The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-05-28
HARTNETT HERO OF CHICAGO AS
 CUBS MOVE UP
Veteran BackstOp at 37, Keeps Club in Thick of
 Pennant Fight
BY GEORGE KIRKSEY United Press Staff COrrespOndent)

United Press Staff COrreSpOndent)
 New York, May 28-(UP)-His face is tomato red and his short cropped hair is streaked with gray. He's big and boisterous, and he puffs like steam engine chugging up a steep incline. He laughs like trouper and is pretty good at swearing, too.
 His name is Charles Leo Hartnett, but he's known far and wide as "Gabby"-that is, to everyone eX- cept ball players who call him Leo.
 Without him the Cubs wouldn't be tagging at the New York Giants heels in the hot National League pennant race because he is the spirit of the Chicago team with his rough and ready play. His clenched fist shaking above his head in the tight spots is the symbol of the Cubs new fighting spirit.
 Again yesterday Hartnett, who at 37 is the third oldest player in the National League and the oldest playing every day, sparked the Cubs to victory over the Pittsburgh Pi- rates, so. He hit a home run with two mates on base, and ripped out two singles, enabling the Cubs to move within two games of the idle New York Giants.
 Hartnett has appeared in 173l games during his IT years with the Cubs. Just the other day he sur- passed Ray Schalk's record of 1721 but none of the statisticians hap pened to notice it. In number of these games Hartnett appeared only as pinch hitter, because of sore arm in 1929 so he still lacks approximately 130 games of surpas- sing Schalk's mark of total games caught. If he catches 100 games this season he will become the first man in baseball history to catch over 100 games each season for 13 years.
 Joe Mccarthy among others ranks Hartnett as the greatest catcher of all time, and oldtimers like Clark Griffith agree.
 Hartnetts catching yesterday helped to steady big Bill Lee in a shaky ninth inning, enabling the Cubs right-hander to score his third straight victory and pull through with shutout. Lee aI- lowed only six hits in winning his fourth game. In the ninth Vaughan singled off Lees pitching hand and caused him to lose control so that he walked Suhr and Rizzo to fill the bases. But he came through and halted the rally. The Cubs made 10 hits off Klinger. Swift and SeWell.
 Detroit defeated the Chicago White Sox, 5-2, in the only Amer lean League game and moved with in 007 percentage points of fifth place. Vernon Kennedy kept the White Sox hits scattered and won his seventh straight game. Hank Greenberg hit 440-foot homer, his 1lth Of the year. giving him the American League lead. Pete Fox's double drove in two of the Tigers runs.
 The fourth place Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals put on a grand exhibition in the seasons first night game, with the one time Gas House Gang dropping their seventh straight-2-1, in 10 innings, It was nip-and-tuck pitchers bat tie with John Wander Nicer of the Reds setting down 10 cards on strikes, and Bill McGee whiting eight Cincinnati batsmen. With two down in the 10th, Virgil Davis doubled and was sent home with the winning run on Harry Crafts tWo-ply knock.
 YESTERDAYS HERO - Gabbv Hartnett, Cubs 37-year-old catch CT. who hit two singles and a hom- CT in leading Chicago to a 50 vic- tory over Pittsburgh.