The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-06-04
BY RICHARD MCCAIN NEA Service Shorts Writer

 Baseball is as uncertain as the weather, as changeable as the little woman's mind
 The other day Bill Dietrich, a journeyman pitcher with the Chi cago White Sox, worked against the Cleveland Indians and was Shelled for nine hits, including three home runs Gone with the bases fulD, be- fore he was rescued after three-and- a-third innings.
 Three days later the same MT. Dietrich, using the same arm and the same regulation baseballs, and hurling the same regulation dist ance, pitched a no-hit, no-run game against the St. Blooney Browns. A no-hit, no-run game, as you of course know, is pitchers most prized achievement. In all the long history of baseball only 57 others have been pitched-his was the 34th in the American League. l But, although this gets him a room and bath, southern exposure, in the Hall of Fame, it does not give him, by any means, 8 steady job. And, like as not, you'll be find- ] ing MT. Dietrich in the breadlineS, so to speak, instead of the headlines soon again.
 Like Dietrich, Bobby Burke, an earnest young man who throws with his left arm, rose to the heights one sultry August day in Washington in 1881 and held the Boston Red Sox hitless.
 MT. Burke was promptly admitted to the Hall of Fame but almost just as soon he was readmitted to the bullpen where he spent most of his remaining days in the American League. You see, in his next start four days later he was almost de- capitated by the whistling line drives rifled at him.
 The Case of Robertson And then there was the case of MT. Charley Robertson, another White Sock pitcher, who scurried across the baseball stage IS years ago, pausing long enough to fling himself one of those rarest of the rare-a perfect game.
 MT. Robertson pitched no-hit, no-run, no-man-reach-first game one of the six such masterpieces sicne a scrawny young chap named Abner Doubleday yelled, Hey, catch this :" He hung on about two years and then slipped down into oblivion. And if you don't think it's oblivion tell me where MT. Robert son is today-tha tis, where is he outside of Page 87, column l of the record book?
 On the other hand many of base balls greatest pitchers have never hurled a no-hitter. Eddie Plank, the old master of Philadelphia, toiled 15 years in the major leagues without doing any better than one-hitter. Late in his career, slaving on the hill for the Browns, MT. Plank hob bled up to the threshold of the Hall of Fame in a game against Washington. He had two men out in the ninth inning with Eddie Fos- ter, the Washington third -baseman, coming to bat.
 Foster turned to Clark Grifith, then the Washington manager, and said:
 I'm going to try to hit-but I'm ging to use fungo bat" Foster, not wanting to spoil the masters no-hitter, hoped to hoist a soft fly. He did-just out of the first baseman,S reach for a single. Took Johnson 20 Years
 Walter Johnson waited nigh onto 20 years before he was able to pitch no-hitter. It was against Boston on July 1, 1920. The rest of that year he was plagued with his f1rst and only sore arm.
 The Big Train chugged past the Hall of Fame on numerous other oc- casions. Harry Hooper, the old Red Seeker and White Seeker, was his nemesis. Once Harry hit the first ball pitched over the fence and Wal ter didn't give up a safety after that. About 12 years later Naz. John son was pitching against the White Sox and MT. Hooper, who had changed his uniform, hadn't changed his habits and spoiled an- other no-hitter for Walter. Perhaps that is why Walter did what he did in Detroit that day when Tommy Bridges was hurling a perfect game. You know--there were two out and Walters team was l3 rurs behind and he sent up a pinch -hitter-Dave Harris. Harris slapped out a single, spelling