Evening star. [volume], August 04, 1939, Page A-12, Image 12

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Hambletonian Trotters in Spotlight, but *Pappy9 Greyhound Still Is Tops
—— ; ...—. ... *___
Great Harness Freak
Could Run '£m All
Into Ground.
Taller Than He Is Long,
Breeding Strange, He
Is Turf Mystery
By GAYLE TALBOT,
Associated Press Sports Writer.
NEW YORK, Aug. 4.—A great,
tall horse named Greyhound will
be hanging around like a ghost at
a banquet and taking the guests’
minds off their provender during
the trotting of the $40,000 Hamble
tonian Mile, world's top harness
classic, next Wednesday at Goshen,
N. Y.
While the cream of the 3-year
olds are pounding around the track,
raising clouds of dust to settle on
the fried-chicken tents, a lot of
the spectators will be waiting for
them to get through so Greyhound
can come out and give his “ex
hibition.” Or perhaps they will let
the pappy horse do his showing off
first and then turn the stage over
to the youngsters.
Greyhound Appears to Be Freak.
It's been four years now since
Greyhound won his Hambletonian,
and his successor isn't in sight.
He could trot them all into the
ground then and he still can. With
each passing summer it appears
more and more as though the long
legged beast, whose stride has been
measured at 32 feet 4 inches, is a
marvelous freak that might never
be duplicated.
Greyhound's world record for the
mile is 1:55'.«, or a speed of better
than 30 miles an hour with a heavy
driver and a rubber-tired sulky
hitched on behind. That is moving
The best they are hoping for in
the Hambletonian is about a 2:01
mile, and that would be a quarter
second faster than the existing rec
ord for the classic.
They aren't sure how Greyhound
happened. His sire. Guy Abbey, had
a record of 2:0634, but his dam.
Elizabeth, left no record and scarcely
was trained. They've tried the same
parents three times since, but two
full-brothers of Greyhound showed
absolutely no promise and a sister
still is a yearling.
Fillies Do Well in Classic.
Fillies, incidentally, have a pretty
good record in the Hambletonian;
far better, for instance, than in the
Kentucky Derby. They have won
six of the previous events against
seven victories for the boy horses.
Greyhound, strangely enough, is
taller than he is long. He was what
they call a “natural” trotter. In
six years of trotting eompetition the
“champ'’ never has broken his great
stride but once. That was when a
spectator on the rail waved a hand
kerchief in his face.
There is a widely mistaken im
pression, by the way, that all trotters
have to be taught to trot. It isn’t
so. Watch a mare escorting her
weanling around the pasture and
every now and then the little
monkey will break into a trot.
On the other hand, some of them,
no matter how careful the breeding,
have to be put through a regular
course before they will adopt the
gait, and then they never trot very
fast. Even the best trotters have
weights attached to the front of
their hoofs. The weights make them
lift their legs higher and, con
sequently, take longer strides.
White Sox Play Aztecs
Two Games Sunday
Washington White Sox. victor in
14 of 16 games, will meet the Aztecs
in a double-header Sunday at Lin
coln Field. Oxon Hill, Md. The first
game starts at 1:30.
The Boston brothers, former ace
battery for the Colesville Tigers, are
the feature attraction.
The* .
Sportlight
Current Redlegs Rate
With Great of Past
By GRANTLAND RICE,
Special Correspondent of The Star.
NEW YORK. Aug. 4 (N.A.N.A.).—
How do the Cincinnati Reds of 1939
stack up with the pick of the
National League parade through the
last 40 years? What should their
ranking be against the top teams of
the older league, who have written
more than a few chunks of baseball
history?
In my opinion, there are three
main rivals to consider along these
lines—the Giants of 1905—the Cubs
Cf 1906-7—the Giants of 1921-2.
This moves the Reds up into a
group of four leaders, selected
through four decades.
The Giants of 1905 had Bresnahan
catching, and Mathewson, McGin
hity. Ames and Wiltse. But they
lacked the all-around strength of
the 1906 Cubs with Kling catching; i
Brown. Overall, Reulbach and others !
pitching; Chance. Evers, Tinker and
Steinfeldt for an infield—Sheckard
Schulte. Slagle and Hofman for an
outfield.
This Cub team won 116 games
that season, still an all-time record.
It won four pennants in five years,
including two World Series. It had
about everything a ball club needs,
including smartness to a high de
gree.
Kedlegs Have Everything
A Great Club Needs.
The same goes for the Giants
around 1920-2. They drew' fine
pitching from Art Nehf, Phil
Douglas, Hugh McQuillan and Jesse
Barnes; plus brilliant infield play
from Frisch, Bancroft and Groh.
