Evening star., 1945-09-20
Entire Nat Slab Staff
Primed for About
Attack on Yanks
BY JOHN B. KELLER,
Star Staff CORRESPONDENT.

ID ACAALny
Star Staff Correspondent.
NEW YORK, Sept. 20.-So long as
there is a chance for the Mats
to carry on to pennant, Os Bluege
will have all of his pitchers ready
for duty and will throw any number
of them into action he believes
necessary to get ball game.
Hope of flag again aroused by
the second straight defeat given the
leading Detroit Tigers in Cleveland
yesterday, the Washington manager
does not mean to spare any of his
squad in the five games. remaining
on his clubs schedule. With the
Mats only game off the top and
but two back of the Tigers in the
lost column as they looked to their
two-game series with New York; S
Yankees due to start this afternoon,
Bluege declared himself emphat-
ically.
We're still in this race and we
mean to remain in it by our own
efforts. Any help we get from the
Indians or the Browns while they're
playing the Tigers will be greatly
appreciated" Os admitted. But
we'll have to do the main fighting.
And I'm convinced the ball club
is ready to make an earnest go of it.
The standings make the pressure
appear on us, but the Mats aim to
keep it on the Tigers to the finish
Fatigue Is Griff Excuse.
Reminded that the Mats have
beaten the Yankees only twice in
the last nine meetings of the clubs
and that his ball club did not per-
form so impressively last month
against Philadelphia's Athletics, who
are to be encountered in a three
game series winding up the season,
Bluege said.
"All true, but we were tired ball
club at the time. We had just
completed a difficult Western trip
filled with double-headers and our
pitchers were pretty we'll tagged.
But believe we are in much better
trim now.
Consider what we did at home
before the big series with the Tigers
came up. The Mats drove through
IA tough ball games and won IL.
Sure, we lost three of the five games
we played against the Tigers, but we
were not so bad in those games.
Our hitting was off in the first
three games, although we won one
Of those. 1t picked up in the last
two, especially in that wild tussle
Tuesday. And in the games we lost
we had the Tigers plenty scared.
And never were the Mats as jittery
as the Tigers were in that last game
pof the SERIES" Bluege emphasized.
Mats Believe in Selves.
"The ball club is in no manner
depressed by what happened in the
series with the Tigers and I be-
lieve it will show that the rest of
the string"
The Mats. to a man, still regard
themselves better ball club than
the Tigers.
| Nor did they hold the Yankees in
awe as they contemplated the strug-
gle ahead to remain in the race for
the championship. They would prefer
a bigger field than that in Yankee
Stadium for the two games here
The short right field is made to
order for New York's long fly ball
hitters and puts an extra burden on
the pitchers facing the Bronx
Bombers. But the Mats also have
batters who can park the ball in
the right field stand at Yankee
Stadium.
Even in losing four straight the
last time they played here, they
mustered three homers to the Yam
KEGS six, and two of the Yankee
homers were hit in the lone game in
which the Mats were given their
only decisive licking.
Mickey Haefner, who was to start
today's engagement, was the only
Nat starter in that disastrous August
series the Yanks did not pound for
a four-base blow. Dutch Leonard,
Johnny Niggeling, Roger Wolff and
AL Carrasquel we're the victims of
the Bronx blasting with Leonard
and Niggeling allowing two homers
each.
Number of Players Ties Mark.
Whatever happens this time,
Washington's knuckleballers will be
throwing their best in stock instead
of fast ones at the Yankee swing
hitters.
The Yankees are the only club in
the league this year to beat the
Mats in an annual series. The count
before today's engagement was IL
games to in the New Yorkers
favor.
In the recapitulation of statistics
run up in that 1875 brawl in which
the Mats plastered the Tigers Tues
day, one item was overlooked. With
the Tigers sending 10 players into
action and the Mats 16 for a total
of IS, the American League records
for number of men employed by
both sides in contest was tied. II
was established in 1921 in a Cleve.
land-Detroit game and afterwaro
matched in a Chicago-Philadelphis
tilt, two Boston Philadelphia tussles
and another Detroit-Cleveland af.
fair.
Official scorers trust there will nc