Evening Star Newspaper, May 11, 1940, Page 16

—— Jenkins, Conqueror of Ambers, Hailed Win, Lose or Draw By FRANCIS E. STAN. Star Staff Correspondent. The Little Man Who Was There—for Awhile NEW YORK, May 11.—The men who sit in the press rows at the big fights began to call Lou Ambers of Herkimer, N. Y., “the little man who wasn't there” By this they meant that Ambers was there for the customers to see but not for his opponents. Most of the so-called ex- perts couldn't “see” Lew Jenkins of Sweetwater, Tex., finding Ambers. But the skinny Texas fellow with the mop of bushy hair and the ,Mr of a fellow freshly roused from a deep sleep found the lightweight champion of the world last night. He found him in the first round and knocked him down. He flattened Ambers again in the second and floored him twice in the third and, finally, the referee stepped between them and raised Jenkins' hand and Sweetwater owned the new lightweight champion of the world. Before the fight we talked with a habitat of Jacobs’ beach and he was trying to “see” Jenkins. He was going out of his way, he said. “He can hit,” admitted the man, “but champions just don’t 80 back overnight and Ambers isn't going to get hit. I've been around for 40 years and I've only seen a couple of champions go back all at once. Fred Apostoli cracked up all of a sudden. And the Yankees seem to be crumbling now.” All Ambers Packed Was a Fighting Heart A few hours later Ambers fell apart, Just at a time when some of the mare conservative and sounder critics were boosting him to new heights. Lou was being compared with Canzoneri and McLarnin and some of the other greater lightweights when, out of nowhere, Jenkins appeared, staked a claim and backed it up. From the first 10 seconds of a fight that lasted only 6 minutes and 25 seconds, it was evident that Ambers, who had withstood the batterings of McLarnin and Canzoneri and Ross and Montanez, was all finished. It was a question only of which round. All Ambers carried into the ring with him last night was a fighting spirit. His footwork was gone. The Jigging, bouncing boy from Herki- mer wasn't jigging, nor was he bouncing. His punches never bothered Jenkins, who is by no means immune to punches. Lou didn't have it but he kept getting up and finally, like the champion he was, the fight was halted with Lou sagging in his corner, supported only. by the ropes, and waiting the next charge. Ambers had no excuses and advanced none. A few of his followers pointed out that Lou had to lose weight and thus probably was weake ened. This hardly is fair to Jenkins. Indeed, as far as Ambers is con- cerned, a lot of people had an idea he was washed up one night last summer, when he won perhaps his greatest victory. This was the night he won back his lightweight title from Henry Armstrong. Lou’s Zest for Fighting Is Gone Now We recall writing that same night, in a brash mood, that two guys who were slipping simultaneously had waged a battle and we still think it goes. This Jenkins fellow, a weird-looking tomato if ever there was one, isn't the best lightweight who ever wore the crown. He can hit hard with his right hand, and only a little less hard with his left, but he isn’t a great tactician, as yet, nor is he especially fast. He just hits. Ambers is finished. He may come back and win a few more fights before he hangs up his gloves but Lou is washed up as a standout per- former. The next time he fights probably will be as a. welterweight, but Lou won't go far. For too many years he's been forced to work too hard and the flesh has rebelled. Ambers has no illusions about this, either. “I got licked good,” he was saying last night in the dressing room. “Sure, Jenkins hit me a couple of times after the bell in the second round, but everybody was so excited that he didn’t hear the bell and, for that matter, neither did I. Anyway, those punches didn’t beat me. T guess I was licked when I hit the deck in the first round.” Lou’s zest for fighting apparently has left him. A little Ambers is on route. Besides, he was a frugal sort of a guy. He's got enough to get along. He paraphrased popular songs and sang to reporters by way of answering their questions after the