The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1935-06-04

O"o OAO VI IAOSO : VI"
1yannas of baseball who, as
an active manager in the
game for many years, always
claimed everything, yielded
nothing and, often as not,
demanded a recount.
But this young scion of the
House of Griffith is not yet
cross-grained with the loqua.
ciousness of the peer of the
castle. Joe is yet very eau.
tious speaking neophite who
weighs carefully every word,
never boasts; in fact has to be
backed up in a corner to discuss
anything at all except the
weather. Least of all is Cronin
given to imaginative outburSts.
His Innermost Soul
However, he will, to an old
friend, talk informally and off
the record of his Red Sox. In
the meantime I hope I am be-
traying no strict condolences by
airing some of the Frisco Kids
secret views about his club.
Having landed Oscar Mellilo
to plug up that weak spot at
second base, Joe doesn't see why
his club shouldn't finish well up
in the first division.
"MelIilo is going to help us a
lot defensively," opines Joe.
"He can make those double
plays and get that ball away
about as fast as any second base
man in the league. Too, ex-
pect him to tune up his hitting
NO little; now that he has a real
incentive and is with ball club
that is going places" This with
. slight blush, if you pleaSe.)
However, Joe hasn't a great
deal to complain about in the
Boston hitting. He has been i'm
proving at the bat himself and
: Carl Reynolds and Roy johnson
are not entirely without a
punch.
Pitching Below Par
The top of the batting order,
with Armada and Werber click
ing, has a world of speed. Just a
little more pitching like Lefty
Grove displayed last Saturday to
put the hurting above par, and
the Red Sox can easily become
Q threat, if you ask me.
A little of the injury jinX
which trailed Cronin while he
was still at helm of the Griff-
men a year ago, has followed
him to Boston, what with
Catcher Rick Terrell and Pitcher
Fritz Ostermeuller having been
available sporadically.
Like Cliff Bolton, Rick Terrell
is nursing a bad digit and Oster'
meuller is recovering from a
dashed face, the effect of hav'
ing gotten in the way of line
drive recently off the bat OF
Hank Greenberg. The blow
broke a bone in the pitchers
Jaw.
Not Kidding Himself
Meantime Cron1n will not kid
himself into believing he will
win a pennant his first year as
manager of the Red Sox, as ne
did his maiden year in the dr1V'
er's seat for the Griffs.
"YOu can go slow on that pen
nant business" declares Joe.
"We've got to creep before we
can crawl. Don't overlook the
fact that Mr.. Collins and Bucky
Harris took the team from last
place to fourth in one year, so
if we can improve ourselves a
notch or two this year, we will
feel that at least we are pro-
greSSing."
Silent as to Ruth
Joe preferred to make no COM
ment about Babe Ruth'S break
Will U11S oOOGO41 o4 oNCS,
Babe, you know, is the at
traction who was imported to
the National League team in
Boston With the idea of off
setting the magnetism which
the blue-eyed young Irishman,
Cronin, would naturally hold
forth to the Hub City fans.
Moe Berg, popular with Wash
ington fans, world-traveler,
linguist and amateur moving
picture photographer is likely
to be observed behind the bat
once more during the presence
of the Red Sox here for the
three-game current season. Fer.
rells injury has pressed Moe
into back-stopping service, and
the scholarly ball player has
been doing nicely, thank you,
both in the cage, and with the