The Washington times., 1936-05-13
Thomas Feat
OF BANKING
YdnksAids
By FRANK BUCK" O'NEILL

By FRANK BUCK ONEALL
CHICAGO, Ill, May 13.-The
situation in st. Louis, experts in
this part of the country tell US,
is one to test all the iron in the
rugged soul of Rogers Hornsby.
The Browns have gone into sullen
revolt against the steel-eyed
Texan. Harsh things are said
about the men who draw their
pay as pitchers, and the entire
condition has developed into
something of a mess. Guarded
comments are being made, but
the firing may become general
e'er long.
The splendid performance
turned in by Tommy" Thomas
yesterday against the New York
Yankees may relieve the. Situa-
ton to some extent. Thomas shut
out the Yankees with half q
dozen hits in one Of the most sur
prising form Somersaults Of the
season. The Browns had lost
Is games in a row and were
playing to empty benches. It Is
said that even the empty benches
hurled imprecations on the losing
Browns.
Hornsby said this spring that
his pitching staff had shown moth
ing; had apparently made little
conscientious effort to round into
condition, and that he saw little
hope of achieving high station
during the season. He anticipated
nothing such as the season so far
had produced.
Cain Triumphs
Oil was fed to the anti-HornSby
fires by the fact that Merit Cain
pitched a winning game for the
Chicago White Sox Immediately
after being released by st. Louis.
Several unpleasant develop
mentS loom in this player-VerSuS-
manager row-accepting the NUT
terings at face value. OF course
the front office may step in and
take q hand, signing a new man
ager. This is doubtful. The
Browns couldn't get better man
ager than Hornsby.
If it can be proved that any
player, or any group Of players on
the St. Louis Browns, are not CIV
ing of their best to win every
game they start. the penalties are
very clearly defined in the book
published under the direction OF
Commissioner KeneSaw mSdntaln
Lands.
Any man not playing to win, or
any man entering into any con-
spiracy to lose. or inducing any
other player or players to lose. Is
liable to disqualification for life.
Rows between managers and
teams that cannot win are not in
frequent. Not all are as bitter as
this battle of Missouri seems to be.
The players-not only the pitchers
have resented some OF the rules
of conduct laid down by HornSby.
He refuses to permit the men to
smoke or read or eat in the club
house. This, some contend is q
hardship. Since they are well
paid to abide by the discipline OF
the day and hour, they have little
complaint.
Hornsby certainly made no
move to remove Tommy Thomas
from the box as the veteran
moved the Yankees down. But
since Hornsby plays to win at all
hazards, he has removed, and he
will remove, a pitcher who lacks
the stuff to get anyone but him.
self out of the ball game.
Great Significance
The great victory of Thomas was
not the only outstanding achieve
ment of the afternoon. True, it
carried a greater significance than
the others, but it was matched
and even surpassed in individual
brilliance by Victor Sorrell'S tri-
umph over the Boston Red Sox in
Detroit. Sorrell turned back the
Platinum Boys with three hits and
shut them out.
Because of these two exceptional
pitching exhibitions the relative
positions of the American League
teams remained unchanged. The
Yankees went into the lead on
Sunday when the Griffs knocked
Lefty Grove out Of the box. They
have matched the pace of the Red
Sox right along.
There is no little fuSSing and
Tuning about the lack of celebrity
Of the Comiskey Park grounds
crew in getting the canvas over
the field in yesterdays RAIN
storm. 1t was unfortunate that
the Griffs were leading at the
time and that the game had to
be cast into the discard because
the legal number of innings could
not be played. If anyone were to
blame. it was Quinn, the umpire.
Quinn Kept the boys playing
until the first sprinkle became q
shower and until the shower be-
came a deluge. BY the time ne
found out that it was raining, the
infield was a moraSS, and Jake
Powell asserttc that polywogs were
swimming in the outfield.