Evening Star Newspaper, May 19, 1937, Page 31

Griffs Come to Life at Plate FOUR NOW HITTING INSLUGBERCLASS Myer, Kuhel, Stone, Sim- mons Pound Apple as Team Wins 4 Out of 5. BY FRANCIS E. STAN. HINGS were looking much brighter today in the vicinity of Griffith Stadium. The Nats finally chucked their lease on Iast place in the American League and were felicitating themselves on win- ning four out of five games, which marks & new high crest for the season. Analyzing more closely, it develops that Bucky Harris' hitters finally can hit, after all, and that Peter Appleton is capable of doing & fair job as a relief pitcher even if de can't win as a starter. All these items came to a head against the Browns yesterday, when the Griffs came from behind to win 8 7-to-6 decision in the opener of a series. After blowing a 5-to-1 lead by indifferent fielding and probably spoiling Carl Fischer's debut as a starter, the Nats bounced back and finally made off with the duke on the strength of a 14-hit attack and Appleton’s second victory in four days. From time to time this Spring the Griffs’ power hitters have splurged and raised cain but always the upris- ings were short-lived. Now, or at least in their last five games, they have some interesting averages to show. Over this stretch Joe Kuhel has batted .420. Johnny Stone has been batting 409 and Al Simmons has been close behind with an even 400. Buddy Myer has been hitting A29. Four “.400 hitters” in a row is the | Teal answer to the Washington firm's | spurt. Power like this can cover a | multitude of pitching sins. Riddle's Elbow Is Chipped. 'APPLE'TON may find it difficult now to hang up his fire hat on a bull pen nail and get a starting| assignment. Pietro has done too well as a relief worker. H& rescued Buck | Newsom last Saturday against the Red Sox, worked two hitless and run- less innings, and was credited with & 5-t0-4 victory. Yesterday, after| relieving Fischer, he granted a run and a 6-to-5 lead but pitched four @good innings thereafter, giving up only two hits and no runs. The Nats’ buoyancy now has in- spired all sorts of ambitions. They are not far from a .500 percentage now and when & club hits that mark it usually is in & position to climb anywhere. Right now the Griffs are eyeing the first division and hope to achieve the goal at the expense of the ‘Western clubs. After shooting Newsom at the Browns today and probably Monte Weaver tomorrow in the final | game they will entertain, in succession, Cleveland, Datroit and Chicago. The only sour note at the moment concerns Catcher Johnny Riddle and this is not serious. X-rays of Riddle’s elbow revealed several bone chips as well as a growth in the socket. These | have been causing his annual sore arms, but as long as Johnny can throw out base-runners he will re- main. The Nats' charge against the In- dianapolis club, in which they accuse the American Association team of trading & sore-armed player, still | stands and is left in Judge K. M. landis’ Jap. But Griff doesn’t know whether he will part with Riddle even 4f the old jedge says he may do so. Fischer’s Debut Is Spoiled- IDDLE made three throws so sec- ond base yesterday. On his first he had Harry Davis out but Ossie Bluege dropped the peg when Davis slid into him. On the second he threw low and into center field when Har- land Clift stole but in the eighth he nailed Davis with some feet to spare. The game was as weird as they come Jack Bell's prodigous slugging kept the Brownies in the game despite a five-run rally by the Nats in the sec- ond inning. This wiped out St. Louis’ 1-0 lead that was achieved when Bell tripled home Davis. In the Nats‘ rally Clift made two erors and later he booted another. The Browns kept pecking away at Pischer and, thanks to four Wash- ington errors, they tied the score in the fourth inning at 5—5. This rally convinced Harris that Appleton’s presence might help and Pietro | entered to pitch from the fifth inning | on. Millies Is Game Buster-Upper. ETE was greeted with a double off Bell's big bat—his third straight extra-base hit—and Jack later scored | on a single by Knickerbocker. This made it 6 to 5 and thus it remained