fight. Then he dressed, visited Jenkins’ dressing room and wished the Texan good luck. Leading—Red Sox Fearing the Indians Meanwhile, what of the Yankees? A few hours before Ambers was removed of his lightweight crown, the champions of the baseball world dropped their seventh straight game to the Red Sox, 8 to 2, in 10 innings. It wu interesting to study the two clubs. A year ago the Red Sox ran second, but a very bad second, to the Yankees. The Sox were aware of a pitching shortage and the Yankees were a confident, cocky club. Today things are different The Yanks are pressing. They are tight and jittery and the Sox, of a sudden, have realized they can win the pennant. We dropped by their dressing room after the game and most of them were talking of beating off the Cleveland challenge. They seem to think the Indians, not the Yankees, are the club to beat. Whether this is s0 remains to be seen. It is only May 11 and four and one-half months of the campaign are left to be played. It may be a different story by September, but right now the Yankees are down and it is Grandpappy Clark Griffith, not the Red Sox or the Indians, who 1s getting the blame ‘When Griffith passed that rule prohibiting the American League pennant winner from trading or buying another league player, except by the waiver route, the Yankees regarded the business as a means of humoring an old gentleman. Now they insist this rule is beating them. It keep them from getting & good start, inasmuch as Joe Di Maggio and dJake Powell were hurt and the batting order was left-handed heavy. Indeed, the front office here is so peeved for having failed to veto the rule that the American League’s stormiest midsummer meeting, sched- uled for July, is forecast. It is at this meeting that the Yankees will seek to have the rule thrown out. The chances are that it will be rescinded but possibly not before the next winter meeting. Grandpappy Griff found plenty of supporters when he proposed the.rule and Griff isn’t the kind of a suy to take his foot off a fallen fellow’s neck, especially when the chap on the ground is the Yankees. Official Score WASHINGTON. AB. R. Case. cf. Major Statistics SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1940. AMERICAN Results Yesterday. Bl S L, Gleveland, o: & Touis. 4. troit, 3: Chicago, 0. STANDING OF THE CLUBS nura, 1i TWelia __ Travis. 3b. Bloodworth, 2b. Pofahl, ss. Ferrell orousuoRooo> cocemoossccoM OHHORNCONOONO CEEETET G Masterson, Totals___. ___ *Ran for Bonura in nint PHILADELPHIA. AB. Lillard, ss. Moses, rf. Fa 7 | j [ third when singles WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1940, Throng Stunned As Champ Bows In Third Heat Hungry Boxer Proves Class in Flooring Lou Four Times By GAYLE TALBOT, Associated Press Bports Writer. NEW YORK, May 11.—Before the startled, unbelieving gaze of a great crowd in Madison Square Garden last night, Lew Jenkins of Sweetwater, Tex., battered Lightweight Cham- plon Lou Ambers of Herkimer, N. Y., from his throne in less than three rounds of furious fighting. The third round was 1 minute and 29 seconds old when Referee Billy Kavanagh grasped Ambers in his arms to spare him further punish- ment. Ambers had been down four times. His manager, Al Weill, was standing against the ropes waving & bath towel in token of surrender. In that moment a great light- weight champion probably was born. In the Garden lobby afterward the old-timers waved their arms and declared that Jenkins is the hardest hitting lightweight since Joe Gans. Hits With Both Hands. Last night’s scrap wasn’t 30 sec- onds old before he whipped over a right that dumped Ambers to the canvas for a count of five. Proving he could be impartial, he clipped the veteran to the floor with a sharp left in the second. And then, in the third, he simply laid into Lou with both fists and tore him apart, Ambers was down twice before Kav- anagh shielded him. Ambers appeared to have slowed since he won the title back from Armstrong last August. He had dif- ficulty making the weight, and said afterward he would fight again only as a welterweight. This was Jenkins’ 11th straight victory since he came to New York last summer, hungry and looking for any sort