Evening Star Newspaper, March 29, 1937, Page 10

@he Foening Stad Sporls A—10 Batting HITTER NATS NEED Saves Job as He Slugs in Loss to Bosox—Lanahan | Failure on Hill. BY FRANCIS E. STA Btufl Correspondent of Tne Star. RLANDO, Fla., ‘The big bat of Freddy Sing- ton finally seems to be boom- ing and the Nationals, as a result, are finding that having an eight-game winning streak snapped tsn't so hard to swallow after all Before the big all-America tackle | from Alabama cranked up at ‘he plate in Sarasota yesterday and walked, punched out a single, double and triple there was a suspicion on the loose that maybe Freddy just wasn't a big-league hitter. Manager Bucky Harris, who sponsored him as Washington's regular right fielder, confessed to mild panic on that score. Bucky even sought out Clyde Milan, manager of the Chattanooga Lookouts, for whom Sington batted .384. ‘“He isn't hitting, Clyde,” said Bucky. “He hasn't looked like a hitter all Spring and if he doesn’t get his hits, and plenty of them, we can't use him. Sington isn't a good enough fielder.” Milan advised Bucky to keep playing Fred. “He'll come around, wait and see.” In the process of Washington's los- ing a 13-to-12 decision to the Red Sox yesterday at Sarasota, Sington showed signs of coming around. He drove across two runs and scored two. Each of his hits was well tagged, the triple sailing far over Roger Cramer's head. This is something few drives do. I{ARRIS today confessed that he was on the point of giving up on Sington, words of Milan to the con- trary. “If we had anybody else who promised improvement,” said Harris, “I would have yanked him. Now Fred's in the line-up to stay for a while. This club needs a climax hitter and Sington has the build and the power to be that kind of a batter.” Outside of Sington and the Nats’ 15-hit attack against Southpaws Rube Walberg, Fritz Ostermueller and Right-hander Clyde Olson it was a dismal performance the Griffith A. C showed. Particularly dismal was it for young Dick Lanahan, who gave up eight runs in three innings and caused Harris and President Clark Griffith to do a lot of negative head- shaking There is a suspicion in camp that lanaham has not a major league pitching complex. By now he should have “arrived” and for a time this Spring he seemed ready to prove it. Off yesterday's performance, how- | ever, Lanahan can be rated no better | than No. 9 among the Nats’ 10 cur- | rent pitchers. | Lanahan’s Hurling Dismal Nats Lose Farce, 13-12. SYD COHEN, who shared most of the pitching with Lanahan yes: terday, appears to be far outdistanc- ing his left-handed slab rival. Cohen left the game after five innings and with a 4-2 deficit, but chiefly because Shanty Hogan gave Mel Almada a life in the second inning by dropping an easy pop foul Imada then singled to touch of a three-run rally. Joe Cronin’s home run in the fifth was the only other time the Red | Box scored off Cohen. Washington drew up to 4-3 for Lanahan as soon as Dick went into the box, but it wasn't the boy's day. In the seventh inning he walked a couple men and pitched singles to Bobby Doerr and Rick Ferrell. The result was three more runs, making it 7-3. Again the Nats put Lanahan back in the game by staging a four-run uprising of their own in the eighth to tie the score at 7-7. Chapman and | Mihalic beat out infield hits, Bluege | tripled and Sington doubled to later score on a single by Travis. The | B i March 29—/ & WASHINGTON, D. C, Boosts Sington’s Stock : Slapnicka a Base Ball Wiseacre & ' Stealing Sisns—and Theft Prevention—Play Big Part in Base Ball | FRED NOW SEEMS g Sig y Big BUCKY HARRIS May be flashing “Stop” and “Go” with these sim- ple gestures, but you—and the foe—have to try to figure which is which. Ei:lék:)’, Master Signal Ma_i;er, Also Checks Slabman’s Habit Of Tipping Pitches to Rivals BY FRANCIS E. STAN, Btaff Correspondent of Tne Btar. RLANDO, Fla, March 29.