Evening star., 1933-04-13
SCHEDULE FAV0RS
CLICKING COMBINE
WeII.BaIanced Cronin Crew
Should Make HeadWay in
Week on Home Lot.
BY JOHN B. KELLER.

y foot, WaShlngton'S Bal
~ Club now has a golden
opportunity to step along
swiftly in the early going of this
American League championship
race.
1t is favored by the schedule
for the week it has yet to play
In Griffith Stadium before invad-
ing foreign fields. After games
with the Athletics today and to-
morrow, it runs into a string of
four with the Red Sox, still rated
"cousins" to all other clubs.
In high gear, clicking nicely in
hll parts, apparently strong enough
to recover quickly from jolts that
might mar its action, the Cronin
crew could order no better set-up.
OF, course, getting by the Athletics
before taking on the Red Sox is a task
to which the Nationals must give seri-
Gus consideration. Connie Mack's year.
ling team is no hollow shell of the awe
some group of AS that boasted its Sim
mons, its Haas and its Dykes.
. As they subdued the Athletics in the
A-to-1 season opener here yesterday,
though, the base ball boys who get pay
checks signed by Clark Griffith clearly
demonstrated they are a match for the
Mack minions and indicated they might
be their betters over the trail that
desn't end until next October.
True, the AS were minus the serv-
Ices of Jimmy Foxx, regular first base
man and the great Babe Ruth's only
near-rival in the business of busting
home runs, and Eric McNair, regular
Shortstop. Jimmy was nursing a sore
shin and Eric sore arm. The Phila-
delphia phalanx was also without benefit
of manager, the venerable Cornelius
McGillicuddy having business of vast i'm
portance elsewhere. That left the wav-
ing of signals to Bing Miller, captain Of
the club. Not being so experienced
Bing couldn't expect to wave as well as
the old master
Foxx was to get here this morning to
take his post at first and swing his
menacing mace in the last two games
of the series. McNair came with the
club yesterday, but probably will not ap-
pear in action here. Mack arrived last
night and will do what waving of sig
mails there is to be done.
The battling during the remainder of
the series should be merrier through
their presence.
CRONIN, emerging from his initial
~ managerial test under fire with
heaps of laurel wreaths adjoining
his 26-year-old brow, lost no time in
making plans for the tussling to come.
He did not have to ponder over his
list of pitchers to pick the one for to-
days set-to. "It's Whitehill," he an
nounced without hesitation. Earl is in
as fine trim right now as any on the
staff and he's the one to go out there
and give us a great game"
The boy manager contended that
even with the strong swinging Foxx,
who hits his homers from the right
side, in the lineup the AS still would
have four southpaw swingers in action.
Bishop, Finney, Cochrane and Cramer
at the top of the Mack mauling make
up are left-hand batters
AS to his slab selection for tomorrow's
series Wind-up, Cronin was not so
definite. 1t might be Walter Stewart
and it might be Monte Weaver. The
1eft-handed Stewart. probably should
Whltehill enjoy great success in his
fling at the Athletic artillerymen in
the second encounter of the schedule.
The willy Mack, when approached at
his hotel last night, would not divulge
his chucking choices for the two games
to come. It's habit with Connie. He
does not do his picking until shortly
before game time. But newspaper men
accompanying the club were writing
home that the left-handed Robert
Moses Grove, whose fast one has
brought him many heaving records,
would be on the hill today. And their
guess for tomorrow was George Earn
shaw, the big blonde right-hander.
There should be lot of good pitch
ing seen before the AS leave town.
MAKING their season bow, the Ma
lv1 tionals put forth good pitching,
flashed a well-placed if not an
overwhelming punch and were spright-
1y afield and on the paths.
Up to the time he succumbed to the
chill in the northwest breeze sweeping
Griffith Stadium, AL Crowder gave a
smooth hill performance and we'll de-
served credit for the victory. Incl
dentally, it was the Generals sixteenth
successive big league pitching triumph
for in setting season record for the
majors last year by coring 26 wins
he ran out the string With Is straight
Frozen, Crowder tottelad in the sew
enth inning and only by his own fast
fielding did he stave off a threatened
whipping. That Side-retiring double
play he started could not have been
placed in better spot. The two per-
feet innings Alphonse Thomas hurled
thereafter showed that the Chicago
surgeon did a neat job when he ex-
tracted those bone chips from the
pitchers arm last Fall.
The hitting was well spread through
the batting order, but it was fitting
that Manager Cronin led the offensive
with three singles. There was enough
distance in many of the drives caught
to reveal the great amount of power
the Nationals are capable Of producing
when they swing.
Making but one slip defensively, the
club fielded smartly and the first-to-
second-to- first double play initiated b.
Joe Kuhel must have satisfied onlook-
ers that first base will be cared for a!
we'll as it was by Joe Judge in hi:
palmy days.
The Nationals played heads-up bast
ball and hustled every minute OF tht
game. And they looked like ball clul
that might be expected to carry on tina
way throughout the campaign.