Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-25

ut. LOUIS. July 24.-Some ball
players plug along at their work
day after day without attracting
any great amount Of attention
yet out Of action they would be
Sorely missed. OF this class is OSsie
Rluece, third sacker of the Nationals.
To che fans in general. this young
fellow appears merely q good tnird
haseman. working along in an earnest
manner but not flaShly star. YET
without Bluege at the far corner, the
Washington infield is far from strong,
for this unaSSuming athlete is mucn
more brilliant performer than most OF
these attending American League games
realize.
In fact. Bluege deserves to be rated
as one of the best third baSemen OF
modern base ball Consideration Of his
record for this season alone reveals now
highly he should be rated, for with q
club that has been clubbing along IN
the second division almost since the out
set of the championship campaign,
Bluege has done his work about the far
corner in the manner Of a star OF the
first magnitude
Out of Only Two Games.
che Nationals have been through SO
James 20 date, and Biuege took part
Sn 80 Of them afield. Extensively, he
s.as participated in 81 -ameS. He re-
yssssned or the bench throughout the
tits of May Is and IA. but was sent
into the game Of May is as pinch
runner. and broke into the first game
Of the double -header Of July 10 as a
pinch-baCter.
In his SO games aficld, Bluege has
had 800 chances come his way and has
failed 70 handle cleanly but 10. That
gives him a rating Of $50 for the sea-
son. a substantial mark for any third
seeker in these days of the lively ball
and the free swinger at bat.
He has made IS put-outs and 2l4 as
Sssts, each total exceptionally large for
the NJ, her of engagements OSsie has
seen. 3iuege has been in nearly a
dozen games without running into a
single chance, yet he has averaged SO
chances ner game.
Most of Bluege's misplays were made
IN the first 26 games in which he took
part this year. In his last 63 engage
mants he has erred but i've times, hav-
ing fieided over this stretch at .977
clip. something sensational
Rluege began this stellar fielding IN
the game of May 20 when the Indians
were playing at Washington. That day
he had but four chances and accepted
ali. He continued his perfect fielding
until he had q string of % games with
cut an error, the last Of the string being
the game against the Tigers in Detroit
0n July Is
Has Great Record.
During these - games, Bluege made
II patouts and So assists. That's a
great record in itself. Another great
record is that Of averaging but one
error to 1873 games In his last 90 games.
While Bluege has been shining afeld.
he has not been q weak one at bat by
any means. He has an average of
.2Ts made with 81 hits in 3I3 legal
times at the plate. And his hitting
has been responsible for driving 46
runs across. His hitting to date has
been better than last season and there
are rot many major league third sackers
cIouting better than Ossie to be found.
Eiuege hes borne the season well
physically, too. He has been in as many
games as any other Of the Nationals.
And In good trim right now he should
be a great help to the club during its
seeond invasion Of the West this year
starting today.