Evening Star Newspaper, March 30, 1937, Page 15

e HURI_ING SUPER"]RJ Here’s How Your Nats’ Keystone Combination Functions in Those Double Plays GANZEL OBSERVES Club Is Rated 50 Per Cent Stronger—Montreal Is Beaten, 4 to 2. BY FRANCIS E. STAN, Btast Correspondent of The Star. RLANDO, Fla., March 30— One of the keenest pairs of eyes base ball ever has known sees the Nationals breaking eamp 50 per cent stronger than they were a year ago. The view is that of John Ganzel, who pulls no punches 1n outlining his theory. John Ganzel belongs to the school | of Clark Griffith. greatest first basemen and hitters of his age. Like Griff, he became a manager, tut, unlike the Old Fox, Ganzel turned out flag-winning clubs in wholesale lots. Now, base ball com- missioner for the city of Orlando, he still is a respected observer. “It's Washington's pitching that makes me say this.” amplified Ganzel. “Here'’s the way I look at the club. A year ago the team started North with only one pitcher who could be counted upon. He was Buck Newsom. “Whitehill had & sore arm. Apple- ton was an unknown quality. So was De Shong. Russell didm't have a thing and neither did Weaver or Linke. Yes, a year ago, Newsom defi- nitely was the club’s No. 1 pitcher. “Now, if I had to rate Washington's pitchers, I couldn't place Newsom any ketter than No. 5.” Cascarella, Weaver at Top. ‘HIS is a statement worth consid- ering. Obviously, one of this out- #poken order could not be passed by Griffith or Manager Bucky Harris. To have such an analytical outsider as Ganzel speak his piece might well | mean something. “On what they've shown so far” added the old timer, “Joe Cascarella and Monte Weaver rank at the top. | They've clearly surpassed the efforts | of anybody else and, what's more, you | don't have to worry about their ability to keep up the pace. Weaver isn't the same pitcher he was last year. I watched him then and he had abso- lutely no fast ball but.just a good | curve. All this Spring he's been as fast as anybody, even Newsom, and he’s got by far the ‘livest’ ball of any. “I didn't see Cascarella last yea: of course, because he was with Bos- ton. But I'll never understand the Red Sox trading him. That fellow can pitch for me.” Montreal Beaten, 4 to 2. ANZEL'S ranking five are: (1) Cas- carella, (2) Weaver, (3) Apple- ton, (4) De Shong and (5) Newsom. “If people put too much emphasis on the weakness of the Washington pitching staff at this point, I believe they're wrong,” Ganzel summed up. *“It isn't a weak staff. It's strong. There are one or two other depart- ments that need more attention than pitching. Those five fellows, with Salveson, Linke and Cohen to help out, are going to cut a big figure this year.” In the process of starting a new winning streak by beating Montreal in Orlando vesterday by a 4-to-2 count, Messrs. Cascarella and De Shong did nothing to change Ganzel's rating. De Shong got off to a poor start and the Royals, with a single, a Texas League double, a wild pitch and an| infield roller, took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. This was a lead the Griffs soon overhauled, or on their first time at bat. Marvin Duke, a southpaw, started for the International Leaguers and walked Chapman. Lewis went out but | Joe Kuhel, returning to the line-up for the first time since he was beaned last Thursday, banged a single. Fred Sington followed suit to score Chappie and when Stone forced Sington, the play scored Kuhel. Aha, They're Champs Already. TEADYING after the. first inning, De Shong gave up only one hit in the next four innings and started the rally that shoved across what proved to be the winning run. He singled to open the fifth inning, moved to sec- | ond on a wild pitch, took third on | Sankey's boot of Chapman’s grounder, and scored while Kuhel was grounding out. Cascarella took up the pitching in the sixth and gave up only two hits in his four innings. Only once was he | in trouble. This was in the ninth, after Washington had boosted the | count to 4-2 by simply letting South- paw George Kadsis walk four batters in the sixth inning. In this frame Dunlap opened with a double and Dave Harris walked, but Cascarella bore down and retired the next three hit- ters without allowing Dunlap and Harris to move any farther. The victory gave Washington the Orlando city championship, whatever that buys. The Royals also train in the citrus center. ALL-GRID OUTFIELD. UNIVERSITY, Ala. (#).