of a fight. It was his 8th straight knockout. Ambers, never before knocked out in a long and gainful career, sat on & dressing table and tried to smile as he said: “What's the use of trying to alibi? He did it, and he did it good. He’s a tough son-of-a-gun.” Jenkins Modest Victor. Jenkins was quiet and modest in victory. He mostly listened and dabbed at a slight cut on his left cheek while his manager, Hymie Caplin, yelled himself hoarse about a fight this summer against Henry Armstrong, the welterweight champ. “Itll draw two hundred grand,” exulted Hymie. “Maybe three hun- dred. We'll fight him either for our lightweight title or his welterweight. Lew will knock him out, too.” Jenkins might, at that, if he ever catches with a couple of those howitzers he planted on Ambers’ chin last night. He’s likely to dominate the lightweights for a long time. Sammp Angott, recog- nized by the N. B. A. as 135-pound king, will be well advised to dodge him. Ambers was not his only victim last night. The bookmakers offered up to 3-to-1 against him, with few takers, and the boxing critics were certain he had been over-matched. They even felt a little sorry for him—tackling a canny old stager like Ambess. Defeated by Virginia, Terp Tossers Vent Spleen on 6. U. In an ugly mood after yesterday’s §-4 drubbing by Virginia, Maryland met Georgetown this afternoon at College Park in the second game of their series. Lefty Farl Springer, ace of the ‘Terp chucking corps, w:s slated to oppose the Hoyas who scored a 5-0 shutout over Maryland last Wednesday. Johnny Smith and Bill Wixted were available for mound duty for Georgetown. ‘Two errors in the final inning gave Virginia its margin of victory yes- terday. Will Harman reached sec- ond on Adam Bengoechea’s wild throw to first on what could have been an easy out and scored on “Chuck” Walsh’s single when Bert Culver overthrew home plate. Virginia assumed the lead in the by McCann, Gosney, Walsh and Nichols, a hit batsman and a walk produced three Bosi—1_21 21 31 21 31 11 2016] 51.7501 s | 11— 31 11 31 11 2| 2I13| 61.634] 1% Rediel. 0. Totals __ Washington Fhifacelonia |20 10 1l—1 10 11 11 2] OII114501 6 ::ll.l 0l 0 11 11— 21 31 1| 8i111.421| 6% Twnl 11 01 11 21 1i—I 11 2| 81121.400! 7 onil 11 11 0l 21 1l 1l—I-11 71121.368| 7% NYi ol ol ol 21 1 21 1l—I 61131.316/ 8% “u%l'lfl; batted 'Ig:hlu L1 5 6l 8111111112112(13 ] 1 Boteir” aeacast L_Us ereminnanail [ Ht GAMES TODAY. GAMES TOMORROW. . 2:15.Wn. at Phila., 2:15. T N %&fi,aum o New York. & Petrott. Chtoawo. &t ‘Detroit. NATIONAL Results Yesterday. lew York, 7; Brooklyn. 2. tabursh, icaso, 3. E&lr t:gltl! [ ied Fe STANDING OF THE CLUBS PHERHEEHAE] 17 ¢ 5 — Messrs. . Time—2:12. z . § Mayo to Battle Escobar In Pro Ring Debut Gilbert Mayo, Alexandria ama- teur featherweight, will make his professional ring debut against one “Baby” Escobar, Puerto Rican, in a [] ] cin % NI 1| 0i—I 0i 11 21 21 2| 8i 81.5001 4% Chil 0l 21 11— 31 11 11 11 911114801 5% St 11 01 01 3I—I 11 2| 1| 8I10l.444| 5% Bos! 01 11 0] 0 11— 11 31 6l 81.4001 6 Phi! 0l 0l 11 21 0 1l—I 1 5 91.357] 6% Pitt] ol ol 0l 31 21 0l 0l—I 51113131 7% .| 8| 4] 8111101 O] 8l1l—i—] | Lt3ld 8Ne GAMES TODAY. GAMES TOMORROW. Brookl: a . Phils_at yn. e A runs. Maryland got them all back, however,- Hugh Keller scoring the tying marker on a home rug to left field in the sixth. & VP AROSANCOH| onuorHooN~OoooR T ] al » | eusocoonwmHmee? Bl rrmsarserccms® Totals 361127 © u#f Bac n ‘uuui';mz':'-mw'mx“ to_Gillette, on Ballsoft Mondork 5 off Nicheie, 3. Struck out—By Mondorfl. 3; by Nichols, 2’ Hit by bifcher ——py Mondortt (Burnes). 'Umpires—Messrs. aker and Oox. Time, 2 hours. Washington Trust Wins Despite two home runs off Pitcher Bill Berry by Bob Charley Penn, Washington Loan & Trust Co.s huebn.\lli:‘m defeated Morris Bank, , yesterday on the mlenumnt Lot. Joe Carlin T~ ¢ RULER IS UNCROWNED—Under the impact of Lew Jenkins right-hand “sneak punch,” Lou Ambers hits the canvas for the first of two times in the third round of his losing fight at New York last night. Shortly after this picture was made Referee Billy Kavanaugh (right) stopped the fight and awarded the lightweight championship to the gaunt, tousle-headed battler North Carolina, Duke Netmen Dominate Loop Tourney from Sweetwater, Tex. —A. P. Wirephoto. Ritzenberg, Askin, Terp | 90U Pitching Offsets Nats’ Sound Clouting, Defensive Team, Battle to Semis In Doubles Group By the Associated Press. DURHAM, N. C, May 11.