Evening Star Newspaper, July 13, 1937, Page 11

he Foening Stup Spofls - Yanks Rate With Greatest Ever : Almada Nats’ Surprise Pac DOMINATE BIGTIVE ASTHEY DIDIN'ZT Even Their Farm, Newark, Holds Top Ranking for Its Domain. BY GRANTLAND RICE. EW YORK, July 13.—Just about 10 years ago somebody sug- gested that Col. Ruppert break up the Yankees and sell some of his star plavers off at bargain prices, thus giving the other clubs in the American League a chance for the pennant. The suggestion was heartily applauded by some of the colonel's rivals, but the colonel just laughed and nothing ever came of it. After a while, of course, the Yankees fell apart, and the colonel didn't win any more | pennants for a few years. A situation similar to that came up 10 years ago exists now. The Yankees won the pennant last year and crushed the Giants in the world serfes. They are as certain to win the pennant again this year as anything can be in base ball. the way to another triumph in their own league, they virtually beat the National League single-handed last week. Yankees Turned Trick. OF’FICIALL\' that was the American League team that won the all-star | game. But the big guns in the attack that rolled back the National League were Gehrig, Rolfe, Di Maggio and Dickey, while Gomez supported this attack with a fine burst of pitching. Moreover, the Yankees, who dom- {nate both major leagues today just as | they did 10 vears ago, have taken in added territory this time and dominate the International League, too. The Newark Bears, who are the little broth- ers of the Yankees, undoubtedly are which | Meanwhile, on | WASHINGTO! Claude Rippey, defending titlist, finds pace is hot. Harold Bowers, in four-way tie for third place (left), DINCS, ) TUESDAY, JULY 13, 19317. Keen Competition Marks Public Links Championship Tournament — League Statistics JULY 13, 1937, RESULTS YESTERDAY. Qleveland at Chicagn. rain. Only game acheduled ATANDING OF THE CLUBS, HEREEREER 5 = al [ 2 3 2 smog uosaIys “erqapape] “agwiuaong | | ===~ pumpea - s w York at Detroit, at Chicazo Boston at St. Louts. NATIONAL. RESULTS YESTERDAY. Philadelphia, #: New York. 3. 8t Lous. : Pittsburgh. 5 Chicago at Cincinnat: rain, Boston at Brooklyn. rain. THE CLUBS. £ d12peITad uom comparing notes with Harry Saunders and Tom Doerer. the most powerful collection of minor league players in the country and to make matters worse from the stand- point of the American League owners whese teams are combating the colonel’s, most of the young men are headed for the stadium The suggestion that Ruppert break CIANTS GIVIV LP 0N SCHUMACHER up not only the Yankees but the Newark team, too, is expected almost hourly. Time Squares Things. “'H‘EIN and if it is made, nothing will be done about it, of course, except that the colonel will have an- other good laugh. He has poured thousands of dollars into the making of these two clubs and now he is reap- ing the reward that his time, patience and money have earned for him. | Some day, naturally, the Yankees | will fall apart again and so will the Bears. Remember, even more recently than the Yankees’ last dominance of | the New Yol the sport, how the Cardinals and the F Starting Role Goes With Game Phils Take—Bucs Bow to Medwick. BY BILL BONI, Associated Press Sports Writer. ROM a shining light to a !«b]e; flicker in two short seasons— that's the strange, sad story of Hal Schumacher. "PODPPI OFFY NG =Y Man Behind the Guns. R. JACK CURLEY, the man who wired wrestlers for sound, is dead and now the racket and the folks connected with it are wondering if any person in this generation will fill the vacancy left by one of the most imaginative characters in sports history. First, last and always, wrestling was Jack Curley's pet hobby, Mr. Joe Turner. the local caulifiower huckster, was saying today that Curley was the “‘granddaddy of wrestling . . . erently. Josephus was able to speak feelingly. To modern-day wrestling people rk Giants, Schumie won | {19 games. of all Eastern gate receipts. Several that was his sport,” added Mr. Turner rev- It so happens that Wrestling is Mr. Turner's sport, too, and our Jack Curley was at once an idol, a In 1933, his first full season witm""‘m’ and a person who demanded and received an important percentage years ago he was known throughout The following year he |the Nation as the man who publicized such personages as Annette