The Washington times., 1931-06-10
Of STAR
IS BLOW To
TIGERS
BY BABE RUTH

NEW YORK, June 10.-What
a difference one real ballplayer
can make when out Of the lineup
for any length Of time. 1 heard
one of the players on our team
say few days ago that it would
not surprise him to see the De-
troit Tigers fall into last place
unless Charley Gehringer's arm
comes back. I am inclined to
think that the Tigers have
enough strength to otherwise
escape such a fate but the alb
sence Of such a ballplayer GER
tainly means a lot Of games be-
ing lost.
I am quite sure the Tigers
would be higher in the race to-
day if Gehringer had been able
to play every day. For the past
two years he has been one of
the real stars of our league.
Gehringer is the player who
can least be spared by the
Tigers and the injury was con-
sequently a tough blow to the
club. It is the same as If the
AS lost COchrane or Simmons
for a long spell, or IL the Griff.
men lost Joe Cronin. Take
Bill Terry out of the Giants
lineup and figure how he would
be missed. Well, that is the
way the Tigers miss GehrinHer.
I hope he gets back soon in
his form Of 1929 and 1880. You
don't mind seeing another team
get its bumps when it has all its
firSt-string players in the game,
but it is tough to see a team
take a lot of punishment be-
cause it has been unfortunate
in having its best players inI
jured.
Frank Frisch, who holds the
same position among the National
League second sackers that
Gehringer holds in our league, has
been having his troubles, first
with slump and then with lum-
bago. Fresco Thompson, another
of the National League group, was
hurt just before the season
started, and this forced him out
OF the lineup for a while, and also
affected his playing when he did
get into the game.
Critz Has Troubles
They tell me, too, that Hughey
Critz has been having quite a little
trouble with his throwing arm.
Critz has been hitting well and he
has missed few games, but his
arm trouble has cut down his
usual quota of double plays.
Over in our league second base
gave Joe Mccarthy and DOME
Bush some worries, but both have
solved their problems. Ben Chap
man, who started the season at
second for the Yankees, was
shifted to the outfield where he
is playing a grand game and is
much happier. Jimmy Reese, who
had been bench warmer for
more than a year went to second,
and he is doing very well there.
Bush settled his second base
worries by making q deal which
brought Lew FOnSeca from
Cleveland. Bob Reeves started
the season as second baSeman
for the Red SOx, but things
did not go very well for Bob
so he was replaced by Jack
ROthrock.
However, all the second sackers
have not Jared badly. Max Bishop
OF the AS has been having a very
successful spring. In the Ii
games which we played against
the AS, Bishop has fielded bril-.
liantly and hit hard. There have
been times in other years when
Max was always on the bases in
our games, but he got there more
often on walks than on hits. This
spring If the pitchers were not
walking him he was getting on
anyway.
Oscar Melillo, Of the Browns,
is another second baSeman who
has no complaint to make about
the first two months Of this cam
paign. He has been pounding the
ball this spring far above any
thing he showed in his five other
seasons with the Browns. And
our club was the victim Of some
Of his best stick work.
Copyright, 1891, by the Christy
Walsh Syndicate)