Evening star., 1935-05-07
.CH|SOX GIVE DOPE
ITS BIGGEST JOLT
Reach Top With Team That
Is Leading League at
Bat and AfieId.
BY ALAN GOULD,
Associated Press Sports Editor.

n IEw YORK. May Mot in
M many years have the two ma
Y jor league championships re-
sembled old-fashioned "dog
fights" so much as they do this
Spring.
1t is, of course, quite true that two
Of the prime favorites, the Cleveland
Indians and New York Giants, have
been doing very well when it is con-
sidered that both clubs have patched
up their infields. Both have shown
the pitching class expected of them
and exhibited power The Indians
may be stronger when Billy Knicker-
booker returns to action and the
Giants will be better of, defensively.
with Hughey Critz back at second
base.
They will need to be- Already the
dark horses in both leagues, led by
the Chicago White Sox in the Ameri-
can. the Brooklyn Dodgers and Gin
cinnati Reds in the National, have
upset several barrels of dope.
Chisox Feat No Fluke.
THE White Sox, on top today. may
be too good to last. but there is
no fluke in their jump from the
1884 cellar to such dizzy heights.
Johnny Whitehead. the freshman
right-hander who has scored four
victories in a row. and his former
Dallas pitching mate, Joe Vance, have
filled two of the clubs pitching gaps.
The Sox lead in the league in field
ing as we'll as batting. with a 10-point
margin over the Athletics and a 90
point lead over the clubbing Cleve-
landers. HAYES. Bonura, Dykes. Ap-
pling, Washington and the veteran
Al Simmons all are hitting over 800
for team that was once famous as
the ''hitless wonders"
Both championship clubs. Detroit
Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals,
have started slowly, but they will be
tougher to beat as the season de-
velops. The Bengals already have
snapped out of their slump, though
Schoolboy Rowe has yet to show a
return to his sensational 1884 form.
Cards Miss Frisch.
"HE Cardinals have missed Man.
sger frankie Frisch and Pep
per Martin, both casualties, but
the Deans are coming along now, aided
by Bill Walker. to furnish the kind
of pitching the club needs. Mean
while. the Spring hero, Terry Moore,
has yielded the center field post to
Ernie Orsatti in the lineup of the
world champions.
The rookie surprise of the National
League is Elijah Darrell (Cy) Blan-
ton. screw-ball right handler of the
Pittsburgh Pirates. Blanton has
taken the pitching spotlight from
Dizzy Dean with his ex-pilot so far.
which include one-hit shut-out of
4 the Cardinals and 80 decision over
| the great Dean
Cy has registered four straight and
| famed 80 opposing batsmen in the
process to become the new strike-out
king. at least for the time being
National Leaguers say Blanton's screw
ball is equally as bafling as Carl
Hubbell's
ALI tOlO BldDlOIl nAS I1dQ "A nd0O III
five of the nine games won by the
Pirates, who will need to get
more consistent pitching otherwise
to menace the leaders. The Cubs
again seem to be poison to the Dean
brothers, beating Dizzy and Paul on
successive days, and have regained q
good deal of their old punch.
Reds Have Fine Spirit.
TINE Reds not only have shown the
old college spirit but a strong
defense and Unexpectedly fine
pitching. The Braves have not had
much batting help from Babe Ruth
since he blasted the Giants on OPEN
ing day. but they have enjoyed ex-
| traordinary financial success. at least,
because of the old Bambino's pull at
the box Office.
Jimmie Foxx's noble experiment be-
hind the bat has not dimmed the
batting eyes of the Maryland mauler
but neither has it proved an inspira-
ton to the Athletics young pitching
staff. Joe Cronin is already having
his troubles with the Red Sox hurting
corps, as was to be expected, lacking
a comeback by Lefty Grove.