The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1935-06-27
YOUNG ROOKIE
!. On HILL IN
2OGAMES
BY FRANK BUCK O'NEHL
Times Staff Writer

bourne in Lee Petit, the leather
faced veteran of the pitching
mound who rushes from the bull
pen into action when things are
going badly for the Griffs. There's
the breed in him Of the Great Old
Timers like Bill White, of the Gin
cinnati Reds, who was even
tougher than the famous Old
Hoss. You doubt that? Well, Bill
White pitched IS games back in
those good old days of 1875, and
the best Old Hoss could do was IA,
the big sissy.
Petit won't pitch IS games for
Washington this year, in all prob
ability, but he is going to be in a
lot Of them. He's been in 20
games already and the season is
Just coming up to the second mile
stone. The second milestone, in
cidentally, is independence Day.
The leather-faced Petit with his
arm of rawhide and rubber won
three games on the last Western
trip. If you think that doesn't
amount to something, he advised
that Carl Whitehill, ace Of last
years staff and one of the leading
southpaws Of the league, started a
game in each city and lost all
four Of them.
Best Performance
pettit's best performance, natur-
ally was his closing effort against
Detroit. He went into action with
an arm already tired by two turns
as relief pitcher in the double
header that opened the series, and
by work at getting ready in case
Of emergency call. It didn't Tease
him in the least.
Il hope I have as good luck
with SchOOlbOy as usually have.
/ pitched against him in Beau
mont when he was in the Taxas
League" Petit said calmly. I'll
be all right if the same luck
holds"
The luck held all right, and
now Petit is telling the world
what he will do to the Yankees if
he can just get a few hours rest,
and the boys keep on hitting as
they hit on the western trip.
The Griffs think they have a
good chance of winning this series
with the Yankees. The pitching
that carried the New Workers to
the top of the league and kept
them there, failed against the
bats of the Indians. It may just
happen that the Griffs will con-
tinue their mad hitting pace, and
the Yankees will not be able to
stop them. If it comes to a race
for runs, you can bet that Wash
ington will score plenty, win or
lose.
Although official announce
ment Of the all star team hurlers
has not yet been made, managers
around the circuit seem to think
that the American League hurting
will be placed in the hands of
youngsters. Gormez is finding
the pace pretty swift, Harder
didn't look good against Washing
ton, and School Boy Rowe. who
tied the record for consecutive
victories last year seems to have
lost a lot of the stuff that swept
all opposition to one side.
Rowe looked good against the
Griffs in just one inning. Then
his fast ball jumped nicely. But
after a few frames he lost his
speed and after five innings had
to be removed from the struggle.
Weight Balance Bad
II Is the consensus among
baseball managers to whom your
agent has talked of Rowe, that
his early training as weight
threwer and all-around athlete
is a detriment to him as a
pitcher. The muscles across his
shoulders are like those of the
village Smithy-strong as iron
bands. That is fine for weight
tossers, but no good for pitchers
whose muscles must be as soft
as kneaded rubber, and still have
the power of a whip lash.
Baseball critics say that a fault
has crept into Rowe's pitching
style which undoubtedly is handi.
Gaping him this year. He lacks
the easy follow through to his
delivery that marked pitchers
like johnson at his peak, Wesley
Terrell at his best and some of
the others.
Rowe, of course, would make
slaShing outfielder, for he hits
consistently, and for distance. He
is surprisingly fast and, more
over, Rowe wants to be an out
fielder. In fact, Mickey Coch-
rane almost had to bulldoze Rowe
into pitching last season.
silent" John Whitehead Of the
White Sox, Vito Tamulis Of the
Yankees are two of the leading
youngsters for the erican
League team, and if Buck New
som were in shape to pitch he
would be cinch for honors. The
toughest break Of the season was
NewSom's leg, and your agent is
not wise cracking. The bottom
Just dropped out of the Griffs
when this big wild man Of the
cotton fields was injured.
With NewSom to hurl into
some of those games on the last
trip through the West the Griffs
would have won in canter. But
they didn't have NewSom, nor
anyone with his fast ball to stop