The Washington times., 1934-03-12
BY DAVIS J. WALSH

'farch II U.N.SO.-Hitherto, I'd
lad the idea. not altogether un-
,ommon, that Mr.. Rogers Horns
1y was a cold, unfeeling man who
vent about Sneering from left to
light in a very dastardly way. To-
lay, / found him pleasant, affa-
Die, Informative though modest
Ind, all told. very good guy; so
rood, in fact I even came away
linking he had a good ball club,
which Is par and tops" in the
personality dodge. Even Mr..
aornsby doesn't think he has a
good ball club.
BY his own estimate, the st.
Louis Browns have improved by
as much as Is per cent since he
took them over last summer. But,
any way you figure it, Is per cent
Of nothing is liable to make a
grand total of very little. The
Browns are better, so is Wall
Street. The difference, in fact,
Is a little subtle, just a slight
shading. The Browns happen to
know what's the matter with
them.
A, Few Needs
They. need a ShortStop. They
need a third baseman. The for
mer may turn out to be Allen
Strange, who hit 1924 in the Coast
League. It seems to me there's
always somebody like that around
a ball club in the spring. Some
times, they suffice; all too often
they don't. AS for the third base
man it might be almost anybody,
with the possible exception OF
John A. Heydler.
81 may be out there myself
playing third base on my
Knees" Mr.. HOrnsby con-
fessed this morning.
The two third basemen who
may keep Mr.. Hornsby off his
own anatomy, which is becoming
elderly and tender, are Scharein,
q 1888 regular, and Warren Cliff,
up from San Antonio. One doesn't
know much about Mr.. Cliff at this
time, but Mr.. Scharein, on past
performances, will have to hit, or
one Of these times he'll be leav.
ing by the first train in the morn
ing. AS for Hornsby, he'll do all
right il he plays SO games at
third base.
Strange has looked the part SO
far, but he hasn't started to let
his hair down yet and the curve
ball pitchers won't be going to
work on him for weeks. Neverthe-
less, the job is his until such time
as he indicates that he can't hold
It, The other two infield posi-
tions can be dismissed in q few
words, the first being Burns and
the second Mehllo. Mr.. Hornsby
feels pretty good about that part
Of it.
A Few Changes
Also about this: He traded one
outfielder Carl Reynolds, and took
in exchange one pitcher, Paul An
drews, and one shortstop, Strange
Then, with. the money left over.
he bought two infielders. Pucinelll
and Ray Pepper, who had been
the mirror league property OF the
rival club, the Cardinals.
"'I don't think they ever got
a real chance" was Mr.. Horns
by's comment. "The Cards al
ways had plenty Of OutfielderS
and this pair was just two too
many. 1 think they'll hit for me,
lust as I look for Strange to be
Che best shOrtstOp the BEOwns
have had in years. Altogether
I think 1 did all right on the
REYNOLDS deal. Andrews once
looked like quite pitcher. And
I think he'll come back"
Another place where the gentle
man feels he might have done
himself proud was in taking title
to Bill McAfee and Ed Becht, pit
chers. The Cubs once paid $75, 900
for Becht when Mr.. HornSby was
there, and he still thinks the man
is good. His arm went bad but it's
supposed to be all right again,
and Mr.. Hornsby picked. him up
for practically nothing, which
seems like q reasonable price for
maybe a man without an arm or
even an arm without the man.
McAfee won six out of his first
seven games for Washington last
year. Mr.. Hornsby will forgive him
If he only wins five out of his first
six this time.
And q Few Fingers
The rest of the staff will be
Blaeholder, Hadley, Coffman, Sam
Gray and "Bucky" Newsome, who
won 80 and lost II to lead the
Coast League last year. Also An
drews and Jim weaver, once with
the Yankees. AS matter Of
fact, I think he was three times
with the Yankees. which is why
the Browns were able to get him
from Newark. a Yankee farm. In
this league, If you don't see what
you want in three looks, there
isn't any fourth.
The outfield, besides Pepper and
Pucinelli, will be Sam west, Bruce
Campbell and DebS GarmS, the
man with the name that only a
family could love. The catching
also Is ordained. It will be taken
care of by Frank CRUDE. from the
White Sox: Rollie Hemsley. from
the Reds and Tom Heath, from
San Antonio.
1cNeat, but not gaudy," said
I, brightly, speaking Of the lay.
cut in general.