Evening star., 1940-05-27
Vet Should He|p
Leonard, Chase
Bear Burden
Trovis' Hurt Brings
PofohI Back; Ken
Fires at Yunks
BY BURTON HAWKINS,
Star Stan Correspondent.

NEW YORK, May 27.-With par.
donable optimism the Nationals to-
day were feeling Pyexy Clark Grif-
fifth plucked platinum-studded
jewel from baseball's trash heap
when he snatched mellowing Willis
Hudlin shortly after the chunky
blond pitcher had been discarded by
Cleveland, which thought 1t had
squeezed that labeled lemon dry
after IA years.
Virtually on one leg, the retiring,
modest Hudlin pitched the Mats into
sole possession Of fourth place yes
terday, overcoming the handicap Of
severe Charley horse to whip Phil
adelphia, 4-3, on five hits in a ten
sion-crammed 10-inning engage
ment at Griffith Stadium. There is
a general idea he will retain that
effectiveness.
There was a flicker of gloom pen
etrating the jovial atmosphere Gre
ated by the discovery of a gem
among the Mats frequently criti-
cized pitching staff, however, for
with the loss Of Shortstop Cecil
Travis for period of 10 days or
two weeks Washington is being
stripped of 341 hitter whose alb
sence may be felt keenly.
Hudlin and Leonard Limping.
Also, with Pitchers Dutch Leon
ard and Hudlin hobbIng about on
ailing legs the Mats are likely to be
hampered in the immediate future,
with six games listed in four days.
To date, though, Leonard and Hud-
lin have impressed as formidable
cripples, Dutch preceding Willis
with 7-hit victory over the Ath-
letics Saturday.
Travis. ironically, was gashed Sc
verely by the spikes of the AS
Wally Moses in the act of perform
ing his most brilliant play of the
season. Attempting to steal In the
eighth inning, Moses was checked
by Travis dive for the throw from
Catcher Rick Ferrell, Cecil spearing
the ball on the far side Of Moses in
some miraculous fashion and cling
ing to it to erase what represented
the likely winning run.
Moses, absolved of any blame by
Travis, cut the Net shortstop deeply
on the right leg, and the gangling
Georgian, after walking OF the field.
was rushed to Georgetown Hospital,
where he will remain for several
days.
Rookie Jimmy Pofahl, Of course,
will handle the position, from which
he was ousted two weeks ago, In
Travis absence. PofahIs batting
average suffers horribly in compari-
son with Cecil's, but his insertion
at shortstop isn't calculated to
weaken the Mats defensively.
Cleveland Castoff Hot Article.
Hudlin, ordered to remain out Of
uniform today to rest his leg, may
be something of savior to the Mats,
who have been denting respectable
pitching only to lose decisions when
their own brand of hurting collapsed.
Washington has demonstrated 1t Is
threat any time it receives pass
able pitching and Hudlin has shown
he Is capable of aiding Leonard and
Ken Chase In that respect.
The appearance Of Chase here
today in the opener Of a four-gams
series with the Yankees was being
regarded with more than passing
interest, for Ken has hurled three
successive creditable games, win
ming his last two starts by limiting
Cleveland and st. Louis to seven
hits each.
Manager Bucky Harris is con-
vinced Chase has arrived after all
these years of missing the train.
Certainly the semi-bald southpaw
bears only faint resemblance to
the fellow who lost 10 games. last
year. Opposed on the mound by
Spurgeon Chandler, Chase was aim
ing to make Harris kind words ring
true.
1t was a polished performance
Hudlin gave some 5000 customers
who were viewing him for the first
time in a Washington uniform. For
the first five innings he allowed only
two hits and one unearned run, but
brace of mighty blows in the sixth
produced two runs for the AS and
locked the score at 3-3.
Welaj's Homer Wins Game.
Dee Miles launched the inning
with a triple to right and scored on
Benny McCoy's infield out after
Moses had tapped to Hudlin. Stocky
Bob Johnson then drilled his eighth
home run Of the campaign among
the bleacher patrons and the clubs
battled down to the tenth before
Johnny Welaj delivered the winning
blow, an inside-the-park home run
which travelled to the center-field
(See HAWKINS, Page A-l7)