Evening star., 1945-04-05
Cuban Displays Glass
In Double Killings,
Hammers Ball
BY JOHN b. KELLER,
Star Staff Correspondent.

CAMP SHELTON, Va, April s.
Gil Torres will be the Mats short
stop and George Myatt again will
be at second base when the baseball
season is opened in Washington a
week from next Monday.
Although Myatt had a finger on
his right hand split at the nail as
he played second yesterday, he
should be ready to play again soon
Manager Os Bluege announced
that today as his ball club prepared
to swing into action against the
Navy Armed Guard nine here in
the sixth game of the current exhi-
bition series in the Norfolk area.
The skipper said he had settled
definitely the makeup of the middle
section of the Mats infield.
1t didn't take Bluege long to ar
rive at decision after watching
Torres perform at shortstop in games
Tuesday and yesterday. The Cuban,
who gave the Mats far better than
fair service at third base last sea-
son, is an all-around ball player and
he looked at home at shortstop in
his performances on the naval train
ing station diamond.
Torres Smooth at Short.
Torres has good pair of hands
and moves about the shortfield as
though he had been stationed there
for some time. With more room, he
goes to his right for plays far bet
ter than he did when working at
third and he possesses an arm that
can take care, of throws adequately,
Bluege believes. His throws from
short have been smooth and &C
curate and he has demonstrated he
can feed" the ball well to the Sec
ond baseman in starting short
throw double plays, something no
other shortstop employed by the
Mats in sometime has been able to
do. Torres last year was helpful in
attack, especially in hitting behind
the runner, and he has been smack
ing the ball solidly in practice in the
short time he has been with the
club this spring. Altogether, Bluege
believes Torres the best player
available for the shortstop job.
The skipper never felt that Myatt
could come up to scratch as a Short
stop, but the loss of Johnny Sulli-
van, who filled the post last year,
compelled Bluege to experiment
with the 1914 second baseman.
Myatt, though, looked no better as
a fielder this time than he did the
few times he played at short last
season. Nor could his arm with
stand the longer throw.
1t was not until Myatt developed
an ailing wing, however, that the
skipper got around to trying Torres.
He had hoped to use the Rookie
Chuck Beihl in the shortfield, but
Beihl never revealed any throwing
power, so Myatt was asked to take
over and he willingly underwent the
test. The job simply was beyond
him.
Vaughn's Injury Slow Healing.
So back to second base goes
Myatt. for Bluege considers him su-
perior to Fred Vaughn as a fielder
and although Vaughn puts more
power into his punches at the plate
Myatt still was among the better
hitters on the club last year. Also
Vaughan's heel that was operated on
shortly before the Mats opened
training camp last month hasn't
healed and Bluege fears it may be
weeks before the husky purchase
from Minneapolis reaches good
playing condition.
Vaughn had to take over yester-
day in the third inning of the game
against Naval Training when Myatt
was injured as he made a bare
handed stab for a throw from
Torres.
The second sacker wasn't quite
in position for the catch so instead
of a double play an error resulted
as the ball bounded off Georges S
finger. 1t led to two runs, but the
Mats went on to win, 8 to 7.
They went into the seventh inning
four runs behind for the Sailors
had slammed Marino Pieretti for
nine hits which, mixed with five
passes and some errors, cost him
six runs in his six innings. The
Mats got nothing more than five
hits of Herb Chmiel, lefthander,
in five rounds. but they fell on Jack
Robinson for two hits and as many
runs in the sixth then went to
town in the seventh. Pinch-batter
Hills Layne slammed a 350-foot
homer over the leftfield wall after
Walt Chipple and AL Evans had
singled, then came two passes, two
singles and a double to make it
six runs for the round. The Mats
might have been going yet had not
Bobby Schnellen, the Washington
bat boy, in attempting to retrieve a
fail, blocked Joe Kuhel off home
plate.
Bat Boys Putout Unique.
So the ball came in just in time
to cut off another run. It was the
first putout on record by a bat boy.
The Mats got 13 hits all told
while the Sailors got II, two off
Santiago Ullrich for a tally in the
last three innings.
Saturdays game with the Boston
Braves in Griffith Stadium will
begin at 2:30 o'clock, Nat Vice Pres
ident Cal Griffith has announced
the Sunday game-same club,
same place-win start at 3. Paul
Leopold, southpaw pitcher from New
Orleans semi-pro ranks, has caught
the fancy of Manager Bluege and
will be kept around awhile Os
also likes Larry Burger, despite the
big fellows wildness in the game
at Fort Story last Monday
Burger has pitch that's plenty
quick"
Handsome" Fitzgerald, the bull
pen catcher. is nursing very sore
middle finger on his right hand
X-rays made here revealed a
Clipped bone. Roger Wolff
again bothered by tender dogs, was
to pitch against the Armed Guard
today >. Johnny Niggeling gets a
hill turn tomorrow as the Naval
Training Station is met at the Nor