Irish Meusel and Ross Young were
their outfield luminaries. This was
a strong Giant outfit, as the Yankees
discovered in two World Series tests
It has been a long time in the
faraway and long ago of baseball
since any National League team
ripped the heart out of a pennant
race as the Reds of 1939 have done
They blew into August with an
11-game lead, outpacing the Yankees
with something to spare.
They have had the catching and
the pitching—the punch and the
speed. In Lombardi they have one
of the best. And neither the Cubs
of 1906 nor the Giants of 1921 had
any pair of pitchers to match the
records of Bucky Walters and
Paul Derringer up to the August
round-up.
They have a high-class infield
and a fast, hard-hitting outfield,
and this squad is directed by one of
the ablest managers baseball has
yet known—the name being Bill
McKechnie. Bill has proved his
place too many times before in too
many spots to be overlooked.
McKechnie Star Instructor
As Well as Leader.
McKechnie is something more
than an able leader. He is one of the
best instructors and developers of
young talent that we have around.
I've seen him more than once
point out certain weak spots a young
player might have, with the sug
gested cure. And Bill would go to
work on that cure. This one might
hit up—this one might hit down at
the ball. McKechnie would spot
such faults at once—and apply the
needed correction
Beyond that he knows how to
get the best work from every member
of his squad. As a rule they'll all
give him 100 per cent of what they
have to offer. He knows how to calm
down the nervous types and key up
the lazier actors. Which is more
than a mere trifle.
The 1939 Reds are a far better ball
Hub than many critics seem to figure, j
I can go a long way back to Red
land history—back to the days when
Ren Mulford was their historian—
back to the days when Eagle Eye
Jake Beckley played first—when Bid
McPhee was at second—when
Tommy Corcoran was at short—back
to the days when Noodles Hahn came
out of my home town at Nashville to
strike out 16 men and set a National
League record.
Due to old and almost forgotten
memories. I've always pulled for the
Reds—remembering Harry Vaughan
and Heinie Pietz—even my old
friend, George Wright, who played
on the unbeaten Reds of 1869. And
1869 wasn't merely yesterday. There |
are many, many yesterdays in 70
years ago.
Say Bosox Could Win Easily
With Cincinnati Pitching.
So I may be prejudiced. But I
happen to know this 1939 bunch of
Reds fairly well. They can play
their share of baseball. They have
the fundamentals of hitting and
pitching, which is the main idea.
But beyond that I happen to know
they have no fear of the Yankees
along any line. They have the spirit.
I've talked to Lombardi. McCor
mick, Derringer, Walters and sev
eral others—and to these I have
mentioned that the Ynakees are
only a good ball club, but a ball club
♦ Hot ran hputpn
•'Say,” one of the Reds told me,
“the Red Sox beat them five straight
on their home grounds. Could that
happen to any bunch of supermen?
The Red Sox have beaten them eight
out of 12 games this year. They've
beaten them by a big margin over
two years.
“The Red Sox are good. But the
Reds are better. Better, because we
have the pitching. If the Red Sox
had our pitching they'd beat the
Yankees by 10 games. Give the Red
Sox Bucky Walters and Paul Der
ringer and there'd be no American
League race. Well, we have Bucky
Walters and Derringer. And we have
a few others.
"The Yankees have been rough
riders over the Giants and the Cubs.
They won't rough-ride us. W'e have
everything the Yankees have—and
the Yankees know it.”
Postopned Teter Show
To Be Held Sunday
Lucky Teter and his famed troupe
of daring drivers, rained out of their
stunt show last night at Capitol
Speedway, will stage the same pro
gram Sunday at 3 o'clock at the New
York avenue and Bladensburg road
track.
A
SURVEY BATTLE SCENE—Jack Crawford (left) and Adrian Quist, members of the Australian
Davis Cup tennis team, are looking over the turf courts at the Merion Cricket Club in Philadel
phia, where the challenge round against the United States will be played September 2-4. The
Aussies, however, must get by Cuba and Yugoslavia in order to meet the Americans.
—Wide World Photo.
Bensinger Battling
No. 2 Star in Boy
Tennis Semis
Capital Youth Facing
Likas; Beats Myers
In Straight Sets
B> the Associated Press.
CULVER. Ind.. Aug. 4.—East
meets West in boys' singles, but the
Coast has the courts to itself in the
other three divisions as the annual
national junior and boys’ tennis
tournament goes into semi-finals
today at Culver Military Academy.
Top-seeded Budge Patty of Los
Angeles was matched with Blair
Hawley. No. 3. of New York City
and Harry Likas. No. 2. of San
Francisco with Bob Bensinger. No.