Kellerman, S vas | Enrico Caruso, William Jennings Bryan, Rudolph Valentine, the Vatican chain store empire wrought by Branch | ¢halked up 23. Two years ago it was B 2 ! e e Rickey had practically a monopoly on | the pennant-winning industry? There was one year in which| Cardinal-controlled clubs won the pen- | nant in almost every league but the | American, and the only reason the_v; didn't win that one, too, was that| Branch hadn't been able to add an' American League outfit to his chain. The Cardinals of that time were, as the foot ball coaches say, three deep in every position. There was a good | man at every post on the diamond and, behind him, two good men in the minors waiting for him to slip just a little bit s0 they could bob up to St. Louis and wrestle him for his Job. But time was the winning element in the struggle of the other clubs againat the Cardinals. Today the Cardinals, fighting bitterly to overcome the Cubs and the Giants, could use a | couple of good young pitchers, but there isn't one to be found on any | Cardinal farm. The Better Team? SOME’BODY asked me the other day | if I thought this Yankee tenm? Was the equal of the Yankees who roared to fame 10 years ago—the | Yankees who had Babe Ruth to couple | his power to that wielded by Lou | Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri—and had Bob Meusel and Earle Combs and Joe Dugan—and a fine pitching staff built around Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt and | George Pipgras, with Wilcy Moore | always in the bull pen, ready to stalk to the rescue of a mate who was hav- ing trouble with the enemy hitters. I had to say I didn’t know—which Wwas & boost for this team, because | the Yankees of 1927 were by common | consent one of the greatest teams ever put together. Competent critics | ranked them with the almost, fabulous | Baltimore Orioles, the Cubs of Tinker and Evers and Chance and Mordecai Brown, the Athletics of MclInnis, Collins, Barry and Baker, and the | White 8ox, who traded their greatness | for gamblers’ gold in the 1919 world | series. Admitted Yank Greatness. PMBABLY the finest tribute to| - the Yankees of & decade ago was the fact that even the players who | ‘were on some of the great teams of the era before that admitted—though some times grudgingly—that they | didn't know whether they could have beaten the Yankees or not. Re- member the furor that Wilbert Robinson stirred up when he said the Yanks could have beaten the Orioles? ‘That was regarded by some of Robbie's | colleagues as nothing less than treason, but Robbie atuck to his state- | ment. | This Yankee team has more speed | than the Yankees of 1927 and, in Bill Dickey, the greatest catcher who ever wore & Yankee uniform. Whether ' this would have given them the edge I don’t know—but there is no doubt where they stand in the field that is struggling for the pennant now. (Copyright, 1937, by the North American Newspaper Alliance Inc.) HERRING HURLS WELL. Behind the effective hurling of Fish- cakes Herring, the Lorton Blues trounced Walter Reed diamonders, 13 | 0 4, in a base ball game at Lorton, Va. Pits eollected three hits for the win- ners, while Bonny, Hamilton, Bowen and Lewis each garnered two. 19 again, and each time Schumacher kept his percentage above the .600 level. He was nick-named “Prince Hal,” as likeliest successor to the crown worn by “King Carl” Hubbell. Today, with little more than half the season spent, the big ru(m-handerJ from Dolgeville, N. Y., is in a terrific nose-dive. Sixteen times he has been | sent into action as Bill Terry's start- ing pitcher. On all but three occa- sions—the last on June 1, when he hurled a 10-hitter to whip the Dodg- ers—he has failed to finish. Bows Out Before Phils. I E FAILED again yesterday, against ! the Phillies, a club the Giants had beaten in six out of nine games. Schumie, pulled out of a bad hole by A Mel Ott-initiated triple play in the first inning, dropped out of sight in the seventh. When he bowed out, he | had put on base five of the six runs| the Phils scored in that inning to win the ball game by 6 to 3. | The defeat cost the Giants a chance | to draw up virtually on even terms| with the rained-out Chicago Cubs. In | addition, it may have sealed Schu-4 macher's fate for the balance of the | season. It was, they say, his last chance to prove his claim as a starting pitcher, the berth he has held