Evening star., 1938-05-06
PLAYER REVEALS
SURPRISE PILOTS
Some Who Were on Market
Before Season Opened
Are Bright Stars.
BY GAYLE TALBOT,
Associated Press SportS Writer

NEW YORK, May 6.-The baseball
manager who will admit he's getting
some breaks he hadn't counted on is
pretty rare bird. As a breed, he is
inclined to look morosely at the "lost"
column and tell you his team would
be right up there now" except for the
unaccountable lapse in form Of his
star pitcher or batter.
Between us, though, there are sew
eral Of them in each major league at
the moment who have been getting
sensational play out of men they
would have traded of for q sore
backed horse during the training sea-
son. Or. If that's an exaggeration,
they at least didn't figure these late
boomers were going to be 50 much
help.
As good an example as any to start
with is Lefty Ostermueller. the Red
Sox pitcher. Joe Cronin didn't even
list him among his probable starting
hurlers few weeks before the season
opened, fearing that series of opera
tions last year had about finished the
veteran. And now Lefty turns out to
be one of the most effective FINGERS
on the club. The Sox would be in
sad shape without him.
Leonard An Example.
The pitching that Dutch Leonard
has been doing for Washington must
have come as an equally pleasant
shock to Bucky Harris. Another
veteran, who couldn't even stick with
Brooklyn two years ago, Leonard was
only another name on the Washington
roster that Harris skipped over hastily
when he tried to figure out mound
staff. And now Dutch is No. / man,
his l3-inning shutout of Cleveland
two days ago one of the seasons
classics.
Oscar Witt of Cleveland worried
himself sick all spring because he
couldn't find second baseman. He
was sure that Bad News" Hale
wouldn't do. because his fielding and
throwing were too uncertain. But he
finally was forced to fall back on Hale,
and in the opinion of Gabby Street Of
the st. Louis Browns, Hale has done
as much as any member of the team
to put the Indians where they are
today-on top.
Down at Lake Charles, Connie Mack
of the Athletics moaned in the same
key because Dario Lodigiani, the young
second sacker he had purchased from
Oakland. didn't look like big league
performer. But since the race began
Dario has been hitting the apple long
distances, and he's about the only
thing the Athletics fans have had to
cheer about.
Some Other Clubs.
Others come to mind. Manager
Bill McKechnie of Cincinnati was
openly skeptical that Paul Derringer
would make q comeback and figured
his clubs chances rested exclusively
with the young pitchers. But it was
Derringer's magnificent work that held
the Reds together during the first
fortnight, while the youngsters were
fioundering.
Burleigh Grimes of the Brooklyns
laid scant store by Forest Pressnell,
his 3l-year-old rookie hurler from
Milwaukee, and preferred to talk about
Van Mungo winning rs games. Mungo
hasn't captured No. yet, but Pressnell
has collected three out of four. The
Dodgers wish they had an equally high
team average.
Bill Terry Of the Giants is in the
happy position Of being able to admit
he miscalculated little down South.
With his club romping along in first
place, 1t doesn't bother Bill to confess
that he didn't expect quite 50 much
pitching from Hal Schumacher or
such lusty hitting from Johnny Nc
Carthy.