Evening star., 1938-07-22
TIGER SET SWEPT
AS ROOKIE SLUGS
Hit by George, His Eighth in
Three Tits, Decides
Finale in Ninth.
BY FRANCIS E. STAN.

For a young fellow % years old lot
of things have happened to Rookie
George Washington Case, who is play
ing right field for the Washington
baseball firm. Not so manv months
ago, while the movie cameramen
ground away at the Orlando Fla,
training camp, Owner Clark Griffith
placed a paternal hand on Cases
shoulder and barked into the sound
track:
Here is another Ty Cobb"
Those were happy, delirious days for
Case but they didn't last long Case
hurt an ankle and his play slumped
and when the season started Griffith,s
another Ty Cobb" was sitting on the
bench. One day in early May Man.
ager Bucky Harris put Case in center
field. He went hitless and misjudged
a fly ball. The crowd booed. brutaily.
a kid not only playing his first year
IN the majors but only his second sea-
son in professional ball.
A lot of water has passed under
the bridge since those sweet and bitter
moments. Johnny Stone was forced
to retire for the season because of Ill
ness. Taft Wright was denoted from
a regular to pinch-hitter and, as
such, has been absolute tops in the
league. Case since has been put back
into the outfield and while he isn't a
Cobb he isn't the kind of ball player
who is subjected to the boos of the
crowd
Is Third Leading Hitter.
Case, in short, has struck happy
medium. At the moment he is as
promising a rookie as there is in the
league. His batting average, from a
weak figure, has jumped to .S25 and
when it is considered that George
is batting in the tough lead-off spot
and playing his first year it becomes
nothing less than an amazing figure
Case now ranks third among the
Washington hitters, trailing Shortstop
Cecil Travis and Second Baseman
Buddy Myer. He is closing fast on
Myer, whose comeback this year Is
quite as remarkable as Cases develop
ment.
Even the most conservative critics
are halllng Case as sure-fire major
league ball player The consensus
now is that he can't miss, although,
from the beginning, he lacked only
two things-experience and con-
fidence.
Georges Single Ends Game.
The only way he could gain expert
ence was by regular play. The kid
who couldn't go back on a ball two
months ago sIracing back and catch
ing the long drives now: His throws
now and then leave something to
be desired but they are improving.
This waning home stand of the
Grlft5 did much toward developing
his confidence. In the last two or
three weeks Case has been batting
at a terrific clip. In the last three
games, for instance, he has made
eight hits and yesterday it was
ninth-inning single by Case that
broke up the ball game and gave
Washington 4-to-3 victory over the
Tigers for a clean sweep of the Detroit
series
Case not only is coming along fast
but he Is proving an ideal lead-off
hitter. He scores runs and he gets
on base frequently. With steady play
he has stopped going for bad balls and,
as a result. he is getting more than
his share of bases on balls.
Griffs Gain on All Clubs.
That ninth-inning single by Case
brought the Mats their tenth victory
IN the last 13 starts, enabled them
to gain on every club in the league,
and strengthened their first di-
vision claims. They now are five
games ahead of the ffth-place White
SoX, only five games behind the third
place Red Sox, and only eight games
behind the league leading Yankees.
While it rained again yesterday the
Mats got their ball game in as the
rest of the clubs were showered out.
The Mats record of no local post
ponements still is intact and before the
season is over this may count heavily.
The Yankees and Indians, for exam
pie, have lost three games in the last
two days. They must make these
up in doUble-headers and this will be
no fun for either of their pitching
StaffS.
The battle yesterday again found
the Griffs coming from behind. Going
into the eighth inning they were trail
ing, 80. Then Harry Eisenstat
pitched a single to Pinch-hitter
Wright, walked Case and threw
single to Buddy Lewis. Another south
paw, Jake Wade, followed On the
(See STAN, Page A-13.)