Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-28

N
v Y tons base ball fandom
must do now. And may
be everything will be better.
Most of us were looking for a
second place club this year, but the
best we got was a third-place I'm
ish. Not so bad, at that. Every
thing considered, the Walter
Johnson-led aggregation enjoyed
q much more than fair campaign
and for its showing deserves deal
Of credit.
Give the Nationals their due.
They went along in good style.
The Washington club was rated bit
too strong, perhaps, in the calculations
for this years race on its batting and
pitching prowess indicated by last year S
statistics.
AS q batting club the Nationals hit
for. stable average in 1880 and did
90 again this season, but their batting
average did not reveal their true power
In attack.
The Nationals connected for many
singles, but had not among them a
batter who reasonably could be expected
to drive out double or longer hit any
time he stepped to the plate.
With the possible exception OF the
White Sox, all rivals of the Nationals
In the race possessed such an sdvan-
Webb, while the Tigers had several
sluggers in their lineup. Lack Of q
long distance hitter handicapped the
Nationals greatly this year. In many
OF their games the number they had
left on base was far out of proportion
to the hitting and the scoring done by
them.
VTTHILE this lack of long hitting
w marred the effectiveness Of sew
ersl of the Nationals young
pitchers no little, the greatest blows
suffered in q pitching way came from
the failure of Alvin Crowder, who was 8
tower of strength last year, to do any
thing worth while until the last two
months of the campaigning; the col
lapse OF the veteran Sam Jones, and
the most promising young pitchers In
base ball, to make any Roadway as a
starter of games.
Fred Marberry hurled well and was Q
consistent winner. The 'sleft-handers
Lloyd Brown and Carl Fischer, turned
IN many good performances, but Brown
rarely managed to get the batting sup
port the other hurlers received, while
Fischer, after standing out the FIRST half
of the season, was of little value in the
second half. Bob Burke, q 24-year-old
southpaw, did more work than In any
Of his previous four seasons and on
Saturday, August 8, surprised even his
most ardent admirers with q no-hit
effort against the Red Sox.
DEFENSTvELY the Nationals were
~ among the best Roy Spencer, who
was behind the bat In most OF their
games, deserves rating as one OF the
finest receivers and throwers in the
majors. The infleld was Of high order,
young Joe Kuhel starring at first base
after an appendicitis attack retired the
veteran Joe Judge on May i. Joe Gro
min at short made more errors than
usual, but still played a remarkable
game Buddy Myer was greatly Inn
proved second baseman and he and
Cronin were q brilliant double-play
combination Ossie Bluege scintillated
at third base.
of the outfielders, Sammy West was
by far the best. SO valuable was Sam
my defensively that he was generally
regarded the most valuable man TO his
club and rated by far the finest fielding
center gardener in the league. Heinie
Manush and Sam Rice, In left and right,
respectively, enjoyed good seasons, while
Dave Harris, frequently used in right,
did well.
STTHE Nationals made a game fight for
4 the pennant in the first 10 weeks
Of the campaign. They swept
through the Eastern clubs smartly in
April and enjoyed q most successful
western trip in May. They did well
against the East again; then defeated
the Westerners here in Is OF Is games
the first two weeks in June. They con-
tinued travelling smoothly until after
their game Of June Is they were WITHIN
a game Of the league-leading Athletics.
That was their last bid for top place.
however. They finished their second
Western swing with only an even break:
then came back East to take sound
trouncing from the Yankees and the
Athletics Their second home stand
against the West was nothing to boast
about, and they failed dismally In their
last tour Of the inland sector.
During September the Nationals
played an in-and-out game and almost
ct the finish lost second place to the
Yankees.
FINISHING their campaign yesterday,
A. the Nationals took 4-to-2 licking
from the Red Sox. They had Ad
LSka on the hill for the FIRST three
rounds and Walter Masters for the re-
mainder of the fitting. Between them
these pitchers yielded 10 hits, 9 of them
and Of the tailies of Liska.
Jack Russell went the route for the
visitors and was nicked for 10 safeties.