until the eighth. Up to then the Griffs could do mothing with Earl Caldwell, who had relieved Les Tietje. But in the eighth Cecil Travis batted for Riddle and singled. Appleton then was safe on . another error by Clift but Chapman hit into & double play. Buddy Lewis saved the day, however, by singling Newsom across. Buck ran for Travis. Walter Millies was the hero of the game. The little guy replaced Riddle behind the bat in the ninth, which Btone opened with a scratch hit. Simmons sacrificed and, after Myer walked and Bluege flied out, Millies slapped one of Jack Knott’s pitches for a single that broke up the affair. Diz’s Sore Thumb No Advance Alibi ST. LOUIS, May 19.—Sore thumb or no sore thumb, Dizzy Dean will hurl against Carl Hubbell in ¢today’s Giant-Cardinal “game of e oentury,” Red Bird Manager Prank Frisch declared. Dean exhibited a taped right thumb yesterday. “I burned a little hole in it lighting a cigarette in Pittsburgh,” he said. “The sulphur from the match stuck to the flesh. * * * If that thumb feels like it does right now I will not be able to pitch Wednesday’s game.” “That's a good alibi,” & by- Foening Star WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1937. Outfielder Beau Bell of the St. Louis Browns, whose pair of doubles and a triple against Washington pitching yesterday boosted his average to .476 to give him a huge lead over all American League rivals and a 23-point margin on Ducky Medwick of the Cards, pace-setter in the National League, employs alstance some- thing like Hornsby’s, but he, and not his manager, is responsible for it. Here Bell Today may be t he day. DEANAND HUBBELL Giants’ Ace—Feller, Wild, Is Yanked Quickly. BY HUGH S. FULLERTON, JR., Associated Press Sports Writer. ARRING & last-minute change of heart by Manager Bill Terry of the Giants or inter- ference by the weather, base ball’s battle of the century is sched- uled today, when New York's Carl Hubbell faces the Cardinals’ Dizzy Dean on the pitching mound. It's a natural. “Squarepants” is shooting for his sixth straight victory this season and his twenty-second in an unbroken string that began last July, The great Diz was beaten after five great efforts this Spring, but he make the fans forget that one lick- ing. beat the Giants yesterday, 4-3, in the first game of their Western tour. The defeat dropped the Giants into a third-place tie with the idle Brooklyn Dodgers. Yanks and Bucs Win. API‘ER spotting the New Yorkers a two-run lead in the first, when Jimmy Ripple followed Joe Moore’s double with a home run, the Cards opened fire on Slick Castleman Wwith Johnny Mize's second-inning homer, tied the score, then won in the sev- enth, when three hits and an error produced two more runs. Warneke's feat found handsome companion pieces in Pittsburgh and New York, where Darrell Elijah (Cy) Blanton and Rookie Spurgeon Chand- ler pitched the Pirates and Yankees, respectively, to fine victories. Pitts- burgh's league leaders turned back the Phillies, 2-1, while the Yanks and Chandler shut out the Chicago White Sox, 4-0, to remain hot on the trail of the Athletics. The A’s turned to slugging to topple Detroit's Tigers, 8-7, and keep their clutch on the American League lead. Chubby Dean socked a homer with two aboard in the eighth to give Philadelphia its one-run margin. Feller Quickly Yanked. LANTON handcuffed the Phils with six hits and eight strike- outs. Chandler duplicated the six- hit flinging feat and drew some fine support, which included Lou Gehrig’s second four-base belt of the season. The hitters held sway in all other American League games. A ninth- inning single by Catcher Walter Mil- lies sent in the run that enabled Washington's Senators to beat the 8t. Louis Browns. In Boston, where the Cleveland Indians turned back the Red Sox, 7-4, Lyn Lary hit five- for-five for Cleveland and Manager Steve O'Neill sent six Indian hurlers to the mound, among them Bob Feller, making his first appearance since he hurt his arm in his first game. He was yanked after walking one man on five pitches. The Bees and Reds, who open the stander suggested. “I don’t need no alibis,* Dean Tetorted. i X night base ball season in Cincinnati tonight, were rained out, as were the Dodgers and Cubs &t Chicago. IN'MOUND CLASSIC 2= Diz Out to End Streak of | .. was superb in victory, and he’s out to Dean’s new teammate, Lon War- |7 neke, set the stage for today’s scrap | Knott. 