The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1937-06-26
Weak HittinQ
Leaves a
0nBaSeS
BY FRANK BUCK" ONEILL


He shouldered responsibility Tor
the defeat of the Griffs yesterday,
although, obviously, the blame was
not his.
Perhaps it would be better to
eay that Harris absolutely refused
to fix the responsibility for most
lamentable misunderstanding Of
signals in the ninth inning yester-
day that led directly to the loss
of a ball game that should have
been won. A winning streak that
should have carried through to
six straight ended at five.
Il have nothing to say" Har-
ris said this morning. 1--WE have
no abb to offer. Our job is not
to discuss what might have
been in a game that was lost,
but to carry on and win another
game today"
Harris spoke for a team that
was torn to the heartStrings by
defeat. Weak hitting on at least
five occasions contributed to the
downfall. Fourteen Griffs were
left on bases.
The climax was reached in the
ninth when Buddy Myer misinter-
preted Harris signals to Yves Fer
rell and stayed on third base when
he should have scored. A double
play followed swiftly and the game
was over.
Goes Through Piet
Myer opened the ninth inning
with a ball that got through Piet.
Playing for one run, Harris or
dered Rick Terrell to sacrifice, and
Myer moved to second. Yves Fer
rell walked.
Melo Armada then rifled clean
single to center field. No cleaner,
firmer hit ever rang off a bat.
Myer rushed to third base, and
Harris, to make sure that Yves
Terrell would see him, stepped
down the third base line toward
the plate and waved Terrell to
hold second.
Myer. rounding third, saw Har-
ris waving his hands. Unfortun-
ately he thought that the hold lp
signal was for him, and he stopped
running.
From the stands it was obvious
that Myer could have crossed the
plate and that Harris, playing safe
with Terrell to keep the inning
alive, had ordered the pitcher to
hold up and wait for a hit. If
Myer had scored, the game would
have been brought to evens, and.
Of course, all the percentages
would have been with the home
team.
Never Arrived
Well, the hit never arrived. Per
haps opportunity, hoarse from bel
lowing at the Griffs all day, said
what the hell, Bill and shut up
shop. 1Sl~
Buddy Lewis, with two hits and
two walks in previous trips to
the plate, hit into double play.
Now here's another thing that
should be set forth right away
=. Yves Terrell has been pictured
as guy who can't take it. He's
been branded as guy who raves
and rants and frotheS when
things go wrong. But no pitcher
ever took a more sportsmanlike
stand on a game that should have
been won behind him.
"Games like that are just
meant to be won by the other
team. Well get 'em today"
said Terrell.
And in the final analysis, he
ls the man who suffered most
unless it was Buddy Myers. Terrell,
however, suffers in the record
book.
Almost Insisted
Chicago almost insisted that
the Griffs take the ball game, but
the latter were not to be outdone
by any bunch from the middle
West. The White Sox made five
errors. They dropped throws, boot
ed ground balls and did a lot of
things. But just as fast as the
Sox created opportunities by
their blunders. our warriors pro
Ceeded to ignore them.
The double play in the ninth
inning was final. But before that,
Sington whacked into a two-way
killing that ruined a situation.
Sington failed in the fourth with
the bases filled. Travis missed a
chance and so it went. Three times
the Griffs put the first two bats.
men on bases, but failed to make
the most of the opportunities pre-.
sented.
Fresh fuel was added to the
feud that shoulders between Tony
Piet and the Griffs. 1t was Piet
who bumped Cliff Bolton a year
ago, and he has earned the name
Of a rugged base runner. He
crashed into Johnny Mihalic yes
terday, injuring Mihalic's leg anc
driving him out of the ball game
That put Myer into the game.
Mihalic Awkward
Piet had sacrificed in thu
seventh inning after Hayes hat
singled. Mihalic ran over to frs
base, but Mihalic awkardl!
straddled the bag, and Piet had t.
run into him to reach first base
No blame attached to the Chicago
player in this instance. Mihali
awkwardness created the situa
ton.
When the collision between Pie
and Mihalic knocked the ball GU
af tha latter,s hands HAYES wen