Evening star., 1946-02-20
Gives Harris Credit;
Slab Mark in Navy
Is Remarkable
By Burton Howkins
Sfer StoH Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla, Feb. 20-When
a confident, poised and remarkably
proficient Walter Masterson trudged
to the mound in the thick of the
pennant race last fall and pitched
the Mats to two-hit victory over
Bob Feller and the Cleveland In
dians, Washington fans could be
excused for blinking. This wasn't
the wickedly wild, inept hurler who
had won only five games and lost
nine with the Mats in 1912 before
being summoned to the Navy.
II guess I've improved at least
100 per cent since I came up with
Washington seven years ago." says
Masterson, with no trace of conceit.
II had q fast ball then and not
much else, but in Bucky Harris I
had a manager with enough pa
tience to string along with me.
There were times when 7 was so
discouraged my chin felt as if it
were scraping my shoelaces. I'm
not saying ever would have given
up on myself, but it was nice to
have manager like Harris when I
was getting SO mad at myself for
not being able to get the ball across
the plate.
"Bucky had confidence in me and
that helped tremendously. When
had a bad streak of wildness in 1912
he pitched me in batting practice
every day for three straight weeks.
That brought me control. Toward
the end of the season I won a cou-
pie of nice games and began to get
confidence. I really feel right now
that I'm ready to- come up with
fine season"
Walter Has Arrived, Says Os.
Substantiating such sentiments is
Manager Ossie Bluege. Walter has
arrived" enthuses Bluege. HE al
ways had a fast ball but couldn't
locate the plate with it. Now he has
a ball that's bit faster due to his
added weight and with it he has
control. His pitches are always
around that plate now.
ut would be foolish to expect
Masterson to pitch as brilliantly as
he did against Feller consistently
continued Bluege, ''but there's mol
doubt in my mind he's going to be a
big success this season. He has
everything it takes now and I'm
relying on him, together with Sid
Hudson and Roger Wolff, to be the
backbone of our staff"
Masterson's Navy record is some
thing at which to marvel. In 1943
the 6-foot-2-inch right-hander won
II games and lost l. The follow
ing season he won 20 games and lost
4. Last year, before joining the
Mats, he wasn't defeated In 18I
games. While managing the sub
marine base team at Pearl Harbor
he rolled up seven successive tri-
umphs, tackled on five more victories
at New London, Conn, then added
six wins while pitching with a New
England semipro team. He had &C
quired the winning habit before
whipping Feller, what with winning
IS games and losing 5 in a three
year service span.
Kept Busy on Hill.
II pitched over 300 innings every
year was in the service" says
Masterson, so wasn't exactly neg
iecting my pitching. I had an op-
portunity to concentrate on control
and believe I've mastered it,"
Masterson has grown with the
Mats. The 25-year-old, bespectacled
hurler has boosted his weight 40
pounds to 1874 in seven seasons since
first joining the Mats as youngster
fresh from Philadelphia semipro
ranks. With that physical devel-
opment he has acquired the poise of
veteran major Lacquer.
At times 1t has been a rocky road
for Masterson. There were success
sive starts on Western road trip,
for instance, when he yielded six
runs in the first inning Of one game,
only to start several days later and
give up five runs in the first inning.
There was that day against the
Athletics when he walked five sue
cessive batters in the first inning
before Harris could warm up an
other pitcher.
1t has been an uphill struggle all
the way, but on the trip Masterson
always had that fast ball and an
understanding manager who studied
his style and corrected flaws. Now,
with more zip on his fast ball and
fewer flaws. Walter is primed to
produce more polished hurting than
the Mats fans are accustomed to
viewing with him on the hill.