The Washington times., 1932-04-23
POP FLY ROBS
. PENNOCK Of
SHUTOUT
BY BABE RUTH

NEW YORK, April 81 notice,
and with much satisfaction that
the Old Guard of baseball has
done very we'll by itself IN the
early games of this years pennant
races. l mention the satisfaction
because I am a full-fledged mem
Der of the Old Guard myself, as
one of the oldest regulars in &C
tive service. And every time one
of the older fellows does anything
worth while we have a chance to
kid the younger players about IT.
mentioned in my last article
the fine start Sam Jones made as
a member of White SoX, and then
came Dazzy Vance with a two-hit
game as a starter of the new
season. Both Sam and Dazzy
have celebrated their thirty-nlnth
birthdays so they must be classed
as real veterans. But more note
worthy still is the fact that each
did this fancy pitching in weather
that was not fit for baseball, and
YOU know they always say that
the old timers need plenty of warm
weather.
Missed ShutOut
On the same day that Vance
turned in his high-class perform
ance Herb Penock, who is past 38,
was missing a shutout by mar
row margin in Boston. Only in
one inning did the Red SoX score
on Herbie and then only when
short fly dropped safely between
myself and Sam Byrd, after two
were out. If one of us had caught
that fly there would have been no
scoring in that inning, either.
I notice. too. that Joe Judge has
refused to be counted out as reg
ular. Joe was on the bench most
of last season, after being stricken
with appendicitis, and his name
was mentioned frequently in trade
rumors during the winter and
while the Senators were at the
training camp.
Kept Hustling
But Joe kept on hustling and
showed so much real baseball that
there was no keeping him out of
the lineup. Quite a ball player,
Joe Judge. One of the best I have
ever seen when you figure him as
a defensive player, hitter, base
runner, and particularly for play
ing heads-up all the time.
Muddy Ruel is another of the
Old Guard who has been quite
prominent in the early box scores.
They said he was through when
Washington sent him to the Red
Sox late in 1880, and they said it
again when he was traded to the
Tigers last September for Marty
McManus. But notice Muddy
has been keeping Bucky Harris
younger catcherS on the bench
during the early games while he
has been wearing the big glove and
mask behind the plate. Muddy
isn't as fast as he once was, and
he can't snap a ball down to Sec
ond as he did in the old Gays, but
he knows every last thing there is
W KNOW aOOuG CdCCLlu1S'
Rabbit Going Strong
And our old friend, Rabbit
Meanwhile, is another who simply
refuses to be kept out of the reg
ular lineup. l saw a lot of Rab-
bit in st. Petersburg during the
training season, as the Braves and
Yankees had their usual spring
series, and he was as clipper as
ever. l had been reading that he
probably would be a bench warmer
when the season opened so I was
kidding him one day about it.
"WeII, l see you are in the
old man class at last and that
one of these kids will put you
on the BENCH" / said to him.
81 have been reading about
that myself" returned the Rab-
Bit" but don't pay any atten-
ton to what the papers say
about me until you can't find
my name in the box scores.
think it will be there when the
season opens"
IUdUUAG WdS I4Sl1I. nc Has OcCu
in the lineup, topping the bat
ting order and keeping everybody
awake on the ball club and in the
stands.
During our first series with the
AS Connie Mack benched Bing Mil
Ter and the papers announced
that the old-timer Che will be SO
this year, was through as a
regular. That may be true. But
the day this story appeared Miller
was sent to bat and delivered a
pinch hit which helped the AS to
rally and finally win a game
which seemed to be lost at that
time. In this same game it was
triple by Jimmy Dykes, another
of the Old Guard, which was the