— Del Baker yelled: “Be loose, Hank!” and a split-second later a ball exploded off rally at Ostermueller's expense might |y, enberg' d Washing- have carried except, for Travis' foolish | o ou?,;f,;d":fifm:“‘u;"me Lord axtempt Sto| gel itwoftbeseslion s ¥ ne iBaker ils ¢ third' bass fcouch lof | the Detroit Tigers. Moreover, he is Be that as it may, Lanahan again | i was unable fo hold the Sox. In the | hov 25eo%led8ed champlon Slgn and eighth he gave up a walk, hit a batter, League. He yelled to Greenberg, “Be | and pitched a single, double and triple. When the smoke had cleared the score was 12-7. Errors Beat “Pitcher” Crampton. | T WAS a grand rally the Nats staged | in the ninth to try to pull the game out of the fire. Jesse Hill, batting for Lanahan, singled and so did Chap- man, Mihalic and Bluege in succes- sion. A wild throw by Pinky Higgins didn't hurt and neither did a walk to Sington. Stone and Travis pro- duced outs but Buddy Myer rammed A triple to right field, scoring Travis | with the run that tied it up at 12-12. | There was a catch to it, in the end. Harris brought only two pitchers on the trip, Cohen and Lanahan. With both out he had to use Rookie Catcher | Herb Crompton, who never pitched in his life. At that Herb might have gotten away with something with any | kind of support. He got Gaffke to open the Sox's ninth, but Mihalic, at third, played Olson’s tap badly and it went for a scratch hit. Then Mihalic dropped an easy foul by Doerr and Crompton finally walked him. Cramer was pur- posely passed at this point to provide & double-play setting. Lo and behold, Crompton got a dou- ble-play ball out of Joe Cronin. It ‘was a sharply hit grounder to Mihalic, who tossed to Myer to get Cramer. But Buddy, with Cronin beaten by yards, threw the ball into the dirt and it shot past Ossie Bluege at first base while Olson scored with the winning run. FRISCO LIKELY CHOICE NEW YORK, March 29 (#)—Offi- cials of the United States Lawn Ten- nis Association have indicated that first-round Davis Cup matches be- tween the United States and Japan | would be held in San Francisco late in May. ‘The matches probably will be held about the same time Australia and Mexico are clashing in Mexico City April 30-May 1-2. | when men were on base. loose!" and the next time it was “Follow it!” He did at once, twice, | three times. From the Washington bench Bucky Harris peered out, a worried look on his face. Baker missed nothing. He called all of Eddie Linke's pitches. Bucky recalled that he called all of Monte Weaver's the day before, too. That wouldn’'t do. If the Detroit hitters knew what was coming up they couldn't help but make base hits. Was it the catcher's signs they were stealing? Had they caught on to them? Did it mean more weary hours of trying to dope out & new sign system? Did it mean another long meeting, involving mastery of a | | new code? In this instance it did not. Baker had Weaver spotted. He had Linke | figured, too. Bucky studied them carefully himself. He noticed that | Baker was best at guessing Linke | Then he saw it. The ball wasn't hidden in Linke's glove before he pitched! He got his curve grip with his right hand 6 inches away from his glove. No wonder. And Weaver. Why, Baker was catching his pitches when Monte held his hands in the air before pitching. Change Appleton, Too. GR.EENBERO. notorious for want- ing his pitches called by Baker, doesn't get so many now. Baker yells, “Be loose!” when a fast ball is coming. “Follow it!” means a curve or change of pace. That helps. | if I can find out how.” Bucky remedied these faults. He remedies lots of them. That's why, next to Baker, he is rated tops as a| sign and technique thief. Almost as often as Baker he calls them for his Nationals. Johnny Stone likes So do one or two more. Having pitches called correctly never hurt any hitter. Down here in the Spring training camp of the Washington club Harris it. | took the first step toward renovating Pete Appleton a year ago. Pets had It MONDAY, MARCH 29, 1 937, PETE APPLETON Formerly telegraphed all his pitches thus (up- per), but now he covers up (lower) end the op- position hds to guess what is coming. (ORI TOREFEREE "POPPING too good a curve ball, he reasoned, to have failed to make good. He studied Appleton. Finally he saw it. When Pete was going to throw his curve he rolled his thumb so that it stuck out. The curve rolls off this digit