2 with an eight-hit flinging job that [ SAK Muddlin Throug AB. R. > DEFEF IS SHOSHHORHON ordarusmme 1 S0 ARw-wkD O DUDUHHIDDD oo5025wss00 M Totals *Two out when winning 'WASHINGTON. AB. Chapman. cf. Lewls. © ® 3 -4 OO0 WHOHHDWD > ¢ os00okmmuma- O S & s2500ri0030Hs M Totals e tBatted for Riddle in eighth. §Ran for Travis in eighth. 8t. Louis 101 310 000—8 WASHINGTON - 050 000 011—7 Runs batted i I (2). Bluege, Chap- man (3). Stone, _Allen. 'Knickerboeker. Lewis. Millies. Two-base hits—Kuhel, Simmons. Stone. Vosmik. Bell (2). Cald- well. Lewis. Three-base hits—Bell, Hems- ley. ' Knickerbocker. ~Stolen bases—Stone. Ciift. Sacrifices—Davis. Simmons. ® » : by Appleton _(Bell, . Winningpitcher—Appleton. - Losing pitcher—Knott, Umplres—Messrs. _Mc- Gowan. Moriarty and Quinn. Time—2:01. League Statistics MAY 19, 1937, AMERICAN. STANDING OF THE “wmarpenad| ~'93%quaoId | -===pujeg ~-XI10X MON -='puv[aAd| Phil— 11| NYI 31— ol 2[ ¢ Clel__ I 2I—I 1[ Detl 0/ 1/ 2/—]| Bos 2 11 1] 0/—| Wal 1l 2[ 1112 112] 71.632] _ 1113[ .591 L 7 9 811[1013112[13I—I—I RESULTS YESTERDAY, Washington, 7: 8t. 5 New York, 4; Chicago, 0. Philadelphia,’ 8 Detroit, 7. Cleveland, 7: Boston, 4. GAMES TODAY. ‘GAMES TOMORROW. t Wash., 3:15. 8t. L. at Wash. at New York. Detroit at Phils. troft la. Cleveland at Boston. Cleveland at Boston. NATIONAL. STANDING OF THE CLUBS. H 8| 8 -- smog 293U2015a --qamamid -~ ‘330X MoN Tt L ~==-03WIqD --psuupuD “e|qdRpPIUd === puruag| swep| Piti—[ 2] 1] 3] StL 2/—[ 2] 1[ NY| 1 11— 3| 3]_41 8] 21171 BL.773] 21 4] 1] 2[14| 91.6001 3% 21 1] 3| 1[1212].5001 6 Bkl 1| 21— 2| 2] 0 3[11/11].500] 6 Chi! 1] 3[ 1] 0l—I 1|_2| 811/12(.478| 6% Cin| 0] 61 2] 01 3I—| 1| 2[ 8113].381| 8% Bos| 0l .11_3[ 2| 0l 0—I 2| 813/.381| 8% Pail 0 0 24 31 0] 1| 31—/ 9115].875] 9 L_| 5| 9[12/11112(18/13/16—}—| ] RESULTS YESTERDAY. 8t. Louls. 4; New York. 3. Pittsburgh. 3: Philadelphia, 1. Brooklyn-Chicago. rain. Boston-Cincinnati, rain. GAMES TODAY. GAMES TOMORROW. Phila_at Pittsburgh. Phila, at Pittsburgh. New York at 8t. L. New York at 8t. L. Bos. at Cinc. (night). Brooklyn at Chicago. Brookiyn at Chicago. Others not acheduled. P MR NEW YORK-PENNSYLVANIA Willlamsport, Binghamton, 1, iton. 5; Wilkes-] B e > DODGERSHUSTLING 1010E BAD NAME Grimes Would ““Sell” Club by Winning Games—Sixth Place Is 1937 Goal. By the Associated Press. HICAGO, May 19.—Big Bur- leigh Grimes is out to make base ball's hardest sale—his Brooklyn Dodgers to fans and writers alike as & hustling, able ball club with no dafliness tendencies. “I know I inherited something when I became manager,” said the former pitching star as he sent his team against the Chicago Cubs. “I in- herited a club which was expected to do crazy things in the field and at the plate. But I think that in an- other year or so—maybe the end of . | this season—Brooklyn’s won-and-lost standing will make every one forget that daffiness reputation.” All Grimes hopes to accomplish this season is finish a notch higher than the seventh place occupled by the Dodgers at the wind-up of the 1936 campaign. He feels pretty good about the four straight victories annexed by his club last week, and believes that with a few breaks his team stands a chance of winding up even as high as fourth or fifth place. Young, Hustling Team. 'VE got a young, hustling club that should, in one or two years, rank with the best in the league,” continued the pilot whose fighting qualities re- sulted in his own expulsion from sev= eral games this season, plus a $25 fine. “We started poorly, but unusually bad breaks at Spring camp were respon- sible. “Injuries to Harry Lavagetto, Tony Laminosky, Woody English and Joe % Stripp prevented me from having a set infleld until after the season had — | started. Once the boys got some work, the team started to click, and I'm certain we'll cause trouble from now on.” Grimes believes that in two years Lavagetto will be as good an infielder as the Cubs’ Bill Herman. He also likes Malinosky's work and believes that Outfielder Jack Winsett and Catcher Babe Phelps are coming stars. All Make Mistakes. “I'M GOING to try and sell the idea that Brooklyn has real ability,” Grimes continued. “Every team pulls bad plays and makes mistakes, and if a team isn't winning games, the writers have to dig up something for their stories. But if a club wins enough games, its mistakes soon are forgotten. We’ll make mistakes—but we'll also be winning plenty of games from now on.” Grimes is gratified with the way fans in Brooklyn have been supporting the club, which also has drawn well on the road. He's pleased with the 11 won, 11 lost record held by his team. He didn’t, however, say whether he was satisfied with the umpiring this season. ‘We didn’t ask him. TIES LOSING STREAK MARK. SEATTLE, May 19 (#£)—The Lewis- ton (Idaho) Indians, losing 20 straight in the new Western International Base Ball League, have tied the mark for consecutive games lost since 1900 in both major and minor leagues, [ "POPPING L Top Hitter of Majors Shows Local Fans How He Gets Those Bingles is shown “teeing off.” just about to cut into the ball and following through, while the inset illustrates how he grips his magic wand. Bell, a native of New Braun- fels, Tex., is 29, 6 feet 2 and weighs 185. Against the Nationals this year he has collected 11 safeties in 14 times at bat, including 5 doubles and a triple. Homers? —Star Staff Photos. / OFF"Yian: submit the kids to a series of saliva tests. But there may be something | significant about the team standing to- | day, which happens to mark the end of the first month of the season. As we said before, there are the A’s. Everybody is cheering them but nobody is betting on them, Why? Well, the A's have weak spots. They're unbalanced. Prof. Mack has a grand outfleld but his in- fleld is not above cracking up and his pitchers and catchers are a lot of guys named Joe. They’re All Unbalanced. ALL right, there are the Yanks. Nobody is cheering them, outside of Manhattan, but everybody is bet- ting on them. But the Yanks, re- gardless of by how many games they won last year, are as unbalanced, in ratio, as the Athletics. ‘Their pitching isn’t high class. The hitters made Ruppert pitchers in 1936 and all base ball knows it. Their out- fleld, despite Di Maggio and Selkirk, isn’t too strong. FPeople aren't pre- dicting Tony Lazzeri to break down this year, but he may fool everybody by folding after all these years. That would break up the infield. . So it goes all down the line. There are the Tigers. Gehrin- ger, Greenberg, Walker, Coch- rane . . . plenty fo power. But Schoolboy Rowe has been com- plaining and Detroit’s pitching is not so strong. Neither is Washington's but Bucky Harris commands a lot of power. The Browns are unbalanced. They have plenty of right-handed punch but lack the pitching, too. Cleveland provides s contrast but only in the way the Tribe is unbal- anced. The Indians have plenty of pitching and & fair outfield but the infield is shaky and, mayhap, it won't hold up. The White Sox, like the Browns, have right-handed power at the plate but the slabbing has been weak. The Red Sox have a fine infleld but doubtful pitching and outfielding. Griff Had Surprise Team. ‘HUS it is with litfle wonder today that you notice only four and one- half games separating the first-place American League club and the last- place team. In the National League there is a difference of eight games between first and sixth places. In the & last-place team can Jeap The A’s Are Still in the League. ‘T PRESS time today the incredible Philadelphia Athletics still were hanging onto first place in the American League with all the deter- mination in their youthful and grimy paws. The phenomenon so far | standing are Edith McCulloch, Willie has been most pleasurable, except in a league precinct called New York. (For Connie Mack, the A's amazing feat has proved a most timely financial bonanza, and the other clubs aren’t begruding the old gentleman his good for- tune because (1) they collect 22 cents on a buck in Philly and (2) the only | seventh, eighth and ninth ranking thing of