through four seasons and now part of a fifth as one of the Giants’ “big four.” There even is talk of coverting the 180-pound | 6-footer into an outfielder—talk that goes back to 1931, when the late John McGraw, under whom Schumie broke in with the Giants, said the St. Law- rence University grad might make good in the outfield if he didn't click on the mound. Terry Thumbed Out. HE HASN'T clicked properly since the start of last season, having won only 18 games over that stretch. And Terry, who yesterday was tossed out of the first ball game in his career for disputing one of Umpire Bill Klem’s decislons too violently, needs the Schumacher of 1933-4-5—or some one else equally effective—in order to catch the Cubs and again win the National League bunting. A happier figure than Schumacher is the irrepressible Joe Medwick. That gas house gangster, who leads the league in everything but triples, stolen bases and, of course, pitching, pounded out three more hits and drove in three more runs as the St. Louis Cardinals nosed out the Pirates, 6 to 5. The Cubs' night game in Cincin- nati was rained out, as were the Bees- Dodgers date in Brooklyn and the only American League game scheduled, be- tween the Indians and White Sox at Chicago. Sports Mirror By the Associatec Press. ‘Today & year ago—Carl Hubbell, Giants, yielded only two hits, but lost to Cubs, 1-0, for last defeat before starting 16-game streak. Three years ago—Australia and Czechoslovakia divided first two singles matches in European zone Davis Cup final. Five years ago—Bob Grove lost third game in five days as reliet pitcher as Indians beat Athletics in 10 innings. | covering that, with few exceptions, | of lowering his head and diving at Choir, Georges Carpentier and Bill Tilden. the initiative to bootleg Johnson-Jess Willard heavyweight | fight in Havana. He was, in short, | one of those gifted people whose imag- | ination, enterprise and common sense | banded together and accumulated a dozen fortunes of varying longevity. Since 1929, though, the name of Jack began to become legend- ary. 1In removed offices, far from the toil and conflict, he revived a dying sport, which was ‘wrestling, and turned it into the greatest “depression enterprise” of modern history. With a magical touch, the man put wrestling over as it never was put before. Promoters in Baltimore, ‘Washington, Richmond and scores of other centers bobbed up and were given credit for foisting the oh's and ah's of the grunters on the public. They rode blissfully on the crest of a ! prosperous wave, taking matches as| were dictated by the “New York office,” which was Curley, and dis-| they were just what the public wanted | Sonnenberg Started Things. 'URLEY'S death recalls the revival of wrestling in Washington. The sport, for a time, had thrived in a small fashion as an added attraction to burlesque bills. Mr. Turner, the only local wrestler ever to make a mark in the world, was at the end of his rope and the racket practically was extinct. Then, out of a clear sky, Mr. Gus Sonnenberg invaded the Capital in the Fall of 1929. With him was his chauffeur, & Mr. Dan Koloff. They were matched for an exhibition and Mr. Turner, who debutted as a pro- moter for the occasion, was pleased to call the thing a ‘“championship bout.” It was a rousing success . . . finan- cially. Mr. Turner was hailed as a Moses destined to lead Washington out of the wrestling wilderness and he made the most of it. Sonnenberg couldn't take candy from a baby, he was that lousey, but he had a knack an opponent. It was convenient that Mr. Sonnenberg’s foes failed to move at the proper time and Gus- tavus kept winning exhibition after exhibition. There were times when Mr. Turner Was suspected of growing violently ill in the stomach as he stood in the wings of the Washington Auditorium and watched the palooka ram his head into the fleshy stomach of some stumblebum who poasessed net enough natural instinct to step aside and let Mr. Sonnenberg go sailing into the lap of the lady in row 5. Even in his senility Mr. Turner could have tled Mr. Sonnenberg into one of those advanced Boy Scout knots and left him for the buzzards. Those Were Glorious Days. UT our Josephus weathered his nauses in grand style and abided religiously by the bookings from the “New York office.” Those were glori- ous days ir 1929 and 1930 and 1931. Mr. Curley was the head of the