4, of Washington, D. C., in boys'
singles.
Californians had a monopoly on
Junior singles. Favored Ted Ole
wine of Santa Monica played third
seeded Larry Dee of San Francisco.
Jack Kramer. No. 2. of Los Angeles
w-ent against Ted Schroeder. No. 5.
of Glendale.
Junior doubles play matched the
first-seeded Olewdne-Kramer team
with Bob Carrothers of Coronado,
Calif., and Harper Ink of San Diego,
Calif., No. 4. and Dee and Emery
Neale of Portland. Oreg., No. 3,
with Ted. Schroeder of Glendale.
Calif., and Arthur Marx of Bev
n^i,. nr;n~ i;<•
In boys' doubles, Patty and Likas,
seeded No. 1, met Bensinger and
Glenn Gardner of New Orleans,
and Hawley and Teddy Myers of
San Francisco, No. 2, were matched
with Tom and Bob Falkenburg. Holn
lywood iCalif.), brothers, No. 4.
Yesterday Patty eliminated Bob
Falkenburg, 6—2, 7—6; Hawley beat
Clarence Mabry of Alice, Tex., 6—1,
6—2, and Likas ousted Tom Falken
burg, 6—2, 5—7, 6—0. The three
defeated were unseeded. Bensinger
won from Teddy Myers, No. 5, of
San Francisco. 6—3. 6—4.
Olewine downed unseeded Gard
ner Larned of Chicago, 6—0, 6—1;
Kramer whipped Frank Mehner of
Sait Lake City, also unseeded. 6—3,
6—2; Dee overcame Marx, No. 10.
6—2. 6—2. and Schroeder beat Car
rothers, No. 4, 6—4, 6—0.
Winged Foot Victory
Shows Chapman Big
U. S. Golf Threat
By the Associated Press.
MAMARONECK. N. Y„ Aug. 4 —
Dick Chapman, the Greenwich,
Conn., shotmaker who won the in
ternational amateur title of France
and reached the quarter-finals of
the British amateur, establishes him
self as more and more of a threat
for the United States golf tourna
ment almost every time he gets out
on a course
His latest effort resulted in a neat
72 yesterday over the 6.700-yard
east course in the Winged Foot Golf
Club's foursome tournament which
annually honors the memories of
Johnny Anderson and Ed Thorp.
With some fine golf also turned in
by his partner, Jack Creavy, former
New York State junior champion,
the duo took the qualifying medal
with a best-ball score of 67, two
strokes better than their nearest
rivals.
Practice Rebound Puts
Golfer in Hospital
By the Associated Press.
WAGENER, S. C., Aug. 4.—Golfer
Whilton Williams was polishing up
his driving game. He smacked the
ball hard against a building. It
bounded back and sent him to a
hospital with a probable skull frac
ture. ,
Care Hair
Men’s Shop
FORTUNE METHODS
Raleigh Hotel
MoiimIbo Floor. Salto 11S-1T
4
20 Years Ago.
In The Star
Col. Jacob Ruppert and Lt.
Col. T. L. Huston, owners of the
New York Yankees, continued
their battle with League Presi
dent Ban Johnson, who has sus
pended and fined Carl Mays,
recently purchased by the Yan
kees after deserting the Red Sox.
Chevy Chase Club tennis team
won the Washington Tennis
Association championship by
beating Columbia, 7—2. Arthur
Hellen. Dudley Morgan, J. L.
Karrick, Spencer Gordon and
Walter Dunlop won singles
matches for the champs.
Washington dropped the final
of a four-game series to Cleve
land as Stan Coveleskie gave the
losers five hits while fanning
eight. The score was 4-0. During
part of the game the scoreboard
failed to operate, much to the
disgust of the fans.
Owing to the importance of
the game four umpires were on
duty as the Giants finally beat I
the league-leading Cincinnati
Reds, 4-0. A season record crowd
of 33,000 witnessed the contest,
which moved the Giants to with
in 1 Vi games of the pace-setters.
Interior Nine's Drive
For Title Goes on
Air Tomorrow
Star to Sponsor WMAL
Broadcast of Battle
With Sturdy D. G. S.
With the city sandiot baseball
championship series set to open Au
gust 15, diamond interest around
town is turning toward the teams
which will represent the various
leagues in the series.
The city champion will represent
Washington in the national cham
pionships, and a team with its eyes
cocked on both titles is Interior.
The Interiors already virtually
have clinched the title in the De
partmental League and appear
strong enough to give a good ac
count of themselves against what
ever teams represent the other
loops.