—The singles semifinals of the Southern Conference Tennis Tournament to- day sent dark horse Zan Carver of the University of North Carolina against a teammate, Charley Rider, seeded No. 2, and Don Buffington of Duke against Harris Everett, also of North Carolina. In the quarter-finals yesterday Carver eliminated Anthony of North Carolina, 6—3, 6—2, after beating Al Ritzenberg of Maryland, seeded No. 3, in an earlier match, 6—3, 6—4, to provide one of the biggest upsets of the tourney. Rider defeated Askin of Maryland, 6—2, 6—2, in their quarter-finals match; Buffington, top-seeded, trounced Ager, a teammate, 6—3, 6—1, and Everett, seeded No. 4, advanced over Rawlings of North Carolina, 6—2, 6—3. North Carolina sent two doubles teams into the semifinals. Carver and Messerole of North Carolina, the No. 4 seeded team, will meet the defending champions, Ritzenberg and Askin of Maryland, while the other match will send Rol- lins and Rider of North Carolina against Buffington and Ager of Duke, the No. 2 seeded outfit. Rol- lins and Rider are seeded No. 3. In the quarter-finals B n and Ager eliminated Gantt and Hill of V. M. I, 6—1, 6—32; Carver and Messerole beat Gregg and Rice of North Carolina, 6—1, 6—4; Rawlings and Rider trounced Everett and Anthony of North Carolina, 6—2, 6—3, and Askin and Ritzenberg ad- vanced over Catine and Parsons cf Duke, 6—3, 6—3. Jewelers’ League Pinmen Get Awards Tonight Henry May and Paul Schlosser, champion and runner-up, and mem- bers of the pennant-winning Shah & Shah team will be honored tonight at the 12th annual banquet of the Jewelers Bowling League at the Harrington Hotel. Officers of the league, including H. J. Heller, president; W. C. Ellis, secretary; J. Summers, -scorer, and J. B. Stanley, chairman of the Prize Committee, will be among the more than 65 members of the league present. Washinglon Lacrosse Team Confident of Halting Virginia ‘Washington Athletic Association lacrossmen confidently expected to end their home campaign on a win- ning note this afternoon at Central stadium, where they met Virginia. The face-off was scheduled for 3 o'clock. Victorious over Navy's “B” squad by a ¢-5 count earlier in the week, Washingtan was in fine fettle for the. fray and was prepared to lay it on the Cavaliers. Virginia, how- to wear out the opposition. The visitors’ starting line-up in- cluded Capt. Roy Hill, goal; “Casey” Casler, point; Ted Bromfield, first defense; Bucky Harris, second de- Benner and | hom By BURTON HAWKINS, Star Btaft Correspondent. PHILADELPHIA, May 11.—Some- what akin to receiving a pay boost and being robbed of your life savings in the same day, the Nationals are beginning to resemble something slightly on the tragic side. Today, | as their losses mounted to a dozen, they could attribute their lowly status to pitching as sour as last Monday’s milk. With a brand of fielding which has been mildly astonishing and hitting which has been both prolific and timely, it’s been disheartening to the Nats to be dealt a steady diet of erratic, ineffective pitching. It's get- ting so mediocrity on the mound would be a welcome sight to the Nats, who have been seeing their share of slab satires. The mounting misery of the Nats is a bitter dose for Manager Bucky Harris. He has in Jimmy Pofahl a shortstop he terms “the best since Peckinpaugh” and he has in Cecil Travis a third baseman who is per- forming brilliantly. Jimmy Blood- worth has been adequate at second base and even First Baseman Zeke Bonura has been revealing un- suspected flelding finesse. Buddy Lewis apparently has mas- tered, or at least is en route to solv- ing, the intricacies of outfielding and Gerald Walker is swatting runs across the plate. The Nats, in short, are clicking like J. P. Morgan’s limousine in every department ex- cept pitching. The Outlook Isn’t Resy. There doesn’t seem to be much profit in searching for the silver lining. Until yesterday, when Wash- ington’s pitchers