The Washington times., 1936-04-02
Bill Starr
Rates job
As GnH
BY FRANK BUCK" o'NEILL

BY FRANK BUCK" O'NEILL
MACON, Ca, April Bill
Starr, young atcher Of the
Griffs, finds himself on the seat
perilous today as Walter Miles,
rookie catcher purchased from
the Brooklyn Dodgers, joins the
club.
STAIRS position is entirely
anomalous. He is conceded to
be the best receiver on the team.
He is conceded to be smart
whatever that means in catching.
And yet, to state the plain bald
truth today, Bill Starr is the
catcher who may find himself
drifting back into the minor
leagues to make room for Miles.
Critics say that Starr has q
hitch in his swing, and experts
will tell you that no hitch hitter
ever amounted to much. Well,
maybe so, and maybe not so.
Remember Dick Porter whom the
Indians bought from Baltimore?
He's a fair country hitter, and
he has hitch in his swing that
always COMPOUNDED critics.
Starr is willing to take $500 in
cash of the realm and bet that he
will hit $50 in the American
League. There are no strings
on his offer. He has faith in his
ability to conquer his deficiencies
in hitting, and If he's wrong, he's
willing to pay for his failure.
Further Trial
Now this reporter rarely takes
sides in the matter of signing or
releasing ball players. He is not
taking sides in the case of Starr,
taking for granted that Starr IS
on the seat perilous today. We
would like to see Starr get more
thorough trial before he is cast
adrift. I'd like to see him given
chance to improve his swing, and
in improving his swing, improve
his batting average.
Ken Chase pitched against
Louisville at Palatka on last Sun
day and struck out 10 men. He
looked great. starr did the catch
ing in that game, and called for
every pitch with the skill of mas
ter. Chase told this writer that
Starr was one of the best catchers
with whom he ever worked.
Let's get this straight. If
receiving makes or breaks a
pitcher, Starr must be given
credit for doing a fine job with
Chase. Buck Newsom says that
Starr is a whale of a receiver,
and so do some Of the others.
One of the sternest indictments
against baseball is the neglect in
coaching suffered by young play
ers. If college football coaches
followed the same policy that
some baseball men follow, the
standard of the gridiron game
would fall as the quality of base
ball is falling. If Starr is half
the catcher the players say he
is; if he can inspire the same
confidence in all pitchers that
he has in some, then he's worth
plenty of time and attention by
coaches in hitting.
Buck Newsom will pitch against
the Cincinnati Reds here today,
and it is likely that Paul DEP
ringer will work against him.
Appleton Also
Pete Appleton proba ABLY will
work the last three innings against
the Reds today. Ken Chase and
Joe Bokina will do the pitching
against the Reds in Rome tomor-
row, following which the teams
will bid each other adieu.
The GriffS shut out the Reds
yesterday afternoon. Earl White
hill and Jack Russell pitched, and
perhaps the most heartening fea-
ture of the game was the per-
Torrance turned in by Russell.
We all know what Whitehill can
do when his arm is loose and rub
berry as it was yesterday. But
Russell has not shown as much
stuff as he did yesterday in some
time. He turned on his full pitch
ing motion, the new one with the
full pivot, and it worked. Jack
had a better jump on his fast ball.
Just how much better the jump
on his fast one was is attested by
the fact that 10 out of ii batters
went out on fly balls, all of them
easy.
Something should be done
about this Hazen "Kiki" Cuyler.
AS far back as 1925 he picked on
Washington pitchers in a world
series, and he is picking on them
some more down here. He got
three hits in four times at bat
yesterday. and in Tampa got two
ont of four times at hat