most powerful sports trust of the day. He bossed a combine that included Mr. Paul Bowser of Boston, Mr. Ray Fabiani of Philadelphia, Mr. Tor Packs of 8t. Louis and Mr. Toots Mondt of points East and Waest. l Money fiowed in & stesdy strear' [ the Jack ¥ He was the man who showed into the “New York office.” rasslers—they became “rasslers” when Mr. Curley introduced the fancy acoustics—drove from city to city in 12 and 16 cylinder motor cars Mr. Mondt became so en- thusiastic at one stage that he was arrested for careless use of a new 16-cylinder creation and sentenced to a year in prison. All this was Mr. Curley's doing. He remained in the background and let his “front men” bask in whatever glory was attached to this revival. A lot of people made fun of the whole works, but a good many more folks were highly excited. They laid per- fectly good money on the line to hear | the boys grunt and groan and this was during the days when base ball, boxing and even college foot ball peo- ple were moaning. Banks were closed, business firms were going bankrupt. Hoover was being called a bum, and a fellow named Roosevelt was being groomed for the presidency of the | United States. Big Shoes to Fill. 'AMOUS foot ball stars graduated every Spring and Fall and turned up their noses at coaching jobs and | chances to sell stocks and bonds. They turned rasslers and, after proper schooling in New York, were sent out to groan and writhe for the gullible trade. Mr. Jim Londos and a Mr. Paul Jones drew a $9,000 house in the Washington Auditorium one night and the fire marshals were forced to turn hundreds away. ‘The big mat trust broke up eventu- ally. Mr. Bowser took a fancy to a particular rassier and decided to ex- ploit him personally. Jack Pfeffer, who muscled into the Curley clique, did the same thing. Mr. Packs and Mr. Mondt, when he got out of jail, followed suit. But, withal, Jack Curley still was the big man behind the guns of rassling. . The economic depression ended and base ball and foot ball and boxing began to thrive again. But, somehow, rassling held on. And only promoters like our Mr. Turner knew Why. They realized that they were not Moses leading out of wildernesses. They merely were pawns for Curley to move as he saw fit. Now Jack Curley is gone. Bowser, Packs, Pfeffer, Mondt, Turner, Dusek and a host of others remain. But they know that & champion has been re- ‘moved. Curley? The average sports fol- lower lost track of him in the last few years. But that vacant desk, far removed from the horrific grunts and the silly flying tackies, has no ex- ecutive behind it. Nor are Jack Cur- ley's shoes likely to be filled in short order. Homer Standings By the Associated Press. ‘The leaders—Di Maggio, Yankees, 32, Greenberg, Tigers, 19; Med- wick, Cardinals, 18; Selkirk, Yan- kees, 17; -Ott, Giants, 17; Foxx, Red Sox, 17: Trosky, Indians, 17. League totals—American, 358; National, 324. Total, 062, A i The | Andy Oliveri, tied with Rippey for lead with a 141, at half-way point in event. sub-par —Star Staff Photos. FELLER CONFIDENT 'HE'LL GET BREAKS Arm Sound, Fast Ball Will | Win, Says Bob—Control [ Not Worrying Him, Bs the Associatec Press. HICAGO. July 13.—Bob Feller, the 18-year-old Cleveland | Indians hurler who blazed a strikeout trail across the base ball horizon in 1936 and then injured his arm this season, is con- vinced he's just as good as ever, not- withstanding his current record of three defeats and no victories | He lost his third game last Sunday |to Detroit 3 to 2, even though he | allowed only two hits. “Ill get the breaks soon.” he smiled, “and I'm far from discouraged over losing those games. even though | I'd have liked to won them. But if| I could go out and pitch like I did | ARainst Detroit Sunday, I'd win 25 | games a season. Confident of Curve, I VE been relying mainly on my fast ball, and my arm feels just as £00d as ever. My curve is getting better—when its right I think it's 2s good A curve as any pitcher has | in the league—and I'm sure that I'll start winning soon. I'm not trying to fan every batter, If I can fan them with men on bases I'll be satis- | fled. | “My control hasn't been too good [at times, but I'm not going to try | too hard to better it. If I can put two | balls over out of three I think I'll de- | liver good pitching. I think that if a | pitcher has too much control he loses some of his stuff.” The