Tomorrow on the East Ellipse at
2 o’clock Interior plays D. G. S. and
should the former win it will have
both ends of the Departmental
League title all tied, sealed and de
livered.
It is with some apprehension that
Interior approaches tomorrow's
game, because even though it has
beaten every team in the league, it
always has experienced trouble in
taking the Grocers.
The Grocers, on the other hand,
have everything to gain and noth
ing to lose tomorrow.
The game has been selected as the
one for the regular series of sandiot
game broadcasts sponsored by The
Star and the National Broadcasting
Co. Bill Coyle, Star staff sports
commentator, and Ray Michael of
the N. B. C. staff will give a play
by-play description of the contest
over WMAL.
Either Bill Liggett or Jim Murphy
will pitch for Interior and Herbert
De Vers or Spencer Bruce will hurl
for D. G. S.
Sports Mirror
By the Associated Press.
Today a year ago—Equipoise,
second to Sun Beau as the world’s
leading money-winning race
horse, died at the C. V. Whitney
farm in Kentucky.
Three years ago—Jesse Owens
completed Olympic “triple,” add
ing 200-meter final in world rec
ord time, 20.7, to broad jump and
100-meters titles.
Five years ago—Jack Torrance,
Louisiana State University,
smashed all world shotput rec
ords with heave of 57 feet 1 and
7/32 inches at Oslo meet.
Tropical Worsted i
TROUSERS
To match odd coats. C A QC
All sites and colors, *
EISEMAN'S—F AT 7th
—
Lack of Organization
Holds Back Capital
Public Linksmen
Affiliation With Parent
Body Would Open Way
Into More Tourneys
Public links golfers around Wash
ington. anxious to play in sectional
and national championships, are
waging a lot of time.
Barred from participation in all
sectional title events because they
do not have an organization among
themselves, and from taking part in
all national events with the excep
tion of the public links champion
ship, they should have a strong or
ganization in Washington similar to
the Public Parks Golf Association
in Baltimore. But they do not have
any such organization, and until they
do organize thevll go along beating
futilely at the restrictions that bar
them from events outside their own
restricted circle.
Oliver! a Topnotcher.
There are some pretty good golf
ers playing the public courses in
Washington' Andrew Oliveri. the
chubby Rock Creek Park golfer, who
qualified well up in the recent na
tional tourney at Baltimore, is one
of the best in the land. Jim Gipe.
Bob Morris, Bobby Burton and Ted
Burrows are good golfers, and can
win in any company.
But because they don't belong to
a public links organization affiliated
with the United States Golf Associa
tion. and a sectional association,
they must go on playing in public
links affairs, in a very restricted
circle.
Tommy Doerer has the right idea.
The East Potomac manager has been
trying for months to get those public
links golfers organized. He has run
into obstacles, but he is keeping on
with the idea.
Would Cover Entire Section
Before long, if he has his way,
you'll see not only a local public
links organization, but one covering
the entire mid-Atlantic territory,
which means Baltimore, Richmond,
Norfolk and other cities which sup
port public links golf.
If the public links boys are satisfied
to play in their own tournaments
that's all right. But the top ones are
not. Latest case to come up was the
barring of Andy Oliveri from the
team match between Washington
and Baltimore amateurs at Manor
Sunday. Andy happens to be among
the first four or five simon pures
around the Capital. But he couldn’t
play because he wasn't a member of
a member club. If he belonged to a
strong public links organization un
doubtedly he would be permitted to
play. But he isn’t and he's out.
The public links golfers want
something, but they don’t do any
thing about it. A strong organiza
tion would do the trick.
Girls Stage Softball
Game at Ballston
Richmond's Virginia Dairy Girls,
State champions last year, will battle
Sholl's Cafeteria lassies, 1938 local
champions, in the first game of a
double-header softball attraction at
Ballston Stadium tonight.
Following the first game, slated to
start at 8 o’clock, the Arlington
Democrats will tangle with the crack
Nate and Leon Club of Baltimore.
9:30 a.
VP Hh30 p. m. f/ l
^P* HEALTH jSS
A INDIVIDUAL A
J| INSTRUCTION ML
Em III « LESSONS, $5 PEfl
A
Sports Program
.For Local Fans
TODAY.
Baseball.
Chicago at Washington, 3:15.
Tennis.
Women's League Tournament,
Reservoir courts, 2-6.
TOMORROW.
Baseball.
Chicago at Washington, 3.
Tennis.
Middle Atlantic Tournament,
Edgemoor Club, 2-6.
Brown Patch Is Light on Links
About D. C., but Greenkeepers
Have Their Fingers Crossed
By WALTER McCALLUM.
