Evening star., 1939-12-08
Baseball
Continued From Page D-l.)

them at the door Of the elevator.
When Grifnth descended to the lob
by 1t required only about is minutes
for negotiations to be closed.
Harris guaranteed Grifith that
Walker would help the Nationals by
saying:
IF this deal doesn't work out for
the benefit Of the Washington club
you can fire me-"
Baseball men. inclined to be-
lieve the deal was only the forerun-
ner of others, were reluctant to ex-
press any opinion as to which side
got the better Of the trade. Harris.
however, insisted that only due to
an argument between Walker and
White Sox officials was Washing
ton able to get him.
Walker, 1t seems, was pair $4,000
by the Sox last year after taking q
$4,000 salary cut. A bonus clause
was included in his contract call
ing for an extra stipend If the at
tendance at Chicago reached 600 900
or more.
He Demanded q Recount.
At the end Of the season Sox
officials announced the home at
tendance as $4,000, and Walker,
among others, was said to have de-
manded q recount. This peeved
Grabiner and Dykes, who previously
had offered Walker to Detroit for
Rudy York before trading him to
the Mats.
Harris is determined to play Bud
dy Lewis In the outfield If he is
unable to land Laabs from the
Browns. Now that he has Walker
he no longer is interested In Solters,
who can't play center. The Mats
might consider Myril Hoag, but
they prefer Laabs.
"The best part about this Walker
DEAL" Harris said, "is that we
landed a good right-handed hitting
outfielder without having to give up
Travis. Now we are In q position
to be particular about whom We
ask In trade. Personally, If we can't
get a real promising center fielder,
I'd like to play Jimmy Pofahl on
short, move Travis to third base
and try to make an outf1elder of
Lewis"
Gee Was "Ole Miss" Halfback.
The new National was born In
Gulfport, Miss, on March 10, 1909.
He lives now at Hattiesburg in the
same State. He matriculated at
the University Of Mississippi, where
he was an all-around athlete. Most
of his college fame was won as q
halfback at Ole Miss.
Walker broke INTO professional
baseball In 1928, starting with Fort
Smith in the Western Association
He played with Evansville, Wheeling
and Toronto before coming to De-
troit to stay in 1882. He was among
. large group of rockies placed in
charge Of Harris, then managing
the Tigers. It was this group
Hank Greenberg, Pete Fox, School,
boy Rowe, Marvin Owen, Jo-Jo
White and others-that Harris
turned over to Mickey Cochrane,
who won the pemant in 1884 In
his first season as q manager.
Walker remained with Detroit
until two years ago, when Cochrane
traded him to the White Sox, along
with Third Baseman Owen and
Catcher Mike fresh, for Kennedy,
Tony Piet and Dixie Walker. 1t
was the most unpopular trade ever
made in Detroit and supposedly
marked the end of Cochrane's pop
ularity in Tigertown.
"Go0d Hit, No Field"
The White Sox won on the deal
because fresh now is their regular
catcher, Owen still Is an infieldcr
at Chicago and for Walker they OBJ
tanned Wright and Appleton. On
the other hand, Dixie (no relatioiD
Walker was waived out Of the
American League, Kennedy since
has been traded to st. Louis and
Piet Is out Of baseball.
Wright, born In Lancaster, 8. c..
came to the Mats in 1898 when, -
q rookie, he led the American League
pinch -hitters. Wright batted . cool
$50 for 100 games, but because ne
appeared 80 often as q pinch-batter
-