Feller case has been base ball's most intriguing mystery of recent vears. When he injured his arm pitching against St. Louis April 24, the experts took sides. Some said he was through for good, others that he wouldn't pitch again until 1938. Start- ing against Detroit at Cleveland, he allowed one hit in four innings, but the | | Tigers got three unearned runs off | him and won a seven-inning game, | 3to2 Pitch to Walker Hurt. T DETROIT Sunday he walked six | and made one wild pitch. But he isn't blaming the passes 30 much as he does one ball he threw to Gerald Walker. “In the sixth, with one out, I walked three men,” he said. “I fanned Greenberg with my fast ball and had two strikes and one ball on Walker. Then I made the mistake of trying a slow curve and wild-pitched a run- ner home. After that, with the dam- age done, I fanned Walker. But there'll be other days—and as I said, my curve is getting better.” Sports Program For Local Fans TOMORROW. Base Ball ‘Washington at Cleveland, 3. THURSDAY. Base Ball. ‘Washington at Cleveland, 3. Wrestling. Yvon Robert vs. Reb Russell, feature match, Griffith Stadium, 8:30. FRIDAY. Base Ball. Washington at Cleveland, 3. SATURDAY. Base Ball. ‘Washington at Detroit, 3. OLDSMOBILE NOw! WE NEED USED CARS Washingten's Larsest Oldsmebile Dealer ll.i P. STEUART, INC. m L Ave. N.W. " Des. £00 Griffs’ Records BATTING, AB.R. H.2b.3b Hr Rhi Pet Travis 9 20 . Stone Almada Kuhel Lewis Myer Bluege 64 Semaxisn Weaver _ Sington Simmons Cohen Linke Mihalic W. Ferrell R. Ferrell Hil Anpleton Fischer De Bhong Jacobs o 2 ©533mmo3m358: Weaver De Shong W. Ferreil Pischer Linke Appleton Cohen Jacobs Chase HORSESHOE COURTS OPENED TO PUBLIC Lighted Grounds to Be Available Nightly Until 10:30—Henson Wins Baptismal Event. SIX well lighted Department of Play- grounds horseshoe courts had re- ceived their baptismal fire today and were thrown open to the public fol- lowing the opening of the pitching pavilion last night. The courts, located near the Mc- Millan pumping station. between Bryant and Channing place and First and Second streets, will be lighted every evening until 10:30 o'clock, it has been announced by Miss Sibyl Baker, supervisor of playgrounds. Clayton Henson, former metropoli- tan champion, trimmed Joe Merry- man, former Maryland State title holder, 50-26, 43-50, 50-22, in the final of the invitation tourney last night. Others participating were Lee Fleshman. Bill Woodfield, Charles Heleker, Francis Battiste, Lem Sales and Edgar Brown. P TPPIOPENIN o} BIG FIELD WILL SHOOT At Least Eight Clubs Will Take Part in Virginia Meet. RICHMOND, Va, July 13 (#).— Representatives from at least eight Virginia rifie and pistol clubs will compete here Sunday for the Mills Trophy, a loving cup to be given for sll-around proficiency in small bore rifle shooting. The firing will be on the range of the Richmond Rifie and Pistol Club and under supervision of the Vir- ginia State Rifle and Revolver Asso- ciation and the National Rifie Asso- ciation. The firing will begin prompt- ly at 9 am. Entries to date have been received from the Richmond club and clubs at Petersburg, Hopewell, Hampton, Ohristiansburg, Roanoke, Harrison- burg and Culpeper, and are expected from several other clubs this week. Indications are that approximately 60 persons will shoot in the match, SLEUTHS CARRY ON. Bureau of Investigation, undefeated first-half champions of the United States Government League, will launch second-half activity tomorrow on the Ellipse at § o'clock, meeting the City Commissioners nine. RACES TODAY DELAWARE PARK STANTON, DEL. EIGHT RACES DAILY , Special Penna. train leave Station 11:20 A.M. Bpecl trains leave 11:30° A.M. AM._—Direct to tr standard time. FIRST RACE AT 2:00 P.M,, ES.T. 59 - | been a source of vital GAMES TODAY, Boston at Braoklyn New York at Phila. Chicago at Boston St. Louis at Pitts St Louis_a' Phila. | Others not scheduled. Cin. at Brookl GAMES TOMORROW. at New York. FIREWORKS AT REGATTA 8pectacular Display Planned for President's Cup Program. I | ‘The most spectacular display of fireworks ever witnessed in this sec- tor is the aim of President’s Cup re- gatta officials, who hope to light up the sky in conjunction with the pro- posed night battle between craft rep- | | resenting the Bon Homme Richard and Serapis | Current plans call for the battle to end with a burst of 500 aerial | bombs, which will