The Washington times., 1934-03-09
BY DAVIS ]. WALSH


MIAMI, Fla, March 8.-In line
with the general hilaritY here
abouts, including the $40 cover
charge and the palpable absence
Of the scent nickel, we have the
phenomena of the wasted time
ball club, officially known as the
New York Giants, 1888 cham
pionS of the world.
All world champions of neces-
: Sity must play a pat hand and,
:, If this one did anything else, it
wouldn't be badly advised; it
would be crazy. If it retains title
to any bright young man from
the bull rushes, the juvenile in
question will be Joe Bowman,
the pitcher from Portland. The
rest of them apparently just
came down here for the ride.
'We're set," said Mr.. Will
Terry, the boy manager. 1--WE
have speed and youth and
maybe we'll go wrong, but I
don't see how we can. There's
only one doubtful point in my
mind and that has to do with
the man who'll play third base.
This isn't a problem. simply
have two third basemen in Jack
son and VergeZ and that's one
too many"
So poor Mr.. Terry is simply in
the position of poor Mr.. Rocke.
feller. He just doesn't know
where his third third baseman is
coming from.
Club Fool Proof
: Otherwise, the club is fool proof
and can't be anything else. 1t has
the greatest pitching staff in the
National League. His name is
Carl Hubbell. It has a great in
field in Terry, Critz, Ryan and
the double indemnity situation at
third base. The outfield is sound; !;
nothing ornate or gaudy but at
least neat.
For the first time in % years,
as a matter of fact, the Giants
will use a three-man outfieid with
no interchangeable parts. In other
words, they think enough of Mel
OFT, George Davis and Joe Moore
to play them every day. The extra
outfielders are Homer Peel and
Lefty O'Doul. They were the extra
outfielders last year and the only
'thlng really extra about them is
that they're extra good.
They're so good, in fact that a
rising young man of the calibre
Of Bank" Leiber will simply have
to go away somewhere for the
summer, probably Buffalo. It's
strictly that kind of a club.
Impressive Enough
Leiber hits well and was i'm
preSSive enough to start the sea-
son in left field last year, yet
he can't even make the junior
varsity this time.
If there's any question about
the club, it concerns the catching
department and what the United
States Golf Association might call
a larger and livelier ball. Briefly
they've rung in their own dice on
Mr.. Terry this year with a new
ball that figures to somewhat
cramp the style OF Hubbell, Schu
macher, Fitzsimmons, Parmalee
and a few of the other pitchers
who paralyzed the Giants into a
pennant last year and, while Mr.
Terry processes not to be upset
by this, he undoubtedly would
take the old ball and ask no en-
barrassing questions.
"The difference as L see it,
he said today will be the diff
ference between a l to 0 and
2-to-1 ball game and a 4-tO-2
victory of the Giants. You
simply do not beat good pitchers
with a bad ball. Personally, of
course, being a hitter, do not
consider it a bad ball. It's
going to help my average and
that will help the ball club but
the man 1 expect to get the
most benefit is OFT. 1 make
this prediction without the
slightest qualifications: Otis
average will go up so points
this year and, if that alone
doesn't assure us the pennant,
I'll be very far wrong"
AS far as anybody can set. Mr.
Terry won't and can't be wrong
except in his catching.
Mancuso Unavailable
He had one of the best men in
baseball last year in Gus Mancusc
but the gentleman is unavailable
now and nobody seems to know
just when he may appear. He
spent almost the entire winter
losing a decision to a full and
complete set of typhoid bacteria
and is currently the only regular
not on the premises. This is es
pecially unfortunate because Man
cuso is the man who, for pur
poses of this ball club, stands in
the wings and makes the curtain
90 up and down.
In other words, he's the cue
man and the rest of them aren't
even good prompters. They in
clude Paul Richards. the bull-pen
catcher from last year; Harry
Danning. who was out with Buf
falo, and Frank Healey, who was
out with Columbus.