Not in many seasons at this time
of year have the golf courses around
town been in such good shape as
they are right now, smack in the
middle of what in former years has
been a bad time for brown patch.
Maybe brown patch, the headache
of greenkeepers, is ahead of us,
when the really hot, humid nights
of mid-August come along, but so
far this year the pest hasn’t hit in
profusion. Those greenkeepers and
course supervisors are responsible for
many thousands of dollars of expen
sive putting greens. When brown
patch hits hard and devastates
thousands of square yards of velvet
putting surface in a single night
the members of the club start howl
ing, the greenkeeper wears a wor
ried frown on his pan and every
body is disgusted.
But so far this year brown patch
hasn't been too bad. Small patches
of what is called "dollar spot,”
meaning it's about the size of a sil
ver dollar, have hit some of the put
ting greens around town, but the big
patches which destroy a third of a
green in 24 hours haven't come
along. Modern greenkeeping sci
ence, which has taught greenkeepers
to dose the greens with various
preparations, has kept brown patch
fairly well under control. And still
the greenkeepers dread those hot
nights, without a breath of air, when
the deadly stuff gets in its lethal
work.
Fairways in Good Shape.
Helped by copious rains the fair
ways around town are in the pink
of condition. Here and there you'll
see brown patches where the grass
has worn thin, but in the main the
fairways are very good. Not like
the lush, green fairways of mid
May, but good for this time of year.
All in all it hasn't been a bad
season for keeping golf courses in
shape. And we hope the greenkeep
ers' headaches don't come this year.1
There's nothing worse than to put j
in endless hours on a golf course,
nurse the greens along until they i
look like and feel like velvet and
then see them go in a single night. !
It's one of the things the green
keepers have to put up with every !
year. But they've done all right
this year, and perhaps they'll get
through without the usual trouble.
National Lures D. C. Women.
Mrs. Betty P. Meckley, Indian
Spring star, isn't planning to at
tend the national women's cham
pionship this year. Betty has
changed her mind, and will play
at Shawnee and White Sulphur
Springs. But two more good golfers
from Washington have entered the
national. They are Mrs. F. J. God
frey and Mrs. Ellen Kincaid Harris,
the dark-haired girl, who as Ellen
Kincaid, seemed to have definite
possibilities as one of the top golfers
around town. With Mrs. Myron
Davy of Congressional, Mrs.
Leo Walper, the District women's
champ, and Marion Brown. mid
Atlantic titleholder, the entry from
Washington will be fairly strong
this year. They won't bring the
championship home to the Capital,
but all these women can give a
good account of themselves in the
big tournament, even if there is
too much class around for them to
go far.
Two-Man Meet at Manor.
Max Taylor, acting golf chairman
at Manor in the absence of Harry
Pitt, announces the two-man team
championship of the big club near
Norbeck. The first match round
will open Sunday with probably 30
or 40 pairs entered.
Max has reserved starting time
between 1 and 2 o'clock for the
Washington-Baltimore team match
to be played at Manor. These teams
will be made up of 16 men each,
and the Washington team will be
weakened by the absence of Pitt,
Billy Shea and Ralph Bogart. In
their places Capt. Roger Peacock
has asked Gene Pittmjn of Con
gressional. and probably will ask
Taylor and Ralph Gibson of Manor,
two men who can play considerable
golf under any conditions.
Yorks Seeking Contest
York Haberdashers, who have won
13 games and lost 4. are seeking
action with strong out-of-town un
limited baseball teams. Call Pahl *
Akers at Atlantic 6948.
ESe/ioz,
SUAREZ (t
tfo/io-Q^acM/ia/
LA A, CUBA *
are one of the
iubans are proud of
i tobacco is known
ver as the best cigar
. When I set out to
nerican White Owl
n’t expect to like it.
vana tobacco that
ended in the new
gives it a rich Havana
agrant bouquet.”
Ada
YOU CAN BET that down in Havana
smokers really know the taste of
Havana tobacco. That’s why we took the
new Blended-with-Havana White Owl
down there to test it. We selected promi
nent Cubans—real connoisseurs of cigars
—gave them, some of the new White Owls
to smoke. Without exception, they all
praised the rich Havana flavor of this
new cigar.
Honestly, we’re excited about the
Havana tobacco that goes into our new
White Owl. It’s really a good grade. Per
haps that sounds unbelievable for a cigar
hosting only 5£. But we are America’s
largest buyers of Havana tobacco, and we
know what we are talking about. Fact is,
it’s the same type of Havana tobacco used
in popular cigars costing lOjf and more.
And there’s a generous helping of this
fine Havana in each new White Owl, too.
Why not try a new White Owl today? j
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