The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1935-04-19
Frank Buck" O'NeilI

t ca ms two ~
g a m e winning =. s 8, -.
streak. FRANK Buck o'NFih
Lefty Grove will pitch for the
Red Sox unless unforeseen develop
ments cause Cronin to change his
mind. When Joe stopped in
a few days before the
season opened he announced that
the old "Fireball King" was back
at his peak and ready to carry
on as he did with the Athletics.
There were times this spring when
it seemed as if Grove really had
come back to his top form.
Cronin strikes at the weak link
in the Griff armor. With an
unbroken line of six left handed
hitters, the Griffs may be easy
for southpaw pitching. If there
is anything in the popular fancy
hitters swinging from the first
base side of the plate have trouble
with fork handed hurlers, then
Washington figures to be the nat
ural prey of Grove and the rest.
Good Hitters Will Hit
Bucky Harris refuses to admit
that the Griffs will be embar-
raised to any serious degree by
Grove or any other southpaw. He
points to the great left handed
hitters of recent years-Cobb,
Speaker. Ruth, Gehringer and a
dozen others who might be in
cluded. If the ball is over the
plate, Harris insists that good hit
tiers should hit it, regardless Of
the hand that lets loose the pitch.
With Grove looming as the start
ing choice of the Red Sox, Harris
will counter with Bob Burke, the
Joliet cartoonist. Bob will attempt
to prove that he is better this year
than ever before in his life. Ger.
tainly he is not going to have that
winning streak checked at his eX"
pense. Not if he can possibly pro-
duce the third victory. With
Grove right and Burke at his best,
a pitching duel should thrill the
fans.
Grove, however, will not be the
only interest in this return of the
boy who was sold into affluence.
There will be the meeting of Lyn
Larry and Cronin, who exchanged
uniforms in this quarter of a mil.
lion dollar trade. Larry already
has sold himself to Washington
fans who love imaginative base.
ball. He is fast and def, not
afraid to 60 after anything. Wit
ness his foray into left field
yesterday to make a catch Of
Wallie Moses fly in the sixth
inning.
An Interesting Team
The entire Boston situation in
trigues the fans of Washington.
Just what sort of a team has
Cronin? Will the right side Of
the infield resist the wear and tear
of a season? How good is Al
mada?
The right side of the diamond
has been functioning all right up
to this early date. Dahlgren Is
fielding like a wild man, saving
Cronin errors by great recoveries.
and Bishop found the right field
stands in Yankee Stadium the
other day. Bishop does not fig
ure to hit many home runs, but
he is dangerous. This year his
health is better than it has been.
Armada is one of the promising
young outfielders of the major
leagues this year. He is as fleet
as duck hawk and in all proba-
bility will develop into a real good
hitter.
The pulmotor squad of the Griff-
men is functioning with splendid
efficiency these days. Leon Pet
tit stepped into the front rank Of
relief hurlerS yesterday with one
Of the finest exhibitions of skill
and nerve that we've seen around
these parts in many and many a
day.
Ed Linke relieved Bump Hadley,
but Ed lacked the chief essential
of good pitchine-control. He
had smoke and he had his curve,
but he couldn't break the curve
where he wanted to break it, and
his fast ball was wide of the plate.
He filled the bases in the eighth
by passing Hooks with two out.
He pitched one ball to Cramer
which was wide of the plate.
Harris had him out of the box
right then and Petit entered the
game. The southpaw famed
Cramer with rare ease, and after
Moses singled in the ninth, Leon
famed Jimmy Foxx and Chief
Johnson, the Swedish.Siwash. Foxx
took fast ball through the heart
of the plate, believe it or not.
Ct A1hanc Roots