Evening star., 1942-10-11
BIueqe
CONTINUED From Page CID

baseman. Griffith had acquired the
veteran Roger Peokinpaugh for the ..
shortstop job. so Bluege moved over.
to third base and became so !.
proficient his very excellence pre- Z.
vented him from realizing his am /.
bition of playing shortstop regu-
larly.
Finally, when Walter johnson
succeeded Harris as manager in 1929
Bluege received mis- chance to play ,
shortstop regularly. But Bluege in
jured his knee that year, played in
only 64 games and suffered his most :.
dismal season. When he recovered
Joe Cronin had that shortstop job !:
and Bluege went back to third base.
Thumbed From Game But Once.
In his lengthy career as player
and coach, Bluege was thumbed J
from a game only once. TT was in
1896" recalls Bluege," when I was 4
playing utility. I represented the ;
winning run in a game in Chicago
and 1 thought I slid home safely.
Umpire Brick Owen didn't think !:
so and when 1 became too hot about !.
it he ordered me out" :
What Bluege considers the great.
est play he ever made never was ac- =
claimed by any newspaper. 1T was
in the 1924 World Series," says
Bluege, that I made what to my (.
mind was the best play of my career. .
When I walked out to my posi- :
ton at third base I usually glanced
into the rival dugout to see If I could :
detect anything cooking. I saw
Manager John McGraw and Freddy
Lindstrom in a huddle, so 1 knew
something was up and I suspected q =
bunt. .
"Lindstrom, who was awfully fast,
normally hit to right-center, so I
shaded him toward second, but still
kept bunt in mind.
Bluege's Greatest Play. +
HE bunted all right and it was
perfect, two inches inside the foul
line and too far for the pitcher or
catcher to field. raced in, scooped
up the ball and fired to Joe Judge
to nip Lindstrom by an eyelash.
Everything considered-sizing up
the play, the beauty of the bunt,
the speed of the runner and my get
ting there and letting 60 of the
BALI guess it was the best play
ever made. ::
There was another play, though,
that I like to remember. 1t was in
1928, when the Athletics came to
Washington in first place with q
half-game lead over New York We
had just bumped New York out OF
first place by taking three of four
from them.
I'VE came into the ninth inning
of game in that series with the
score tied. The Athletics loaded the
bases with one out. Fred Marberry
was called in as relief pitcher and
Connie Mack sent Eddie Collins to
the plate as pinch-hitter.
collins was a left-fleld slap hitter
against fast-ball pitching and I
played him accordingly. He worked
Marberry to 3-and-1 count, then
hit the 3-and-2 pitch. 1t was a hot
liner that I stabbed far to my left
on the short hop. I tipped the ball
to Harris at second base and he
pegged it over to first for a double
play. We won the game and the
series and losing that series cost the
AS the pennant. Collins still kids
me about it,"
Marries a Second Time.
Bluege received the biggest blow,
of his life in 1886 with the death OF
his first wife. They met in George
town Hospital after Bluege was
struck on the head by pitched ball
in the 1925 World Series with Pitts
burgh. Mrs. Bluege, then a nurse
at Georgetown, died after a liner
ing illness.
With characteristic courage.
though, Bluege pulled himself to-.
gether. Two years ago he married
again, this time to Wilor Maxwell.
secretary to Edward B. Eynon, sec-
retary and treasurer of the Mats.
Shortly before the Mats headed for.
spring training last February Ossie
became the daddy of a girl.
A graduate of the Luther Institute
of Business Administration, Blueee
has worked for a local hotel as an
accountant during the winter seq :,
son. Studious and quiet. Blueee is
not altogether silent. He Is an In
teresting conversationalist when he
prefers to be. "A
OF German descent, the 1.-the vet
eran with the deep-set eyes is a
perfectionist, but he also Is patient
and understanding. He never has
been too busy to drop hints to raw
recruits who have impressed him as
being willing to learn. y