—The Uni- wersity of Alabama base ball nine has again an all-foot ball outfleld this sea- son. School With 19 Students Wins State Basket Title Hornsby Declares Browns Will Be Colorful—Home Folks Backing Billionaire in Derby. BY EDDIE BRIETZ. EW YORK, March 30 (#).— Here's the champion “little school makes good” story: Bellfountain High, near Corvallis, Oreg., has only 19 male students, but won the State basket ball championship . . . Cincinnati scribes want the Reds to make a deal for Paul Waner, Pirate hold- out. Horton Smith seems to be hotter than ever for the Augusta national tournament . . . Could it have been Don Harrison, late athletic direc~ tor at Pitt, who said (to Dr. Jock Sutherland), “I made you and I'll break you?” . Brooklyn fans are thrilled over the way their Dodgers are burning up the eitrus circuit. He was one of the | The Foening Star Sporls WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1937. Nats Top °36 Edition, Opines Vet : New Catchers Scarce in Majors out and then fires the ball | | smoothly performed when Star Staff. Second Baseman Myer grabs a hopper, ferries it to Shortstop Travis who steps on the bag for the force- to Firstsacker Joey Kuhel to complete the twin killing. The operation is just as Cecil initiates the act and Buddy does the pivoting.—Movies by Elwood Baker, MIHALIC BATS 500 PACES NAT ATTACK |Myer, Sington Slam in .300 Class—Bluege Slugger. Linke Slab Leader. BY FRANCIS E. STAN, Staff Correspondent of The Star. amazing Nationals still are riding high in the “Grape- fruit League™ with 9 victories | in 11 starts and, most amazing, Bucky | | Harris’ big gups have yet to roar. Averages for the 11 exhibition games played to date by the-Griffith A. C.| reveal that only two regulars, Capt. Buddy Myer and Outfielder Freddy Sington, are hitting better than .300. | | In eight games, Myer has batted at al 375 clip, while Sington, who has spurted lately, is hitting .316. | Ben Chapman is batting only .220. | Buddy Lewis’ average is .271 and Joe Kuhel, Johnny Stone, Cecil Travis and Shanty Hogan all are well below the .300 mark. Mihalic Real Leader. ‘THE real club leader at the bat is Johnny Mihalic, understudy of | Myer. Playing in 10 games, Mihalic | has made a dozen hits in 24 times at |bat for a 500 average. Next to Johnny is another inflelding reserve, | Ossie Bluege, who has a .385 pace for five games. | Stone, despite 8 .257 average, has | done his part to produce runs. | is the runs-batted-in leader, having | sent 11 runners home in the 10 games second, with nine runs driven across. Eddie Linke is the only pitcher to have won more than one game so far. Dick Lanahan and Catcher Herb Crompton are the only pitchers to be charged with a defeat, although Crompton is not a hurler. Each of the other pitchers, except Ken Chase, ELAND, Fla., March 30.—The | Rocky | Kink |in which he has played. Travis is | Coh > 0 Soomm3 > O Stone.lf O Travis.ss. 3 5 SE g 0 0 0 0 0 10 Totals 28 4 20000000 0—2 WASHINGTON 20001100 x—4 Hits—Bell, Sankey, Dunlep (2), Harris, Kuhel. Sington. Myer. De Shong. Errors— Sankey. Sington. Runs batted in—Sing- Duges. Kuhel, Chapman base “hits-—Bell. Sankey, Harris, Double plays—Sankey to Bell to C on bases—Montreal. 5: Washington, First base on balls—Off Duke. 3: off K dis, 4: off Cascarella. 2 Struck_out—By lla. 2 “H 3 in 5 inning: | in 4" nnings; off’ Duke. | Kaddis. none in % inning: 3 in 31 innings. Wild pitch—De Shong. 1; | Duke. Winning pitcher—De Shong. Losing pitcher—Duke. Umpires—Messrs. | Kolls and Buck Newsom. Time—1:45. BreB U YNete] Cr'pton.c. 4 DeSh'g.p. Casc'lla.p. Duke p. Kaddis.p. Smythe.p. MONTREAL | De | has one victory and no defeats to his | credit. Chase neither has won nor lost. BATTING. AD.R, H 2 [ . 