changes | | while the thumb position for a fast ball. | Pete's Records Bears Out Benefits. | T WAS Harris who suggested that| Pietro keep the ball in his glove | until he reached the height of his wind-up. “Then grab it,” he advised, “and see how many pitches they call on you.” | Pete’s done it religiously. He's the | only pitcher in the American League | who throws this way, but it hides his give-away rolling of the thumb. And in 1936 he won 14 games, lost only nine, was the most effective pitcher on the club and ranked fifth in the en- tire Jeague in earned-run average. Harris wears his laurels modestly. “It has to be part of the game,” he says. “Baker’'s got it all over me. He's absolute tops. But I try to help all I can. Right now I'm trying to find out what Jimmy De Shong is doing to give away his pitches. The White Snx; got onto Jimmy and I'll be darned | Bucky King of Sign Givers. ! HEREAS Baker is acknowledged best at stealing signs, Harris | reigns supreme as a sign giver. This is no newly acquired title. Almost from the start of his managerial ca- | ZI%E0 reer, when he was the “boy wonder,” back in 1924 and 1925, he allowed few of his signals to escape. | The cap, shirt and trouser are the | ingredients he uses in giving signs to base runners and the “hit” and “take” signals to batters. His giving of the signs are obvious enough. When the Nats get back take a gander at Harris in the first-base coaching box. But don't trv to figure them out unless you want to wind up in a strait- Jacket. Bucky is one of the few managers who were able to go through the 1936 season without a wholesale changing | of signs. this becomes almost a necessity, but | last year Jake Powell was traded to the Yankees and Jack Russell to the Red Sox. And still the Nats used the | same signs from start to finish. It's a definite part of the game, and the game is one branch of life where & guy can be a thief and be proud of it. Every time a trade is swung | o BONNG STRUGLE Observers Are Groggy From Trying to Make Sense | of Promoters’ War, | By the Associated Press. EW YORK. March 29—Re- gardless of whether Heavy- weight Champion Jim Brad- | dock carries out his announced | program of appearing at his attorney's office at Newark today and accepting service of “them papers,” it seems cer- tain the various factions in the fight muddle will finish their battles in a | court room with John Law as referee. | ‘The papers concern Madison Square | Garden's effort to force Braddock to | give up his bout with Joe Louis at | Chicago June 22 and concentrate on | a fight with Max Schmeling here June 3. They have been in the center of the affair since it began whirling with tornado speed Saturday morning, leaving all observers dizzy and hardly | able to distinguish the facts from the | beclouding statements. Three separate proposals are under (See BRADDOCK, Page A-12) Sandlot Stuff Red Sox. AB. Doerr.2b Cramer.cf Cronin ss Nats. AB. < C'pm'n.cf 5 Lewis.ib 3 Mih'ic.3b Biuege.1b Sing'n.r{ Stone.If Travis.ss Myer.%b £rid Hog: Millies.c . Cohen.p Lan'h'np FHIL - Crpton.p 0 Totals 42 15426 13 - 000 201 045—12 Z 030 010 351—13 *Ran for Walberg in fourth. 1Batted for Lanahan in ninth. $Two out when winning run scored. Runs—Doerr (2), Cramer, Cronin Mills, R.' Ferrell. Gaffke Osteérmueller. N Mihalic (2). Bluege (3), Sing- T Hill Errors—Doerr. | i Runs Cramer, Stone (1), Mills. Desautels (:}), Bluege (3). Doerr. Two- base hits—Almada, Stone, Sington. Doerr. Three-base hits—Sington.’ Bluege. Croni Home ' run—Cronin. Sacrifice— | Double play—Travis to Myer to Left on bases—Boston, 9: Wash- ton 5. First base on balls—Off Cohen. ;" off Walbers, 1; off Lanahan, 3 Ostermueller. 1 2 out—By Walberg. 1; ahan, 1. Hits—Off nings: off Ostermueller. 12 off Oison. none in % innin ORI AT HOOM S a1 oosoHDHBLLIA~0 e =T 0O T 19 SHoooOH R 2000~ FAMHEDD=0 Totals 39 18 27 16 Washington Boston = @) ine TR, n 4 in' 425 innings; off_Cohen. 