Evening star., 1944-10-07
Drawback in pennant
Race, Arlington Man
"A Pillar in Classic
BY JOHN d. KELLER,
Star stan Correspondent.


ST. LOUIS, Mo-, Oct. IA little
more than two weeks ago while the
Mats were. in their final series here
the few fans the st. Louis Browns
then had were booing First Baseman
George McQuinn literally. He wasn't
hitting, the opposition was rifling
hits by him. He Just didn't At into
Ia club striving for its first American
League championship.
But now the vast legion OF the
Browns fans-they've increased by
thousands since the Luke Sewell- lied
entry copped the fiag--are wildly
acclaiming McQuinn as the best his
club has to put forth In attack and
as about the keenest defensive
player in st. Louis baseball civil
war.
Browns followers are hailing Nc
Quinn as the one who more than
anybody else has made the hitherto
underdog American League entry In
the fall classic q favorite after its
6-to-2 win yesterday in the third
game. that put 1t one up on the
Cardinals. vaunted champions of
the National League.
This tall, 33-year-old ball player,
born and raised within a l5-minute
auto drive from downtown Washing
ton. largely has been responsible for
the two wins the Browns have
achieved, particularly through his
work at the plate, but in no mean
part through his performance
around first base.
Attended Washinston Lee.
1t was McQuinn, a member of the
1929 class Of Washington-Lee high
school in Ballston, Va, and 4 star
on the sandlots there before he en-
tered the organized game in 1880,
who first batted the Browns into
tie with the Cards yesterday
then went on to seal their victory
with two-base clout in the seventh
inning.
1t also was McQuinn who hit a
home run to give the Browns their
triumph In the opener of this
series.
BY making two singles and a
double yesterday in the third game
of the series-and in hitting to
such an extent he scored one run
and drove across two others-Mc-
Quinn ran his batting average for
the classic to .623, far and away the
best for any regular on the contend
ing club.
At bat eight legal times in the
three tiffs, McQuinn has made five
hits-one q home run and two of
those doubles-to tally twice and bat
in four runs.
McQuinn certainly is . far cry
from the McQuinn the compare
lively SHIN crowds In Sportsman's 8
Park were giving the Bronx cheer
when the Mats were last here. Then
George had tapered on In his
batting until his rating had dropped
into the .250s. Just before that
series he had been taken out of the
Browns lineup by Manager Sewell
because of his weakness at the plate.
Card Slab Staff Mauled.
But with the chips down, the first
baseman from Arlington County,
Va, has batted the Browns into q
position where they have the Cardi-
mails reeling, ready to take . knock
out wallop before the series goes its
seven-game limit.
In the games thus far, the
Browns have looked decidedly SUI
perior to the Cardinals. The latter
have had all three of the pitchers
topping their squad driven into re-
tirement and SO far they have
earned cleanly only two of their
six runs. Back Of the pitcher there
has been no taint to the 10 runs the
Browns have registered. although
one OF the runs yesterday was at
tributable to the failure of Catcher
Morton Cooper to take care of q
Jurisich pitch in the seventh round
The Cards got q gift run in the
opening round when the usually de-
pendable Shortstop Vernon Stephens
OF the Browns let q grounder 70
through, but Stephens more than
made up for this error when after
two were out in the third he singled
OF Ted Wilks for his first hit of
the series that touched of a five-
hit bombardment that brought over
four runs.
After that the Cards were pretty
well subdued. And with their slab
aces so shabbily treated their pro-
spects of q series triumph are indeed
drab.