graciously handed the Athletics an 8-7 victory, there were hints youthful Walter Master- son was ready to provide the Nats with a passable passes of pitching, but that deceptive dream has faded. Now Harris is confronted with a numerical as well as an artistic pitching deficit. Of his nine-man pitching staff, only little Rene Mon- teagudo hasn’t labored in the last four days and even Monteagudo saw service at his recent station, Jersey City. Dutch Leonard has shown signs of consistency, of course, but Bucky was forced to employ three throwers Wednesday and three more yesterday. m’:;he case of the perennially pro.t'n- g and repeatedly failing Joe Krakauskas is too mildewed to re- view. The crescent-legged south- paw failed again yesterday, to no- body’s surprise, , and even the most Play as Losses Pile Up tolerant of his mates have given up on him. Shibe Park always had repre- sented something akin to Heaven to Krakky. of where else he failed, Joe seemingly could count on pitching a creditable game here. With that in mind, Harris gave him another chance in the opener of the three-game series, but Krakky failed again. His only con- solation was that he had company in Joe Haynes and Masterson. Johnson No Tonic to Krakky. Krakauskas launched the with walks to Bill Lillard and Wally Moses and trailed, 2-0, when Bob Johnson rifled a single off the left- field barrier to score them. Walker's tremendous home run into the upper tier of the left-field stands in the fifth, scoring George Case and Lewis ahead of him, tied it up for Joe at 4-4, but Krakky immediately pitched himself out of that situation by tossing a home run ball to Johnson, leading off for the A’s in the fifth. When Joe threw a double to Al Rubeling opening the sixth, Harris yanked him in favor of Haynes. The Nats then constructed a 6-5 lead by scoring two runs in the eighth, but Haynes couldn’t stand prosperity. With two out in the eighth he pitched successive singles to Chubby Dean and Lillard and was replaced at that juncture by Masterson. Masterson represented no im- provement. He walked Moses and unleashed a wild pitch to score Dean with the tying run, move Lillard to third and Moses to second. Then he finished the job of Benny McCoy before pitching a double to Johnson that scored Lillard and Moses. The Nats produced another run with two down in the ninth, but with Johnny Welaj, running for Bonura, perched on second with what represented the tying run and Travis on first with the theoretical winning run, Bloodworth fouled to Rubeling to end the game. He may have saved some alleged pitcher further embarrassment. Sid Hudson, who has had only three days’ rest since spanking St. Louis, 6-5, on 11 hits, was Harris’ choice to pitch today. County Teams Clash The Takoma Tigers will play Silver Spring in a Montgomery County League game tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Four Corners, Md. Terp Stadium Marks In Danger as Army Trackmen Invade Guckeyson Seeking Two; One Seen for Kehoe If He Wins Half Mile ‘Two or three stadium records ap- peared headed for the discard this afternoon as West Point’s potent track team invaded College Park for a duel with Maryland. Bill Guckeyson, former Terp star, aimed at new marks in the javelin and discus while his teammate, Ralph Ross, figured on upping the pole-vault figures by a couple of inches. Both won handily at the Penn Relays. Maryland looked hopefully to its ace, Jim Kehoe, for an outstanding half-mile performance—and prob- ably a record. Observers figured he game | had to lower the stadium mark of 1:55.4, already in his possession, to beat Army’s runners. g Catholic University and Gallaudet trackmen are at Baltimore for dual meets with Johns Hopkins and Loyola, respectively. The unde- feated Cardinals were strong fav- orites to outdistance the Blue Jays but Gallaudet was the underdog in its meet. George Washington’s diamond squad also was involved in foreign warfare, tangling with Western Maryland at Westminster. Duke Golfer Favored As Southern Loop Tourney Opens BY the Associated Press. GREENSBORO, N. C., May 11— Angular young Skip Alexander of Duke, favorite to win the individual title in the annual Southern Con- ference Golf