3b.H. £l 4 e T T | . Player. | Linke” I FITTREIEh o SH% B PRI P H T TR B ey Wooh tomt S2oHEORO000000000H iom oIS R S S5D00SHHHOODIHRHOORH 200008 oo 1O RIS DI NN OO OO RO D R NBEO DR e De Shong Appleton Weaver _ Salveson SN Crompton ° RS Five years ago—Dr. Clarence Bpears succeeded Glen Thistle- thwaite as head foot ball coach at Wisconsin, Rogers Hornsby promises his Brownies will be all broke out with color this season . . . Maj. Fred- erick McLaughlin promised Chi- cago Blackhawk fans a team com- posed entirely of American hockey stars, then carried on by firing five American-born players the other day. Willie Ludolph, who won most valuable player honors in the Pa- cific Coast League last season, will cash in on same in the semi-pro ranks . .. Virginia Military alumni reported 100 per cent sold on new coach, Pooley Hubert—which is news . . . Joe Gould has taken Charley Massera, Pittsburgh heavyweight, under his wing. Our ides of a foot ball coach in a tough spot is Sutherland at Pitt: Only vets he can count on are six ends, three tackles, four guards, two centers, two quarter- backs, three halfbacks and two fullbacks. Clark Griffith says he's going to have a farm system second to none in the American League . . . Charlie Grimm, sold on Phil Cav- arretta as an outfielder, says the kid can run like a scared rabbit. Tip from Kentucky: Brooklyn is getting ballyhoo, but Billionaire will carry the smart Blue Grass money in the Kentucky Derby ... Right now the colts getting the most backing are Billionaire, Pom= poon and Sceneshifter, trained by Earl Sands. ’ 0| “] DON'T care about Henrich,” de- - CLEVELAND EAGER 10 BATTLE EVANS Charges Violation of Base Ball “Ethics” in Henrich Case Before Landis. T | BY the Assoctated Press. 666 ot N 85 5 EW ORLEANS, March 30.—The dispute centering around Tom Henrich, young Milwaukee outfielder, who has asked to be named a free agent, neared the | hearing stage today with Judge Ken- esaw Mountain Landis, base ball's high 0 | commissioner, on the scene a full 24 9 | hours ahead of schedule. | severed his copnection with the Cleve- land club.” Bradley sald he was asking Judge Landis to summon Evans for question= ing and was prepared to charge Evans with “breach of ethics” if the base Judge Landis arrived last night for| | the Thursday hearing after a four-| hour motor trip from Bellaire, Fla,, | | but declined comment on the case | 0 | which has aroused the ire of Cleveland | | Indians officials toward Billy Evans, former Indians general manager, who now is associated with the Boston Red | | Sox. | Evans Irks Bradley. clared President Alva Bradley of the Cleveland club, with which Mil- waukee is affiliated, “but I do care about learning how long Evans will be allowed to continue the tactics that have caused us trouble since he Boston paper, which is trying to change the name of the Red Sox to “Bosox,” thinks it might be a good idea to change the name of the White Sox to Chisox—just what the boys have been calling ’em for years and years. George Parnassus, Los Angeles fight manager, made a royal flush on the Coast the other night by having all six of his boys fighting the same night, four of them on the same card. Foot -ball dope trickling out of the South says Virginia Military has a halfback named Sho who is getting set to burn up the woods next Fall . . . Ammunition needsd for this eollum . .. Help, help! \ Griffs on Road For Five Games Bs ¢ Staff Correspondent of The Star. | T)ELAND, Fla, March 30—The | Washington ball club opened a | five-day Florida road trip here today by facing the Columbus Red Birds. Not until April 5, when the Car= | dinals will invade Orlando for their fourth game with the Griffith A. C. will the forces of Manager Bucky Harris return to Orlando to play ball. moving to foreign battlegrounds, play- ing Chattanooga at Sanford tomorrow, | the Phillies at Winter Haven on | Friday. Buck Newsom and Eddie Linke were to face Columbus today. bali commissioner summoned Evans | “to defend himself.” “I'm sure I don’t know what it’s | all about,” Evans said at Little Rock. “I haven't been notified of any hear- ing by Judge Landis. I will welcome any kind of investigation. I'm sure I don't know what Mr. Bradley means by ‘breach of ethics.’” Landis said he did not intend !ol summon Evans. Terry Wants Henrich. BRADLEY declared he had reason to believe Evans had encouraged Henrich to ask Landis for clarifica- tion of his status in organized base ball. Henrich has played with Zanes- ville, Ohio; New Orleans, and Mil- waukee, all Cleveland affillates, but Bradley contends the Cleveland club “has no title to Henrich.” The dispute arose over a reported interview with Evans in which he was quoted as saying Henrich was worth $15,000 to any major league club. Henrich and Pitcher Ralph Winegar- ner were sold by New Orleans to Mil- waukee for $7,500. Manager Bill Terry of the New York Giants indicated at Gulfport, Miss., last night that he is prepared to bid $20,000 for the player's sig- nature if he is declared a free agent, despite the presence of accomplished outfielders in the Giants’ roster. CARDS IN TIGHT FIX. