Evening star., 1947-03-28
Gil Disappoints al Bal,
AfieId; Case, Grace
Shine in 81 Win
By Burton Howkins
Stor Sfoff Corrasnondenf

MIAMI oEiAtI1, ria, MAI. 3d.
Washington's muddled outfield sit
uation rapidly is adjusting itself,
with Gil Coan tobogganing toward
a, minor league berth. Gil, ironically,
is one of the Mats leading hitters
with his 1888 average, but a break
down of that figure isn't fattering
to the young outfielder..
Against minor league comYeti-
ton, including three games with
Chattanooga and another with
Rochester, plus two intrasquad
games, Coan has been a phenom-
email hitter. His average against that
sort OF pitching is .563, but against
major league hurting, Gil's batting
has been pathetic.
Gil has played twice against the
Philadelphia Athletics, once against
Cincinnati and once against the St.
Louis Browns and the indication is
that he isn't ready to swing against
good pitching. He has collected one
hit in IA attempts against major
league hurting for an average of
OIL.
While Coan still is rated an ex-
cellent prospect, some of the Mats
pitchers cringe at the idea of him
playing regularly with the Mats.
Hes not a good outfielder yet,"
says one, land when I'm pitching
want men behind me who aren't
going to cost the club a ball game
through stupidity.
Gil Not Clever Afield.
"Coan is a sucker for low pitch, !"
continued the same pitcher, He
can't hit curve ball and he'll chase
after bad fast balls because he's
too eager to hit 'em. That's three
weaknesses the kid has. say they
should give him at least year with
a triple-A club and let him learn
the things that most major leaguers
already know"
Gil has been no sensation as an
outf1elder. He has been throwing to
wrong bases, dropping fly balls and
misjudging them. He had been tab
bed by Manager Ossie Bluege and
Clark Griffith as the Mats left fielder
until he demonstrated he couldn't
handle the job. There now is a gen.
eral feeling among the Mats that he
falls short in both fielding and hit
ting.
Not aiding Gil in his apparently
fruitless quest of a regular berth is
the conduct of George Case and Joe
Grace. Case displayed return to
peak form yesterday as the Mats de-
feated the Philadelphia Athletics.
Ga, at West Palm Beach, He smash
ed a double and single and scored
two runs.
Cases double to left was a thing
OF beauty. It should have been re-
stricted to a single, but with an out
burst OF speed and a spectacular
slide George legged it into double.
1t touched of a three-run fourth
inning for the Mats.
Vernon Drives Over Runs.
Gene Handley fumbled Coan's
grounder and Grace followed with a
single, scoring Case. Both runners
advanced when Centerfelder Aus
tin Knickerbocker threw past third
and Mickey Vernon fetched 'em
across with single off Handley's
glove.
The AS had grasped a 10 lead
off Mickey Haefner in the third
when Hank Majeski singled, took
second as Peter Suder grounded out
and scored on Handley's single to
right. The Mats boosted themselves
into a 81 lead in the fourth and
lifted it to Al in the sixth when
Rick Ferrell doubled across Johnny
Sullivan, who had walked with two
out.
Philadelphia got its other run. off
Sid Hudson in the sixth when Sulli-
van threw wild past George Myatt
at second at time when the bases
were jammed, but the Mats bounced
back with a run in the seventh
when Myatt walked with the bases
loaded. The Mats obtained their
other run in the ninth when Sherry
AsoSSA NOoAA WolhSoy bOOh OIl a
wild pitch and scored on Frank
Mancuso's single to left.
Case, Robertson and Spence saw
action despite sustaining sea-sick-
ness earlier in the day on a deep
sea fishing venture, while eight
athletics were incapacitated due to
illness.
Mats Collect Seven Hits.
Haefner and Hudson permitted
only seven hits, while the Mats
obtained seven safeties off Bill Diet
rich and Bob Savage. Aiding the
Mats considerably were five errors
by the AS, three in the fourth
inning.
Early Wynn and Lum Harris were
to face Pittsburgh here today as
the Mats sought their eighth VIC
tory in IL exhibition games. WASH
ington will meet the st. Louis
Browns tomorrow and Sunday at
Miami.