rush-~ ing should be counted in the general scoring. This would make the matter much more complicated for the linesmen, of course, but the idea seems to be to make the game more complicated anyhow, so why not go the entire route? The matter of linesmen could be adjusted by impressing expert surveyors into these positions. It might clutter up the side lines with transits and other instruments, but what of it? In this manner it would be assured that neither team would be done an injustice. When a game might be decided by inches it ‘would not do to leave any possible dispute. The score of a game under these rules would read something like this: Yale, 215 yards 2 feet 9 inches. Harvard, 214 yards 1 foot 3 inches. And that would be anybody’s idea of quite a close game. The only trouble would be that Harvard old grads would be around insinuating that one of the linesmen constantly shifted his transit during the game to favor Yale. You could not possibly avold incriminations and recriminations of this sort under the new rules any more than you can avoid ill feeling under the present rules. Of course, if the game were a very close one, as in the mythical game recorded above, the spectators might have to remain in doubt until the next day in regard to the victorious team. The result could not be given out until all the linesmen, surveyors and engineers got together and prepared their figures. However, it would stimulate interest in mathematics and engineering among some of the undergraduates, who might amuse themselves during the progress of the game by making their own calculations and guessing as to the result. The final check-up by the official linesmen would show them just how far off they were. ‘Would Prevent Ties. Before passing aside the suggestion for foot ball by yardage, it might be well to consider its advantages, if any. Certainly it would make a tie game seem almost impossible. This would make it popular with many old grads who deplore tie games—for reasons best known to themselves. There are some difficulties in keeping the exact score of yards gained by rushing, especially if the game should be in any way close. The surveying instruments would have to be set at the proper angle in order that neither team should be given credit for any progress made in a lateral direction. Delicate compasses would be required to prevent anything of this nature. Another point arises in making this new game complete from the start. Since a team is given credit for every inch it moves the ball in a forward direction, should not the team be penalized for every time it is forced back? In other words, it the ball carrier of & team is thrown for a 10-yard loss, should not that yardage be subtracted from the total yardage being accumulated? Or should 1t? I don’t know. Remember that this is not my idea. I would suggest, however, that it should be. This would prevent some ridiculously large scores being run up in close games. In games that are not close—such as in a game like that between New York University and Alfred— the yardage gained by the superior team might run into miles. If you do not think so, get & play-by-play account of the New York University-Alfred game and do your own figuring as to the number of furlongs, or whatever they were, that were traveled by Kenneth Strong alone last season. Woes of a Sport Hero. The way of the Olympic hero is not smooth if he happens to be young, and most of the athletic heroes are young. Percy Willlams, who won both thz sprints at the Olympic games, has been forced to quit college because, he claims, so many people still insisted on honoring him for his achievements at Amster- dam that his mind was distracted from his studies. = it sounds a bit far-fetched, but it might be true, at that. Col. Lindbergh still is hiding from what the actors or the gladiators might call his “public.” Of course, there is no comparison between the achievement of Lindbergh and the achievement of Percy Williams. One can see how clear-headed and poised Col. Lindbergh really is. Nothing has swerved him one inch from his set course. But it is quite superfluous to say that Col. Lindbergh is an exceptional young man. If Percy Willlams were a professional he could capitalize this adulation of his fellow countrymen. In this case he would be hoping that it would last for- ever—which it will not. But he insists that he does not want to become a pro- fessional athlete. He wants to be let alone. Time Will Bring Aid. This wish young Mr. Williams eventually will find gratified beyond all his expectations, Popular idols, especially in athletics or sports, attain oblivion with astonishing rapidity. Ask Ty Cobb. Ask Batting Nelson. Ask thousands of other sports heroes of a short time ago. And the strangs part of it is that when the time comes when they are almost completely forgotten they begin to look just a little bit wistful, and wonder if the limelight had been so unpleasant, after all. (Copyrisht, LEAGUE SOCCER GAMES. | Boston, 2; J. and P. Coats, 2. 