7 n 3 innings: ED LINKE Also discarded the wrong (top) for the right (bottom), along with most of his mates. —Photos by Elwood Baker, Star Staff. OFF Ytan Post-Graduate Goofiness. Special Dispateh to The Star. RLANDO, Fla, March 29—There was a flury of excitement at the Ringling Bros'. Winter circus headquarters at Sarasota, They ! | “lowa Hick” Who Picked Up | | against his own wishes, were getting the animals ready for shipment North yesterday when somebody said one of the inmates got loose. Sure enough, in the distance, a figure was coming a-running. It had a nose that scemed to act like a rudder, but before panic broke out somebody identified the pair of spavined legs as belonging to Mister Aloysius Schacht, who had escaped from his cage. “He's harmless,” assured one of the circus keepers, putting up his pistol and lasso. “We let him out often because, | years.” in § innings: off Lanaban, b ! nning. Hit_ b after all, he's only a boarder.” You tried to remember, background to the dizzy business of before Mister Schacht arrived, some of the boarding at circus headquarters. Al chucked his job, or vice versa, as coach of the Red Sox, who train hard by the circus. He cast his lot with Christy Walsh, the man who built up Babe Ruth's fortune and who converted Lou Gehrig from an easy sort of a person to deal with into a hard-bitten holdout. Christy decided Al should capitalize on his ability to make people laugh and thus Mister Schacht has | become the first man in base ball to seek a living by clowning. “I'm just finishing a post- graduate course in goofiness,” supplied Al, putting on the brakes and coming to a stop amid a cloud of dust. “Yeah, I know what you're going to say. I had a good start, huh? Well, | I'm so goofy now that I think I will make more money a week than I used to make in a whole season as coach. And I drew top salary for coaches, which was $6,000 “Gosh, 26 years in base ball and not until now did I realize that I was wastin’ my time coaching and trying | to pitch.” Plans to Make $35,000. “T STAND to make between $35,000 | and $50,000 this year,” volun- teered Al. “Whatta show I got! Why, I got enough dates right now to give me money enough to live on for & £} %) Pes fi“‘n{“‘ - | few years. Twenty engagements I got | in the major leagues and 140 in the bushes. I'm made, after all these It is interesting to speculate on Al's possibilities. A total of 160 engage- ments, with more to come, really sounds like big money and Schacht has his schedule on hand to prove what he | says. You recall what Clark Griffith always said about Schacht. <« “He was the worst big leaguer pitcher I ever saw,” is Griff's fond eomment on the farceur. \ “By sin, he was even worse than Joe Engel.” If that is true (and who is there to deny it?), then it doesn't pay to be a | great pitcher. There never was & | day when Schacht could carry the | resin bag for Hubbell or Dean. Yet Hub makes $20,000 and Dean will drag | down $25,000 this year, while Mister Schacht, playing at the Polo Grounds one day and in Davenport the next, will outstep both of them It doesn’t make sense and you said so. | Sure It Doesn't Make Sense. “THAT'S just the point,” said Al “It doesn't make sense. All my life I've been too serious. I should have been giving ’'em the ol’ gaggeroo years ago instead of waving base runners home from the third- base line. “Lissen, got & new repetoire, or whatever that word is. I got ele- phants in this circus pitching and batting, no kiddin’. I got another elephant dressed like an umpire and with glasses painted on him. I did all this in 10 days of Spring training| here. | “I got another act where I'm a catcher. T use a glove that's 4 feet high, believe it or not. I also use a bird cage for a mask and when I go after a foul tip a real bird flies out after I shed the mask. “Soon as the bird gets above the| grandstand I whip out a gun and| shoot. Then I have a stooge on top| of the grandstand drop down a stuffed cat. Haw, haw! Great stuff, huh”? There is no use belittling Mister Schacht's sense of humor. He found DEALS G MAKES GIVE TRBE PUNCH Feller Proves “Slicker” in ivory Market. BY PAUL MICKELSON. EW ORLEANS, March 29 (#).