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla—The Cards really should play “tight” base ball. Frequent cleanings have shrunk their gray uniforms to the form- fitting stage. From here today they will keep | Wednesday, Cincinnati at Tampa on | Thursday and Detroit at Lakeland on SPORTS cope BY WALLACE DUKE. NGLAND gave us the “Darby” and the booking system, but we went them one better when | our bookmakers started to operate. There the bookies quote only win | and place, a place ticket cashing if | your choice finishes in the money. We operate on the straight, place | and show plan. Bookmaking no‘ only is legal in England, but looked down upon, as it is in parts of the United States. There are no mutuels, so no “daily doubles.” The daily double craze has about run its course in this country. Un- | less a couple of eagle birds fly home a parley, as a rule, will figure more than the daily double. When the numbers are posted showing the re- sult of each race the horse that fin- ishes fourth also is shown. A small amount of the purse is awarded the fourth horse and it serves as a guide to the public for, in case of- a disqualification, you know the horse that will be placed in the money. Why not abolish the daily double and in fields of eight or more horses sell tickets on the fourth horse? We believe the innovation would take. It would not in- crease gambling. There would be no big bets made by individuals on the fourth horse such as would affect the price, there being four pay-offs on each race. Small Fry Rate a Break. E $2 bettors, and those that go to the races for pleasure and get & kick out of having a modest wager on each race, would go for such an innovation. Many would like to play the long shots in the race as far back as possible, and there is & small army that i tired of playlng them to 4) the profession is not | i W h’)'- Pk Playing the Ponies Four Ways Is Urged—Bowie Spruced for Opener. “show” and seeing their number hung up opposite the numeral “4.” The tracks may say that the fourth- place proposition would not be profita- ble from their standpoint, but the spectators and speculators would at least have a lot of fun, and they are entitled to it. 5 Imagine not being able to pick a horse to run “fourth”! Bowie, which opens its gates Thurs- day, will have no Derby, nor stakes | rich enough to draw the champions, but the opening day stake, the Rowe | Memorial, in which Rudie and Zoic | will renew their Florida feud, is sure to be a real horse race. Given fair weather the largest opening day crowd in the history of the track probably will be on hand for the opener. Bowie Is Spruced Up. 'HE management has made many improvements and has promised that the track will be well protected at all times. This should end the “sponging” evil that plagued the track last Fall. And maybe the camera used will not be cock-eyed. No camera on & Maryland track up to now has fajled to give the outside horse the edge, to the best of our recollection. In a stake at Laurel last Autumn in which the judges gave an outside h rse as the winner, the rail horse seemed to have easily earned the place award. The numbers for the first and second horses were posted and the sign, “Camera finish,” was flashed for the show horse. The picture was taxied down from the roof in due time, in- spected, and another print ordered. The judges then decided the “second horse” ran third and the horse far- thest outside finished second. At Tropical Park last week a cam- era finish was given to the outside horse, which happened to be the odds- | ~ on favorite in the race. To the majority of the crowd, in- cluding many of the backers of the favorite, it seemed that the horse which finished next to the rafl had won. The booing was loud