Evening star., 1935-06-08
0sS|E'S. FAST PACE
AF|ELD AIDS MATS
His Batting in Surprising
Comeback Also Helps.
Rally Downs AS.
BY FRANCIS E. STAN.

~ dreaming q diamond ideal
~ finally Is finding 1t come true
as he cavorts at shortstop for
the Nationals these days, but 1t is
CLARK Grihith and Bucky Harris who
are pinchins themselves and rub
bing their eyes.
The Nationals are proving that they
can foster winning streaks as well
as losing streaks, that they must
not be counted out of the American
League pennant chase. And to give
credit where credit is due for their
gallant about face, cast bouquet to
Ossie Bluege.
He went to Biloxi last Spring more
as q momento Of happier Washington
base ball days than as q serious candi-
date for the shortstop job. Lyn Larry
had the inside track on that. Red
Kress was Lyn's most formidable
rival Bluege was just grizzled vet
eran who had lost his third base
Job q year ago to Cecil Travis.
Today the man who ranked 'tops"
among third basemen for more than
. decade and yet pined for short
stop Job he never was awarded seems
destined to fulfill his ambition be-
yond his fondest hopes.
Current Fielding Mark Great.
MOT only has Bluege proved such
fundamental part in the Nation
ais latest victory march that the
shortstop job Is just about clinched,
but Ossie is In fair way Of ach!ev-
ing even greater laurels. II he can
hold the post, Bluege stands q chance
Of going down into the record books
As new all-time fielding leader
among shortstops.
Let's take q peek at part Of the
reason Larry and Kress are sitting on
the bench-Bluege's fielding. He has
played Is games at shortstop, in
cluding the last won by the re-
juvenated Nationals, and rs chances
have come his way. He booted l.
] out Of 76. He kicked that single
chance on May 10.
One miscue out of 76 Is q fielding
average of 1886. To lead the Ameri-
can League shortstops in fielding last
year, Larry, then with Boston and
New York, fielded .965. Jurges, official
leader of the National League, had q
mark Of .966. Both are far below
Ossie's present pace and so Is the
all-time high average OF 978, hung up
by James Cooney of the Cubs and
Phillies in 1927.
OF course, 16 games is far from
100 and 1t might be wiser to suspend
Judgment for while. But really
there isn't much doubt about Bluege's
ability to hold the pace. It was just
q question to see II Ossie was enough
ahead of Papa Time to fill the post.
And there isn't any doubt now but
that he Is.
- /; Also Asset ON Offensesoc' lee
r AIRY. q great fielder in his own
right cannot match Bluege's de-
fensive pace this season. Lyn has
been fielding at q .949 clip. But 1t
isn't only on the defense that Ossie
Is outperforming his younger rival,
whom Tom Yawkey threw into the
Joe Cronin deal at Grifith's insist
ence. Bluege, after a miserable start
ut bat, has been banging the ball not
only better than Larry, but also better
than Kress, whose only chance to
earn the regular shortstop Job Is to
far outhit Lyn and Ossie
Fur the last 13 games Ossie can
show q stick mark of .283, exactly
10 points better than his lifetime
record. Not only defensively but Of
fensively he seems to have become an
important cog In the National dia-
mond machine which today, with
three straight wins behind 1t, bids
fair to get started In the flag race.
In the box score Ossic Is only q
player with two of Is hits to his credit
for that wild and woolly slugging orgy
yesterday that resulted in an 11-to-6
victory for the Nationals over the
Athletics. Yet Ossie's two bingles
played more Of q part In the victory
tkavs a. ~-,n,,lL ,nn~.