— This is the story of a “hicl from the tall corn State of Iowa, who let people laugh right in his face until he proved he was a city slicker. When Cyril Slapnicka was called in from the scouting trails to succeed the famed Billy Evans as general manager of the Cleveland Indians the word spread that all was hotsy totsy in base ball land. A *“rube” had been placed in custody of a whole flock of fine ball players and it was only a question of who got to him first. Cy, a farmerish looking fellow just past the 50 mark, began his duties apologizing that he didn't know much about running a big league ball club. Then he got into a bad jam in the celebrated Bob Feller case and made & couple deals that looked like a new hat for the other fellow. But somehow everything turned out like magic. Around the big league cir- | cuit the men who once scoffed at the “Iowa hick” began calling him “Sly,” | instead of Cy. Slick in Feller Case. "HEY can't laugh off Slapnicka any more. It was Cy who discovered most of the big stars on the Cleveland | roster today, and out-foxed everybodv to land the sensational Felier While other scouts gave Feller the g0-by to check up on Pitcher Claude Passeau, now with the Philadelphia Phillies, Cy ducked them and drove to the Feller farm near Van Meter, Iowa, to watch the schoolboy do his stuff. He made sure no other scouts were around, and then got behind the plate to take a peek at Feller's stuff. Three pitches convinced Cy. He nailed Fel- ler's father right after the game and argued and pleaded until 4 am., the next day when he got his man And when it appeared as if all were lost—that Commisisoner Kenesaw M. Landis would rule Feller a free agent —Cy pleaded his case with the tough old judge and won. Commissioner Landis was impressed with Cy's sin- cerity and frankness Gets Better of Yankees. ASE BALL experts, generally, thought Cy had made a fool move when he swapped Pitchers Monte Pear- son and Steve Sundra to the New York Yankees for the temperamental Johnny Allen. Ex-Indian manager, Walter Johnson, had said Pearson had more stuff than any pitcher in !he\ American League and the howl! went up that Slapnicka was being fleeced by the smart guys from Broadway. But it was a good deal for both clubs. Allen won 20 games and lost 10 for the fifth-place Indians, compiling an | earned run average of 344, whereas | Pearson won 19 and lost 7 with the world’s most powerful ball club behind him. Pearson's earned run average was 3.48. On this basis of compara- tive strength, Allen was the better pitcher. Another crv was raised last Winter when Cy swapped Outfielder Joe Vos- mik, Pitcher Oral Hildebrand and Infielder Bill Knickerbocker to the St Looey Browns for Outfielder Julius | Solters, Inflelder Lyn Lary and Pitcher Ivy Andrews. Deal With Browns O. K. UT today, as Lary gives every indi- | cation of giving the Indians the peppery infleld they've needed for years, and Solters clubs the ball with renewed gusto, the growing opinion is | Cy got the better of the deal. Shrewd | Joe McCarthy of the Yanks is one who thinks so You can go right down the line and see that Cy Slapnicka is no sucker. | His feat in signing up the whole ball | club in 1936, his first year, when the pay roll was given a big cut from top to bottom, was one of the neatest of all. Just to keep warm, Siapnicka has become business manager of young Peller with no “cut” for himself. By shrewd managing he has lined up so many sideline contracts for his 18- year-old schoolboy that Bob rates to make from $25000 to $35000 this year. A sucker. eh? If you're still un- convinced, lure Cy into a poker game. | [ He's one of the best. Exhibition Games By the Associated Press. Boston (A), 13: Washington (A). 12 Philadelphia’ (N)). 5: Newark (). 2. New_York (A St. Louls (N, Brooklyn (N.) 8 5 7 (3 4! Cincinnati (N Cleveland (A.). 4: New York (N). Chicago (A 6: Chicago (N.). 2 Los Angeles (P.C)). 91: Pittsburgh (N). 7. St. Louis (A.) first squad, 4. Toledo (AA). 0. lis, (AA). 8t. Louls (A) A Minnearo seconds. Chattanooga (S.A). B: St. Louis (N.) seconds, 5 Schedule Today. Washington (A.) vs. Montreal (L). St. Louis (N.) vs. Boston (N.) Chicago (N.) 