1928.) PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY. Chicago, 2; Boston, 1. Providence, 2; Brooklyn, 0. Buffalo, 5; Kitchener, New York Nationals, 4; Fall River, 0. | New York Americans, 1; New York New York Giants, 1: R. T. Rangers, 1. | Rangers, 0. New Bedford, 2; Philadelphia, 0. Chicago Blackhawks, 2; Boston - il Bruins, 1. Toronto, 4; Montreal Maroons, 1. Providence, 2; Newark, 2. Minneapolis, 2; St. Paul, 1. Duluth, 2; Kansas City, 0. Detroit Olympics, 3; London, 0, Windsor, 1; Hamilton, 1, PRO BASKET BALL. Rochester, 39; Brooklyn, 31. Chicago Bruins, 25; New York Ha- koashs, 22. You T our :E;zam\;/ MR. - V | WANT HowdY BWY TRIBUNE e —BY BRIGGS THERE JANE- - HOW~ ABOUT DINNER WITR ME TS EVENING, AND AND EURRY TR ING AFTERWARDS HEY? oy PLEASED T'HAVE MET You- GoT To BE GETTIN' ALONG DAD S'LONG= UZCUDUN HANDILY DEFEATS RENAULT Spaniard Pleases Ring Fans of South America by Beating Canadian. By the Associated Press. CALI, Colombia, December 26.— Paulino Uzcudun of Spain, the favorite heavyweight of all Spanish-speaking people, has earned himself a place in the hearts of South American ring fans. In a 10-round battle, hailed as the greatest fight ever held in Latin America, Paulino decisively outpointed Jack Renault of Canada here yesterday to get a wéll earned decision. Pounding at Renault’s body with a steady fire of short jabs, the Basque wore his opponent down in the early rounds and had him battling to prevent & knockout in the final frame. In the eighth round and gaain in the tenth Paulino appeared on the verge of a knockout victory, but the Canadian managed to weather the attack. Renault fought a defensive battle all the way and gained the approval of the ringsiders by his success in blocking Paulino’s fierce left hooks. In the fifth and sixth rounds he staged short rallies, carrying the fight to his opponent for short periods to earn draws for the two frames. One hard blow drew blood from the Spaniard’s nose in the sixth round and slowed his attack tempo- rarily. Another brief rally came in the ninth round. A crowd of more than 20,000 hailed the decision. SEKYRA-BROWN BOUT VICTOR MEETS RISKO By the Associated Press. CHICAGO, December 26.—Either Joe Sekyra, heavyweight of Dayton, Ohio, or Cuban Bobby Brown, who meet at the Coliseum Friday night, will box Johnny Risko of Cleveland at the same arena January 4, Jim Mullen has an- nounced—it all depends on who wins. Sekyra was due today to start train- ing, the boxing commission having waived its rule that the contestants be on the ground five days before a scheduled bout. Sekyra defeated James J. Braddock, who stopped “Tuf Grif- fiths, and also has won from “K. O.” Christner, who knocked out Knute Hansen. Brown has been in the city three days and has been treating his sparring part- ners so rough that his trainers are hav- ing a hard time finding new ones. Jack McCarthy, who will apear Fri- day in another 10-rounder, an- nounced that he will seek a match with Joe Dundee, 147-pound champion, if he is victorious in his bout with Izzy Grove of New York. WOMEN IN SPORT Badminton players of the Badmin- ton Club of Washington will suspend their weekly practice games until after New Year. No meeting of the .group will be held tonight or next Wednesday, unless the members are notified to the gonuary by the afternoon of the latter ate. i Beginning the second week in Janu- lary, the club will meet regularly on Wednesday evenings, from 8 to 10 o'clock, in the Y. W. C. A. gymnasium, on Seventeenth and K streets, Capitol Athletic Club basketers desire games with independent teams during the month of January. Frankle Ross, { basket ball chairman of the club, is making up the schedule for that month and is anxious to'get in touch with lead- ers or managers of any teams having open dates. Capitolites probably will not enter the ‘Washington. Recreation League this sea- son, but want to build up the strength of their squad by independent competi- tion with a view to entering the league at a later date. Miss Ross would be glad to hear from any team managers in this locality. She can be reached during the day at Columbia 2000, branch 709-E, or in the evening at her home, North 6791-J. FOOT BALL YESTERDAY. Wake Forest, 13; Miami University, 6. Oregon State, 13; Honolulu Town team, 2. TROUSERS To Match Your Odd Coats EISEMAN’S, 7th & F ATHLETES ARE LEADERS IN ACQUIRING DEGREES CAMBRIDGE, Mass.,, December 26 (#).