which they are certain thus far is that Philadelphia won't stay on top. Far be it from this department to try to write the A’s into the pennant ‘They don’t figure to stay on top. The fact that Philadelphia has led all the rest for even a short time has been most confounding, and it is reported some | skeptics are demanding that Macke from the cellar to the first division in a day or two. In the National it is & question of a couple weeks. Possibly the bid of the Athletics cannot be taken too lightly, at that. They have wonderful spirit and sometimes that can cover a multitude of sins. They've been coming from behind to win regularly. They did it again yesterday against the Tigers. Clark Grifith can recall a few lowly rated teams that rode high, wide and handsome. Back in 1912 Griff, then a turtle- necked sweater addict with black, bushy eyebrows, invaded the Capital via Cincinnati and took over a ball club that had finished in seventh place the year previous. Mister G. looked long and earnestly at his 1912 team and all he could see was a franchise in the league and a gangling Kansan named Walter John- son. But Walter and Griff and all those fellows named Joe were in the pennant race from barrier to wire. They ran second. Connie Has No Johnson. F* COURSE, it is inconceivable that Mack can do the same thing this year. He has no Johnson, to begin with. Harry Kelley is a pretty weak imitation at best. But, somehow, Con- nie has done it so far. It was interesting to note the team that Connie placed on the field the other day to regain the league lead from the Yanks. His lead-off man and center flelder was Parker. That's & grand foot ball name. Ace Parker of Duke! In fact, it's the same guy. Give him a ball and & broken field and you can’t ask for more. But in center fleld on a major league ball club his first year? A gent named Pelers was playing third. Griff could have bought the guy from Albany for a dime a couple of years ago, but he didn’t want him. Moses and Johnson came next an‘l then came Dean. Now Dean is a good base ball name, but this isn’t Dizzy. Suh, he’s Lovell Dean of Duke and, for the nonce, you might add, so what? Moses and Johnson, you know, are big leaguers. But the rest .. . Well, anyway, the A's still are up there. - GIRL WINS OWN GAME Makes 16 Assists, Drives in Seven Runs With Three Hits. SOUTHAMPTON, Pa., May 19 ().— Pitcher Mary Gane needed little as- sistance from her Taylor High School teammates in scoring & 13-to-5 vic- tory over the Southampton High School girl base ball team. Mary made 16 assists and one put- out. Her three hits drove in seven uns, D. C.’s Best Netwomen in Tourney CITY'S TOP THREE HEAD LARGE LIT Mary Greason, G. W. U. Stu- dent, Among Talented Ri- vals for 1936 Leaders. BY BILL DISMER, Jr. LTHOUGH more than 24 hours remained before the deadline on entries for the first women’s tennis tournament of the sea- son, & renewal of last year's struggle for supremacy among the three out- standing leaders was assured today as their names were found among those signed to battle for The Star's City of Washington championship starting Saturday. Ranked one-two-three by the Dis- trict of Columbia Tennis Association, the trio consists of Margaret Robin- son, Mary Cootes and Edith Clarke. The entry of Sara Moore, local public parks champion, was expected, thus fair netdom. With Mrs. Robinson defending The Star Cup, which she won last year, the competition further is seasoned by the fact that it will bring the 1936 City and District champion into con- flict for the first time this season, Miss Cootes having won the District title for the second successive time last season. Miss Clark Determined. ISS CLARKE promises to have much to say about the disposi- tion of the championships this year. Considered by many to have the best stroke equipment of any in‘the Dis- trict, the pretty blond seems set for a big season, having started practice early. The fact that she is at present living with her dearest rival—and doubles partner—Marge Robinson, has | little to do with the planning of her | objective. She wants one of the Capital’s major championships. Miss Cootes, however, is not con- tent