drop an equal num- ber of American flags, while the Navy band plays the national anthem. | | This phase of the annual water pageant will be staged the night of September 23. RACE HOT IN SHO’ LOOP Federalsburg Has Half-Game Lead, Four Others Threaten. By the Associated Press Staft Writer. It's still anybody's race in the East- ern Shore League. Federalsburg remained out in front today, a scant half game ahead of Easton, and with three other clubs, Centreville, Crisfield and Pocomoke, trailing closely behind. Both Federalsburg and Easton, wag- | ing a private feud for top honors, while | the others battled to get high up in the first division, lost their games last | night. | { | Stars Yesterday By the Associater Press. Joe Medwick and Si Johnson, Oardinals—Former got three hits, one a double, and batted in three runs in 6-5 defeat of Pirates: lat- ter fanned pinch hitter in ninth with tying run on base. Wayne Lamaster, Phillies—Held Giants to six hits and two runs before he was lifted for pinch hit- ter and earned credit for 6-3 vic- tory. Blatx Brewing Co., Distribuf | Chapman A-—l11 kage FINE BARGAIN SEEN Melo Held Vital Part of Re- building Plan—Griffs Tackle West Again. BY FRANCIS E. STAN, AIRLY well fed up with came paigning against their Eastern rivals in the American Leagus derby, the Nationals looked forward to their third swing of the West today with some measure of relish. They are slated to head for Cleveland tonight for a three-game series and, thereafter, the scheduls calls for stops at Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis before another home stand is launched late this month. Their experiences with the Yankees over the last week end convinced the Griffs, off the record at least. that there is mo chance of stopping the Rupperts’ quest for the pennant. Ev- erything at Manager Bucky Harr disposal was flung at the New Yorks, and the best the Nats could get was one tie game in a four-game series, To those who follow the fortunes of the Washingtons. however, the work of Melo Almada has been a pleasant surprise. With rebuilding still the theme, Almada's showing since he donned a Washington uniform has interest to the Washington firm's bosses, if not to the trade. In order to get a catcher of Rick Ferrell's caliber the Nats had to give up a great outfielder in Ben and Almada, who came in | the Red Sox trade, was regarded from the start as a long-shot shoes to fill the of the fleet-footed Alabaman, Mel Fills Chappie's Shoes. PROEABLY the most overlooked of | the trio of Red Sox to come to | Washington in that mid-June trade, Almada has done a bang-up job since | he first stepped into the Washington | line-up on June 11 in Chicago. In | 22 games since that date the youthful Mexican has compiled a batting aver- age of .299, missing the select .300 | mark only when he failed to hit in the | last two games of the Yankee series. Harris is well pleased with Almada's showing. Chapman was not hitting close to 299 when he was shipped away in trade, and Almada's average represents quite a boost, although Jess Hill had a large say in the matter. When left-handers have faced the Griffs Hill has taken over Almada's post, and between the two of them Chapman has not been missed. In- deed, as Harris and President Clark Griffith eve the future, they like Al- mada’s chances of becoming one of the better outfielders of the American League. Western Swing Not Feared. DESPITE their failure to win of late, the Griffs are not fearing the forthcoming swing through the West. They had the misfortune of tatkiing the Eastern clubs at an in- opportune time. The Yanks were hotter than July 4th firecrackers when the Griffs tackled them, and the Red Sox were scarcely less torrid Only against the A's in the last week did the Griffs figure to make up lost ground, and then they let the Mackmen off the hook. so to speak. None of the Western clubs can match the Yanks or Red Sox, off their recent paces. The Indians are strug- gling to remain in Aifth place. a notch ahead of the Griffs, and the Tigers are trying to stay in the first division. The Browns, of course. still are the Browns. They. alone of the Western outfits, figure to be soft touches for the Griffs. EASTERN SHORE. Salisbury. 9: Easton. ] Cambridge. K Federalsburg. 1 Pocomoke. 15, Crisfield. 9. Milwaukee, Wis. ted by District Wholesale Corp. Phone No., POtomac 1104 52 O St. A W.