Tournament, which starts here today, apparently is at his best form. As the Duke team was turning in a 10% to 7% warm-up victory over Washington and Lee yesterday, Alexander posted a record-equalling 64 over the Sedgefield Country Club course, where the tournament will be played. The Duke star was six strokes un- der par. Although Alexander outdistanced | MeQuini, all the others, there were some other ¥ as To’ughesf | Lightweight Since Gans Gumbert Snaps’ Dodgers’ Spell Over Giants Yields Leaders Only Five Hits; Yankees Drop 7th in Row By BILL WHITE, Associated Press Sports Writer. If you think the looks the Re- publicans are giving the Democrats are black, you ought to hear what the Burghers of the Borough of Brooklyn are planning to do to Bill Terry after what happened yester- day. The reason is that the New York Giants blasted a Brooklyn home- coming that was the biggest thing to hit town since Babe Phelps came in the first time. Thousands had gathered to cheer their champions home from a fine Western trip and more thousands were on hand hop- ing for a fourth straight victory over the Giants. And then the Terrys won the game 7-2 behind the five-hit hurl- ing of Harry Gumbert. Gumbert in Fine Form. That was the first time in four tries that the Giants had downed the delirious Dodgers and it left the Brooks only a half game ahead of the idle Cincinnati Reds in the National League pennant chase. Gumbert allowed two runs and two hits in the first frame, but after that he tightened. There were dark doings in another borough, too. For the proud Yane kees lost their seventh straight, this one to the Boston Red Sox, 3-2, in 8 10-inning affair. Three bad er- rors, mixed with six solid hits, turned the trick and gave the Yanks the longest losing streak they've ever suffered under Manager Joe Mce Carthy. Jack Wilson's fine relief hurling highlighted the Boston victory. The Pittsburgh Pirates finally got the combination and made off with their first victory in 10 tries. Pive-hit hurling by Mace Brown and a five-run attack on Bill Les and Charley Root in the sixth gave the Bucs an 8-3 win over the Chi- cago Cubs. Newsem Blanks Chisox. Another pitching performance that merited attention was the one Big Louis (Buck) Newsom of the Detroit Tigers unleashed at the Chicago White Sox. He scattered seven hits to give the Tigers their first shutout of the season, by 3-0. The Cleveland Indians won their third in a8 row the hard way—by spotting St. Louis four runs and then beating them 9-4. The victory kept the Tribe a game and a half back of the Boston Red Sox, Amer- ican = t!o::lu setters. Four Na teams had & day off. cenene Given Chance fo Bat Regularly, Wright Sefs Fast Pace By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, May 11.—The change that sent chunky Taft Wright from sultry Washington to breezy Chicago seems to have been Just what the doctor ordered. The hefty left-handed stugger, who hit well but not often for the Senators last year, has stepped into & White Sox regular’s berth and his batting average shows how happy he is about it all. Currently he's the best in the majors, with a 405 average. Nobody else in either league can top that one—but old Harry (The Horse) Danning tried his best dure ing the week. He wasn't even among the first 10 a week ago, and today the Giant catcher heads the National League with a 403 average, The 10 leaders in each league: AMERICAN LEAGUE. =] Wright, Chicaso _ 13 B % Hayes. Philadelphia 18 Pin; 18 5 75 79 77 78 65 8 o bt [t~ tey aom9t0ca1913, RIBIERS! 2 uf 18 4 Cleveland 19 71 NATIONAL LEAG! a. Danning, New York 13 $5 Eoiber. “chicago. - 30 5 Moore, New York_ 13 Youns, New York. 16 Medwick, 8t. Louis 11 Slsughter, 8¢ Louis 18 arsells | Boston. 1 o T Witek. New York~ 1 8. Martin, 8t. Lous 17 Za4243 | ESRsgE PR BomaRo: Used to Pitch Every Day, Says Feller, Asking More Toil Joe Engel Seeks to Crash Bigtime as Promoter; Estelle Page Passes Up National Tourney By EDDIE BRIETZ, Associated Press Sports Writer. EEgIEE E 45 when the throw was over the first basentan’s head, and all the way home when the pitcher, trying to pick him off second, heaved into center field, How about that story that Frankie Prisch and Bob