with only her District cham- pionship. Although leaving the city today, she is cutting a week end trip short in order that she may be back to play for her first-round match. A championship of the season’s first tournament means much, giving confi- | dence for the rest of the Summer. | Wnhile these three have won their places in local netdom, they may face unexpected opposition if rumor of some new strength is borne out. Ac- cording to those who have seen her play, Mary Greason, a student at George Washington, will be among | those at least in the quarter-finals. Most of Miss Greason’s playing has | been in Honolulu, where she will re- turn as a teacher upon receiving her | degree, but she was spotted quickly | on her early appearances on a local | club court. She will play doubles with | Miss Cootes, an indication that the championship Clarke-Robinson pair | will have another tough duo to face. Capable Young Talent. THERS who showed up well last year without previous experience in major tournaments are expected to prove real threats this season from the very start. Three who are out- O'Steen and Joan Bransford, who senior competition by being placed in positions among the women racketers of the District. Miss O'Steen is the playground champion of the city. Another from whom great things are expected is Christine Gawne, protege of Dan Watson at Chevy Chase Club. Tall and graceful, she made an instant hit in the Women's League last year. All entries must be brought or tele- | phoned in to the Tennis Shop, 1019 | Fifteenth street, National 5165, by 6 | o'clock tomorrow night. Blanks for | registering are available at the Reser- voir courts, scene of the tournament; Is wonderful, the en- joyment a man gets out of a good cigar. I love the curling smoke and the perfume of fine Havana tobacco. No wonder so many men are smoking Harvester, the S¢ cigar with a heart of Havana; Copyright 1937, Consolidated N ‘completing the city’s “big 4” among | | were rewarded for their first year in | Features and Classified C PAGE C—1 DAVIS CUP RIVALS Naming U. S. Team. man squads which will rep~ zone Davis Cup finals next week are der Davis Cup regulations each team of a series. tain of the American team, is expected Which Will Get No. 2 Spot | By the Associated Press. resent the United States and to be named today after one more is required to name not more than Despite a few surprises in practice | to nominate Don Budge, Gene Mako, PARKERAND GRANT in Singles Is Question in EW YORK, May 19.—The four= N Australia in the American practice session at Forest Hills. Un- four players 10 days before the start tilts, Walter L. Pate, non-playing cap- Bitsy Grant and Frank Parker. Parker and Grant Rivals. BOTH Budge and Mako were off form yesterday, their first full sese sion after a belated arrival from Caii= fornia, but they're almost certain to get the doubles assignment together, and Budge easily is America's oute standing singles player. ‘The only real uncertainty appears to be whether Parker or Grant will get the No. 2 singles spot. The young Californians, Bobby Riggs and Joe Hunt, are regarded as being too inex=- perienced to be chosen, although Riggs conquered Grant a few days 2go and Hunt upset Budge, 6—1, 6—4, 6—1, yesterday. The nominations of Capt. Clifford Sproule are a mere formality as the Australian squad consists of only four players, Jack Crawford, Adrian Quist, Vivian McGrath and Jack Bromwich. Chevy Chase, Columbia, Edgemoor | and Kenwood Country Clubs and The Star sports department. Doubles ene tries may be made at the Reservoir courts on Saturday afternoon, when the first singles matches are scheds uled. Present plans call for 25 matches on Saturday, starting at 1 o'clock, and nearly two dozen on Sunday, starting at 2. Entry fees are $2 for singles and $3 for doubles. Homer Standings Yesterday's homers — Gehrig, Yankees, 1; Hayes. Athletics, 1; Dean, Athletics, 1; English, Tigers, 1. Ripple, Giants, 1; Mize, Car- dinals, 1. The leaders—Bartell, Giants, 8; ‘Medwick, Cardinals, 6; Kampouris, Ixerrier s AT THE NEW z LOW PRICE” PLENTY OF A . NATURAL MIXER... CARBONATION BALANCED BY | NATURE HARVEST Corpes New York 3