and long. The angle, of course, is the cause of < Owens of Cards Only Your 100 or More Games. BY FRANCIS J. POWERS. produce the usual crop of new pitchers and fielders, but, by of catchers will be found behind the log on at least 14 of the major league Mickey Owens, the 20-year-old prize | of the St. Louis Cardinals, is the only | more games. Owens may be the out- | standing exception to the rule that | is the opinion of most observers that, despite his tender years, the fellow is | zy” Dean, Lonnie Warneke and other | Cardinal pitchers. If the observers | to the Gas House Gang. Detroft, thinks highly of the poten- ar-old backstop, up from Beau- mont, but Detroit is more cheered by | health will permit him to catch a ma- | jority of games. Tebbetts will be good team’s pennant chances >wi11 be in- creased in Cochrane is able to do his FOURTEEN CLUBS One Likely to Work in HE coming base ball season w.. T and large, the elder generation clubs. | recruit catcher likely to work 100 or | catchers must be experienced, and it thoroughly capable of handling “Diz- are wrong, then it will be disastrous tialities of George Tebbetts, the fiery | the possibility that Mickey Cochrane’s insurance for the but the | full stint of labor. Helf Packs Heft. | ANOTHER young catcher who pos- | sibly may see much se Henry Helf, brought up f Orleans by the Cleveland ot Helf may be of value to the T: by reason of his weight. The Texan and Billy Cleveland’s er, and that's where Hel Helf batted .298 and that's good eno t lern Association to recommend the boy for a thorough trial against big leagus After discussing Owens, Tebbetts and Helf, you return to the veteran catchers. Gabl Hartnett of the Cubs is the patriarch of major league catchers, although of the same age as Jimmy Wilson of the Phillies. The Cub captain has been up since 1922, but still is one of the best receivers in the business and a powerful batter. Wilson does not work quite so much as Hartnett, but he still ranks with the best, as is indicated when the fans make their votes for the all- star teams. Depend Lot on Mancuso. | HE Giants depend almost entirely upon Gus Mancuso, and Bill Terry's pennant chances would take a quick drop should the durable Au= gustus be out of the game for any length of time. The Bees' only out- standing backstop is Al Lopez and the Dodgers have nothing of impor- tance after “Blimp” Phelps. Cincin- nati has two tried veterans in Virgil |Davis and Ernie Lombardi. Neither | is brilliant, but better than found on | several other clubs. Al Todd of the Pirates is not a real old-timer, but | has been around long enough to be | considered a veteran. On the American League side the story is much the same. Luke Sewell | has” been catching in the big time since 1922, and Bill Dickey of New York, Rollie Hemsley of the Browns and Rick Ferrell of Boston have been | around long enough to be considered | old hands and still are tops in their chosen line of work. The shortage of catchers again proved by the fact that “Shanty Hogan, the human Zepp. is Washing- | ton's first-string receiver and that Connie Mack is placing a lot of de- pendence on Earl Brucker, who is | visiting the big leagues for the first | time at the age of 30. Catchers are durable folks and it's a | good thing for base ball they are of that mold, there are so few of them. Sports Program For Local Fans TODAY. Base Ball. Washington vs. Columbus of American Association, Deland, Fla. Table Tennis. International troupe, United States vs. Europe, Heurich gym, 8 TOMORROW. Boxing. Finale, District A. A, pionship tournament, Arena, 8 U. cham- Turner's 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. Philadeiphia (N. L), Winter Haven, Fla. Dartmouth vs. Maryland, College Park, Md, 4. Penn State vs. George Washing- ton, East Ellipse, 2:30. Tennis. Tufts College vs. American Uni- versity, Nebraska and Massa- chusetts avenues, 3:30. SATURDAY. Base Ball. Washington vs. Tampa, Fla. Maryland vs. lottesville, Va. Track. Dartmouth vs. Maryland, College Park, Md., 2:30. Cincinnatl, Virginia, Char- | the confusion and difference of opine ion. Some of the leading tracks are mov= ing the judges’ stand atop of the grandstand, just to the rear of the camera eye. That may lead to better teamwork. ‘.