The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-21
LEFTY GROVE
is THROUGH AS
GOOD PITCHER
Veteran, 40, 300 Wins;
Yanks in Cellar Again;
Dodgers Lose Three
BY GEORGE KIRKsEY
UNITED Press staff CORRESPONDENCE

United Press Staff Correspondent
New York, May 2l.-(UP)-o'
Nose hasn't got 1t any more. No
matter how much lead the Boston
Red Sox give Lefty Grove, he can't
hold 1t. That's happened five times
In succession now. No longer can
the fact be ignored that the grand
old southpaw has reached The end
Of the trail.
In retrospect Groves swan song
may we'll have been the two-hitter
he pitched against Washington on
opening day. It's doubtful II he'll
ever go another e-innings In one
game. However, the evidence in
dicates that he still may be valuable
to the Red Sox rs q relief pitcher.
He usually pitches two or three
good innings at the start OF each
game but weakens after that.
Wants 800 Wins
Groves ambition Is TO reach The
300-mark IN Victories, q feat very
few pitchers have ever accomplished
With two wins this season, ne still
needs IL more TO reach the 300
mark. And those last IL are really
going TO be tough indeed for OF
Nose.
Now 40 years old and the Anerl-
can leagues oldest pitcher, Grove
has been getting by on hts noodle
for several years. Occasionally, ne
could blaze q fast ball over In the
clutch but now II seems that ne
can't even do that any more. Con-
troll was an asset to him until re-
Gently. Now he's making those
pitches too fat, and the boys are
pinning his ears back. Even as late
as last season all Grove needed
10 win was q lead Of three or four
runs. But this season he can't hold
any kind OF a lead.
He blew 3-run lead against
Washington April "a. Then Oh May
he had O. I'll lead over the White
Sox at the end Of the fourth but
couldn't hold It. On May Z he had
the Indians beat, SO, at the end OF
the sixth but had to have relief.
A week later the Red Sox gave him
q 40 lead over the White Sox 10
work on. but he blew II In The Attn.
Yesterday he had q 30 lead and q
60 lead over the Tigers but couldn't
protect II.
When Grove left the game In the
seventh the Red Sox led, TO so OF
Nose has yet to be credited with
defeat. With Pinky Higgins going
beserk at bat with three homers, the
Tigers plastered q 1877 licking on
the Red Sox. Higgins drove IN
seven runs with his three llomers,
the last one winning the game. jim
my Foxx hit homer No. 10 with the
bases loaded
Yankees Last Again
Cleveland knocked the Yanks
back into the cellar by humping
the worlds champions, 1919, en-
abling the Tigers 10 move within q
game and a half Of the league-lead-
Ing Red sox. Lefty AL Smith held
the Yanks TO one hit until the ninth
when the Yanks escaped q shutout
MS o result OF pickcy's double which
drove In two runs. Smiths 3-hlt-
ter was his second straight victory
ever the Yanks and his third win OF
the season. jeff Heath hit his 9Th
end 7th homers, pacing Cleveland's
l7-hit attack on Chandler, Hadley
and Donald.
In the other two American league
games the Athletic trounced the
Browns, "a, and moved into fourth
place while the White Sox left the
cellar by defeating the Senators, 81.
Frank Hayes hit two homers for the
AS and johnson and Moses got one
each.
Bees Sting Reds
Cincinnatis pitching folded up
and the usually feeble Bees slugged
out q 1874 victory over the Reds.
AL Lopez's homer whit wo mates
on base off Gene Thompson featured
a 5-run rally In the third. Bama
Rowell duplicated Lopez's feat IN the
fourth to spark 6-run. rally.
The Cubs, playing with a make
shirt infield, beat the Dodgers again
81. It was Brooklyn's third straight
loss. The Cubs made Is hits and
batted out Hugh Casey In the 6tn.
Harry banning hit triple and
homer and drove In five runs as
the Giants beat the Cardinals, Ga.
Cliff Melton kept the Cards six
hits scattered.
Scoring seven runs In the ninth,
the Phils came from way back TO
beat the Pirates, ST. Mace Brown,
with a I'll lead, retired with a sore
arm after pitching to two batters
In the ninth.
YESTERDAYS HERO--Al Smith,
32-year old southpaw who's been
bouncing around for years. he held
the Yanks to three hits and kept
them shutout for eight innings.