The Washington times., 1932-05-07
HELPS
GR|FFMEN To
FINE START
BY BABE RUTH

NEW 1OfLn N44 4, May u
One big reason why Walter John
sons Washington team got away
to such q fine start this year is
that strong defense which makes
1t so much more difficult to score
runs against the Senators than
against almost any other big
league club. BY defense I mean
both pitching and fielding, and
while have no intention Of mini
MIXING the pitching strength Of
the Senators, I want to emphasize
the good work Of that infield and
outfield in the early games.
The day after the Senators
climbed into first place by beat
ing the Yankees in Washington
early this week I looked over the
scores Of the games in which
washington had played. The fig
ures were very interesting and in
cluded quite a few low.score vic
tories. Just look these over. In
their first 13 victories this year
Washington had four in which
they scored either / or 2 runs per
game. The Senators won from
Boston by scores Of 10 and 20,
and they had two 81 victories
over the AS.
Tight Play
To go a little farther with these
low scores there was ~ victory
over the Yankees and a 4-3 win
from the Red Sox. Think Of that
for tight play. Six victories on a
total of Is runs because the other
teams were held in these same
six games to a total Of 2 runs,
or an average Of about l run to
the game.
And one of Washington's four
defeats in the first three weeks
of the season was 10 setback
at the hands Of the Red Sox.
Again the strength Of the Wash
ington defense is emphasized,
even though the hitting Of the
Griffman wasn't good enough to
win this one.
1 picked the Griffmen to fin
ish second in this years race and
must say, after looking at them
in a few games this spring, they
look even stronger than I had
expected. I still believe that the
heavier punch Of the Yankees
will land our team in first place,
but it may be a harder fight
than looked for.
The Griffmen appear TO have
picked up q pitching find in
Monte Weaver, and Joe Judge is
playing around first base in his
old time style, which means that
he will get anything that any
first baseman could get. Rey-
nolds adds a powerful punch to
the team and he is galloping
around the outfield in great style.
Likely To Lead
Judging from their spring form
the Griffmen are likely to lead
our league in winning those low
score games. I figure their In
field is the tightest defensive
quartet in our league, and they
have three outfielders who will
cover a big field better, think,
than any other outfield trio in
our league. Manush, West and
Reynolds can all '.go get 'em," "
as the ball players say.
Naturally this kind of support
makes pitching look better than
it would be otherwise. When the
infielders are knocking down two
or three hits game, and the out,
fielders are grabbing what should
be doubles or triples, it is certain
that the pitchers will have an
easier time. And johnson has
some good pitchers in his squad
But, as I said before, like the
infield and that outfield more
than I like the pitching.
johnson thinks he has landed
prize in Monte Weaver, who
started off with four straight vic
tories between opening day and
the end Of April. Walter should
know good pitching if anybody
knows it, as he was about the
best that the American League
ever saw. He may have been the
best Of all time, but I am not
qualified to compare him with
Mathewson. I can say, however
that Walter was easily the pest
pitcher I have faced in my base.
ball career.
Keen Student
Weaver is not only a pitcher
with a lot Of natural ability, but
he is a keen student of the game
as well. I believe he teaches
mathematics during the off-sea.
son. There was nothing flukey
about his start this year, as three
of those four victories were scored
against the Athletics. It is quite
p test for a young pitcher to face
team which includes such slug.
gers as Simmons, FoXx and Coch.
rane, and it takes real pitching to
win as Weaver did in these games
So with weaver added to the
pitching staff and Judge playing
the same high-class ball he has
played for years, these Senators
are going to be tough to shake off