Evening star., 1947-04-01
Fleet Gardener Is Due
10 Stage Comeback,
|BIuege Believes
By Burton Hawkins
Stor S,oH correspondsnt

SANFORD, Fla, April Wash
ington's 1947 outfield viii be COM
prised Of George Case in left, Stan
Spence In center and Buddy Lewis
in right, Manager ossie Bluege dis
closed today. Case, a. .225 hitter last
season when nampered by illness,
has convinced Bluege he is prepared
to stage comeback and thus gets
the nod over joe Grace.
Case Is all right now physically, !"
said Bluege, "ard / think he's going
to have a good year. He's an ideal
leadoh man and If he hits at all
he'll help us. Grace also has been
doing fine job in spring training,
but we need more right t-handed bat
ting in our lineup and Case gives
it to u.s.
Despite his miserable season last
year with the Cleveland Indians,
Case has indicated he may bounce
back. In exhibition games thus far
he has batted a heartening 1924,
while Lewis has been swatting sem
sationally with .579 mark and
Spence has been hitting 1878.
> Belted .302 With Mats.
Obtained from the st. Louis
Browns last year in mid-June at a
time when he was batting .227,
Grace thrived under a change of
scenery. He belted 1902 with the
Mats and finished the season with a
.278 figure.
Granting Case q regular berth
over Grace represents a tough choice
for Bluege, since Joe is popular
with Washington fans as a result
Of his steady play in 1916. He rep
resented one of the main reasons
the Mats were able to land in the
first division, but Ossie is striving
for balance and in Case he views
the player who can stabilize the club.
The Mats best hitters-Mickey
Vernon, Cicil Travis, Lewis and
Spence-swing lefthanded. Grace
also is a left-handed hitter and with
five southpaw hitters In the lineup
the opposition would be saving its
left-handed pitchers for Washing
ton. That happened last year and
Bluege doesn't want repeat per-
formance.
Four Right-Handed Hitters.
To forestall managers from saving
their southpaws for the Mats, Bluege
will have four left-handed hitters
and four right-handed hitters in
his lineup, exclusive of the pitchers.
With Case, Jerry Priddy, Johnny
Sullivan-plus Frank Mancusco,
Rick Farrell or AL Evans, depending
on who is catching-hitting right
handed the Mats will be breaking
up a club dominated by left-handed
hitters.
Those four left-handed hitters
still will be swinging successfully,
for the Mats batting order now
looms as Case, IT,; Lewis, rf.; Spence,
cf.: Vernon, h.; Travis, 3d.: Prid-
dy, 2b.; Mancuso, Evans or Ferrell,
c., and Sullivan, SIS.
A regular with the Mats for eight
years before being traded to Cleve-
land for JEFF, Heath, Case has led
the American league In stolen bases
six times. He still is recognized as
the fastest man IN the league and
last year sprfnted 100 yards in 10
seconds at Griffith Stadium to de-
feat Gil Coari in match race.
Brutal Blow for Grace.
Case, who three times hit better
than 300 with the Mats, batted .294
when last with Washington in 1945.
He slunped to .225 at Cleveland,
but was plagued by injuries and Ill
ness. When the Mats were offered
Case In exchange for Pitcher Roger
Wolff several weeks ago they
grabbed him. .-.-
It is brutal blow for Grace, who
sensed what was going to happen
some time ago when he volunteered
to catch for the Mats in order to
relieve the outfield congestion. That
suggestion was snubbed and Grace
now finds himself a utility outfielder.
Grace has batted .292 in spring
training and has impressed Bluege.
Should Case fail to fulfill expecta-
tions Grace will supplant him and
become the Mats leadof man, but
the Mats outfield viii be
Case, Spence and Lewis.
Sid Hudson was to travel six In
nings here today, with Tom Ferrick
going the remainder Of the route,
as the Mats battled Toledo. The
Mudhens and Mats will clash again
tomorrow at Orlando.