Evening star., 1935-07-01
BLOW TWO LEADS,
YET BEAT YAN!kS
Double Play in Twelfth
Saves Day, but Club
Misses Train.
ny FRANCIS f. STAN.
Siaf Cnrrespnndent Of The Star.


- ball games. which may be
harsh way of accounting for some OF
Of the Nationals defeats this season.
Possibly If too harsh. though, even
Bucky Harris sometimes wonders
Perhaps it would be better to note
that Washington's pitching staff,
among other essentials, lacks the abil-
ity to stand prosperity.
This in itself is distressing. In fact,
II the Griff hurlers had been able to
win rs per cent of the games in which
they have been given leads during the
current tour, Washington's invasion
of Beantown might have more mean
ing.
For instance. the Griffs might well
he scrapping Joe Cronins club as a
first division outfit fighting off men,
ace instead OF xth-place team try
Ing to near the top of the American
Leagues second fight.
The Washington hurlers' amazing
and depressing habit of blowing as
sorted leads is nothing developed
overnight. On the contrary. 1t has
been a gradual development that pos
sibly reached its peak along about
dusk yesterday in New York.
Club Misses Train.
IN THIS instance, it did not cost the
i ball game-although the Yanks
have protested the Griffs' 8-to-7 VIC
tory-but among other things, the
throwing away of two leads caused
the Nationals to miss their Boston
train, to use a much needed hurler,
and force Boss Bucky to register an
other degree of disgust.
Washington's habit of blowing leads
really started in big way early last
month in Washington. Bump Hadley
was pitching for the Griffs on June
and was In possession of a 2-to-l lead
over Philadelphia going into the ninth.
The Athletics won, to 3.
Then the Griffs departed for the
West, where the hurlers developed
their talent to much more warming
degree. In Chicago the Nationals gave
their hurlers four early leads in five
games. Ed Linke was handed
7-to-0 edge on one occasion. This
was blown and the score tied, al
though the Nationals did come back
and win. Henry Coppola and Hadley
were given smaller leads and they
lost to the White Sox. Then Jack
Russell was handed a 7-to-0 lead in
another Sox tilt, only to have the
score tied. Eventually, the Griffs
bagged the game, II to IL.
In st. Louis leads of 5-to-3 and
6-to-l were lost, although the Ma
tionals managed to win one of these
two tits.
Blow EN- Right and Left.
IN TWO Of the three Cleveland games
the National hurlers were pre-
sented with more modest leads and
they lost both. In the five-game De-
troit series leads of to /. S to /, and
. to were built only to be lost
1t was the sincere hope and earnest
prayer that this habit would be left
behind when the Griffs returned East,
but apparently it still is with the
boys At least what happened in the
blowing leads is not something of the
past
Bob Burke was handed 2-to-0
margin In the opener against the
Yanks and after getting along great
for a spell, Bob and three successors
were pounded off the hill. Then came
yesterday.
hyrf a tvun Infn re
the Washington huffed and puffed
and built up 5-to-1 edge for Earl
Whitehill midway Of the game. And
then Earl. in one bad inning. blew it.
The Yanks scored four times in the
sixth to tie the score Featuring the
rally were a pair of home runs, one
by Myril Hoag and another by Red
Rolfe. the latters blow almost precip-
itsting a fight between Whitehill and
Umpire Charley Donnelly.
Stone Settles Argument.
MOT until Jack Stone admitted the
ball had struck the foul-line
pole was Earl satisfied and peace
restored. Rolfe's homer scored two
mates and knotted the count at SIS.
There is nothing wrong with the
Griffs' gameness when it comes to
staging comeback against dis
couraging circumstances. Although
unable to hit Relief Pitcher Malone,
the Nationals managed to shove across
two runs in the ninth, making the
score to 5.
But blowing one wasn't enough.
Whitehill walked the first man to
face him-Lou Gehrig-and Harris
decided to take no chances. Jack
Russell was waved in the box. but
promptly he was nicked for pair of
runs, again tying the score.
Cecil Travis double and Cliff Boil
tons triple in the twelfth finally gave
Washington a third lead, to z, but
only a great double-play saved the
embarrassment Of blowing this edge,
too. Russell filled the bases with only
one out, but Ossie Bluege. Buddy Myer
and Joe Kuhel collaborated in a
snappy twin killing, on a grounder by
Tony Lazzeri, to end the game.
But double-plays do not occur every
day. The Griff pitchers have bad
habit that must be lost pronto II the
club is to 60 anywhere.