Evening star., 1932-05-02
FIELDING, HURL|NG
CARRY CLUB ALONG
Johnson'S Band Holds Foes
to Few RunS-Yanks Are
Checked by Brown.
BY JOHN B. KELLER.

TOR sheer defensive ability
r. consider this Washington
L base ball club. In it's 16
games thus far-of which
1t has won IL and lost to assume
the leadership of the American
League-it has yielded it's oppo-
nents an average of only 3.25 runs
per game. That's holding 'em.
- And it has done this in battling
with the supposedly strongest bat
ting clubs of the circuit.
OF the 16 games the Nationals have
played, eight have been with the Ath-
ledcS and two with the Yankees. Both
really ball-Smacking outfits. Yet only
once have the Nationals been trimmed
by double-fgure score. The AS once
beat them by scoring IL runs.
Clever pitching and steadfast fielding
are responsible for this remarkable de-
fense, of course. The Nationals have
both. So far they have excelled every
thing in the circuit in both respects.
They have revealed the greatest mound
strength in the league and their ham
ding of the ball has been far better
than that displayed by any other club.
N1d1ldStI lido 1lOt
been perfect in its fielding. 1t has
rolled up total of IL errors in its 16
tussles. But only three times have its
errors been directly responsible for
scoring by the opposition.
That's plenty of reason why the Ma
tionals are heading the parade in the
American League.
T7HOUGHTLEsS fans among the "a
i O00-the banner crowd of the sea-
son in Griffith Stadium-yesterday
gave Cronin a bounteous booing when
he kicked in with two errors in the
third frame of the game with the Yen
KEGS, yet Cronin played a brilliant de-
fensive game as his club turned back
the New Workers, to 2.
Neither OF the errors made by him
one occurring in possible double play
when a high throw from Lloyd Brown,
the pitcher, pulled him away from the
second sack, and the other when a
drive from OrSetti'S bat escaped from
had to do with the counting of the
Yankee tally. That's been the way with
most of the Washington fielding errors
In this young season.
Perhaps, though, many of the
thoughtless booers forgot about those
errors when the Nationals shortstop
made that great play on Gehrig in the
eighth inning That was a wonder.
Lou smashed the ball viciously toward
left field, but Joe rushed back to the
grass, turned his gloved hand for a
sensational back-hand stop and winged
his man A wonderful piece of fielding.
And how that boy Bluege played
that third base. He was everywhere
at every time. He picked 'em out of
the dirt back of third, in front of
third and in the diamond. Bluege
was a marvel on defense
Capital fans need not worry about
the Washington clubs defense. It's
superb.
THAT was a ball game yesterday
l. when the Nationals beat the
Yankees for the first time this
season, after taking an undeserved lick
ing by s to 5 last week from the same
team. There was everything in the
game for the folks in the stands.
The johnson band jumped on Char
ley Ruf1ng in the first two innings,
after the Yanks had banged one-run
lead off Brown in the opening frame,
and scored enough to carry it to safety.
Only eight hits were made of Rufhng,
but five we're clicked in the first two
rounds, and that meant the ball game.
Brown, making his first start OF the
season. allowed only seven. And after
allowing two in the first inning to give
the Yanks a run, he scattered the re-
mainder until the ninth, when the Clan
Mccarthy clustered two more to manu-
facture a tally.
Ruth's walk and successive singles by
Gehrig and Chapman accounted for the
initial Yankee tally. Then the Nation
ais got busy Myer jumped out of
hitting slump to get the first of three
hits in the game, and Manush followed
with a triple to put over a tying score.
When West was thrown out, Manush
crossed to put the Washington club
ahead.
The. big stuff came in the second.
Bluege walked and Berg singled. After
Brown went out, there was fine triple
by Myer, and the ball game was over
so far as the outcome was concerned.
The Yanks routed Brown in the ninth,
when with one out Dickey singled and
Lazzeri doubled Then Marberry came
on, and Combs batting for Rufhng,
grounded to short to push the last New
York run across. After that Judge
squeezed Byrd's foul