'vs. Pittsburgh (N.). Chicago (A)) vs. Los Angeles (P.C). Bt. Louis (A) vs. San Antonio (T.). Brooklyn (N.) vs. Newark (L). [ % Sports Program For Local Fans TODAY. Base Ball. ‘Washington vs. Montreal of In- ternational League, Orlando, Fla George Washington vs. Long Island, East Ellipse, 2:30. Boxing. Eddie Mader vs. Hobo Williams, nine rounds, feature bout, Tur- ner’s Arena, 8:30. TOMORROW. Base Ball. Washington vs. Columbus of American Association, Deland, Fla. Table Tennis. International troupe, United States vs. Europe, Heurich gym, 8 WEDNESDAY. Boxing. Finale, District A. A. U. cham- pionship tournament, Turner's Arena, 8 THURSDAY. Base Ball. Washington vs. Chattanooga of Southern Association, Sanford, Fla Wrestling. Laverne Baxter vs. George Ko- verly, feature match, Turner's Arena, 8:30. FRIDAY. Base Ball. Washington vs. Philadelphia (N. L), Winter Haven, Fla Dartmouth vs. Maryland, College Park, Md, 4. Penn State vs. George Washing- ton, East Ellipse, 2:30. Tennis. College vs. American Uni- Nebraska and Massa- cnusetts avenues, 3:30 SATURDAY Base Ball. Washington vs Tampa, Fla Maryland Iottesville, Va Track. Dartmouth vs. Maryland, Collage Park, Md., 2:30. Cincinnati ve. Virginia, Char- Yanks Second and Indians Third—Four Clubs Tied for Fourth Place. By the Associated Press. EW YORK, March 29.—Three American League teams, the Washington Senators, the New York Yankees and the Cleve- land Indians, took over the first three places in the Grapefruit League dur- ing the last week. The Senators jumped from fourth place to first with an .800 average, while the Yankees, who have played more exhibition games than any other team, 14, and who have scored the most runs, 86, are second with 11 victories against three defeats, for a mark of 786 Dodgers Delight Fans. HE Indians, third for the second straight week, have an average 778 Four clubs. “them Brooklyns,” the St. Louis Browns. the Chicago White Sox and the Pittsburgh Pirates, are tied for fourth place. The Dodgers brought joy to the hearts of the Flat- of | bush faithful by winning five straight games and assuming the won-and- lost record, if not the stature, of a pennant contender The New York Giants dropped from second to fifth in the standings after a disastrous week, in which Col. Bill Terry's boys lost three times. Bees Downtrodden. TH’E Boston Bees have the melan- choly distinction of yielding 66 runs, tops for the league Besides getting a hold on the first three places, the American League teams went far ahead in inter-league warfare. Junior circuit clubs have won 22 out of 33 games GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE STANDINGS. Inter- a- Al League League Games e 13D T B P e WO DMAIR 131933035 IRTETERTPE Y [ (The Philadelphia Athletics have not yst plaved a game in the United States in the training season.) ——— NO GOLF WINNINGS TAX British Justice Rules Compston, Famous Pro, Need Not Pay. LONDON, March 29 (#).—Golf pro- fessionals have been freed of the bur- den of an income tax on their winnings on the links. Justice Lawrence established the pre- cedent when he ruled Archie Comp- ston, the Duke of Windsor's favorite professional, could not be assessed on $5,000 in golf winnings. Foot “Alive,” Gelbert Shines Reds’ Infielder Sure All By the Associated Press. ex-Cardinal, probably was “Life and feeling,” he said, is “I'm sure my foot is returning tickled me on the bottom of it. It's “When Td go out on the fleld, T (Bee POPPING OFT, Page A-132.) { AMPA, Fla, March 29— I Charley Gelbert. slugging the happiest man in the Cincinnati Reds’ camp today. returning to the foot he almost lost in a 1932 hunting accident. to normal” he grinned. “I dis- covered it when my little daughter a good sign, because for two years I've had no feeling there. felt as though I was earrying & Trouble Caused by 32 Gunshot Wound Soon Will Be Gone. wooden leg. I couldn’t get the Jjump on the ball, and many easy chances went scooting by me for base knocks.” Gelbert, a candidate for a regular berth as second baseman, all but gave up hope of returning to ac- tive play following the accident in which a gun discharged, peppering his lower left leg and foot with shot. Acquired last year from the Car- dinals, he has returned to form quickly and repeatedly has won Manager Chuck Dressen's praise for quick-footed work afield and slugging ability at the plate.