—Athletes as students are compared with non-athletes in a survey by Asst. Prof. Donald Snedden of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The results of the survey, con- tained in the current alumni bul- letin, indicate that of the 806 mem- bers of the class of 1927 there were 301 athletes and 505 non-athletes, but that 81 per cent of the athletes received their degrees, compared with 68 _per cent of the non-athletes. In addition, the athletes took an average of 8.01 semesters to com- plete their work, while the non- athletes required 8.07. The non-athlete, however, showed a higher average in studies. Z, // -— ffi makes motors run more . With ESSO in the tank you get faster acceleration, smoother power, no buck- ing, no stalling, no knocking — less necessity for shifting gears on the hills. AN =\ « e [4yGrantland Rice] 7 r l» Extending the Fumble Penalty. OOT BALL coaches who meet at New Orleans the next few days may or may not take up the matter of advocating & restriction of the fumble penalty. As it is now, the fumble of & punt or & lateral pass can only be recovered by the opponents, not carried to & touchdown. But on other ball-carrying plays the fumble can be recovered and carried the length of the field, as § was on many occasions last Fall. It may add to the excitement of the crowd to see a fumbled ball recovered and carried 70 or 80 yards to & score, but for all that it is an unfair reward. The fumble is a mechanical error. The ball itself is queerly shaped and hard to handle in rain or mud. And it usually is the stronger offensive team that draws the killing penalty. It is penalty enough for one mechanical mistake to have the ball recovered by the other side. Even this means a loss of 40 or 50 yards, enough to offset four or five or six fine plays. If a team marches from midfield to the op- ponent’s 5-yard line and then fumbles, the reward of that march has been Kkilled, even though the ball be dead at the spot of recovery. To have an opponent pick up the ball and dash 95 yards for & touchdown is overpenalizing a mistake. It also is giving & certain amount of alertness too great a reward, since a big part of recovering fumbles is luck, depending on which way the egg- shaped ball may bounce when it hits the ground. To have & fumbled ball dead at the point of recovery by an opponent would at least remove a certain element of luck and help to stabilize the sound- ness of values. And it would merely be an extension of the present rule that governs the kick, the pass and the lateral pass. It would make a team come closer to earning what it gained through its own strength on offense—not through the mechanical mistake of one player on the other side. Mystic Stuff. Dear Sir: A couple of years ago Northwestern was playing Purdue down in Lafayette. Before the start of the game the referee approached Glenn Thistlethwaite, then coach of the Purple eleven, and asked him to explain any fancy plays,that might puzzle the officials. So Thitlethwaite started detailing a pet play he had cooked up for the game. As he was telling the play he noticed the referee laughing. “What is there to laugh about?” inquired the Purple coach, somewhat nettled. “Nothing much,” retorted the referee, “except that Jimmy Phelan (the Purdue coach) just explained the same play.” Dr. Clarence Spears of Minnesota had the best trick play of the season, and it usually worked. It consisted of giving Bronko. Nagurski the ball and letting him go straight ahead. SUNSET SLIM. Winter Golf Up-to-date. Dear Sir: Snow, rain, Winter winds and frost do not daunt the real golfer. While he may not swing his niblick or mashie during the Winter months, he ets his tramp over the fairways armed with a bow and arrows. In the Middle est, archery golf is becoming very popular and on nearly every course you will find big targets set up alongside the greens, and on Saturdays and Sundays the courses are busy with modern Robin Hoods finding sport in the present-day Sherwood Forests. OVERLAND RED. Weeding "Em Out. Dear Sir: A large number of entries in Mons. Rickard's heavyweight elimi- nation classes have been bumped over and sent to the laundry recently. K. O. Christner polished off Knute Hansen, Jack Sharkey put Arthur DeKuh in cold storage, Jimmy Maloney trimmed Johnny Risko and Marty Burke wrapped up Otto Von Porat. Now if all the others are hit by the heebee jeebies, we can sit back and have an enjoyable Winter. SIR LIONEL STRONGHEART. An Eastern Squawk. “Whaddya mean,” writes L. D, “about the supremacy of Far Western foot ball tactics? Pop Warner went to Stanford from Pittsburgh and he took Thornhill, a Pittsburgh forward, to coach his line. John J. McEwan went from the Army to coach Oregon and he whipped Oregon State, the team that got as much fame in the East as Stanford got. Howard Jones, at Southern Cali- fornia, is a Yale man. I'll admit these Far Western teams played smarter looking foot ball than the Eastern teams have played, but why should they have been smarter with Eastern coaches in charge?” Maybe out in the more open and the more sunlit spaces conservatism is not revered as highly as it is in the traditional centers. Another answer is that Carnegie Tech against Notre Dame and N. Y. U. against Carnegie Tech played about as much foot ball as any team can put on. There seems to be a general hunch that a lot of Eastern foot ball next Fall will profit no little from the two Far Western shows which started so much ch from Eastern crowds. No e is important enough to be overstandardized and overconservative. Not for youth. For then the fun goes out. (Covyrieht. 1928.) ESSO is sold everywhere ESSO vaporizes in the motor more quickly than regular gasoline. It starts quickly, fires pletely—producing a sweeter running, more flexible engine. cleanly and burns com- A Luxury that is an Emmny?: s S ROG TOPS LEABLE ; FOR SEVENTH TIME Waner Boys, Lindstrom and Bottomley Also Distin- guish Themselves. | | captain of the New York Giants and manager of the .Bostan Braves, and now a high private in the ranks of the Chicago Cubs, led the National League in batting for 1928, with an average of .387. To show the way along the highway of hits for the seventh time, Hornsby laced Pall disp] Waner of the Pittsburgh Piraf the 1927 leader, by a ml‘rlgrl'n of 11“5&:1&. If Hornsby can mount to the top of the ladder again he will equal the record of another great right-handed batsman, Hans Wagner, who while shortstop of the Pittsburgh Pirates led :’he National League in batting eight mes. _Although Paul Waner surrenderéd his batting crown and had to be satis- | fled with the runner-up position, the Waner family was well to the fromt in the averages. Brother Lloyd weft to the bat more than any other player and in his 659 ‘chances cracked out the most one-base hits, 180. Paul scored the most runs, 142, and led in two-base hits with 50. Fred Lindstrom, Giant third ba;gr man, made more hits than any otl player. His safeties of all degrees to- taled 231, Ple Traynor, Pittsburgh, topped the sacrifice hitters with 42, and Kllké g_;xyler, Cubs, led in base stealiiy with 37. = Jim Bottomley, Cardinal. first sacker, who won the most valuable player award, led in two. departments.and. tied in another. He made.the most triples, 20, accumulated the highest tqtal of bases on hits, 362, and was in a dead- lock with Hack Wilson of the Cubs on home runs with 31. Forty-seven players batted for aver- ages of .300 or better, two less than in 1927. George Sisler of the Braves was among the .300 hitters with an average of .340 for 118 games, this figure entitling him to fourth place among the players who participated in 100 or more games. In 20 games for V;v‘a;mnnon Sisler was able to hit ondy EW YORK, December 26 (#)— Rogers Hornsby, formerly man- ager of the St. Louls Cardinals, GOLF PROFESSIONAL DIES.- PORTSMOUTH, Ohio, December 26 (#).—Hugh Rhind, 48, golf professional, inventor of golf clubs and. organi and superintendent of various golf clt manufacturing companies in this coun~ try, died at his home here yesterday. ST A e BROIONI ISLAND, -Italy, December 26 (#).—Gene Tunney, his wife and several friends arrived at Brioni fer Christmas. It was understood that mefi’x e;;pecu-d to remain in this regioh until May. from silver colored ESSO pumps. It costs a trifle more per gallon than gasoline, but usually it gives s0o much more mileage that it ac- tually costs less. Test ESSO yourself—in your own cars A tankful will show you the difference: On sale at silver colored ESSO pumps.