Evening star. [volume], July 22, 1940, Page A-13, Image 13

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

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Triumphant Alice Marble Finds Tennis Tour ‘More Fun Than You Can Imagine'
The
SPORTLIGHT
Yankees Still Expect
To Capture Pennant
By GRANTLAND RICE,
Special Correspondent of The 8t»r.
NEW YORK, July 22 (N.AN.A.V
—The Hon. James Farley might
be interested to know that the
Yankees still expect to win the
pennant through a late August
and September drive. They also
figure Cleveland's Indians will be
the teaip to beat.
“I can speak for the club,” one
of the Yankee stars told me, "in
saying we expect to win again by
three or four games. If we can
stick around this close with so
many of our better hitters below
.250. or even .240, you can figure
what should happen when some
of these men reach their normal
pace.
"We have been getting pretty
good pitching, and we’ll get better
pitching from now on. We still
are the best defensive club in the
game. And we are about due to
collect a few more base hits.”
“Why Cleveland as the main op
ponent?” I asked.
"Because Cleveland has stronger
pitching than either Detroit or
Boston, with Buck Newsom hurt,
and because Cleveland has a better
infield—especially around the mid
dle of the diamond. This is whye
it counts. Gehringer still is a great
ball player, but Gehringer has lost
a lot of infield speed—about two
yards each way.
"The Red Sox still are shy on
pitching. They have had to ham
mer out a majority of their wins.
They are a tough club on other
pitchers. I’ll admit, but their own
staff lets them down. The Red
Sox still are up there. But the
tough part of the race still is on
ahead, through August and Sep
tember. That's where team balance
will count.”
Loss of First Six Extra-Inning
Games Crimped Champs
"What happened in the first half
of the race?" I asked a Yankee vet
eran as we absorbed a flare of heat
in the dugout. “You were about
35 games ahead around the mid
dle of July a year ago. This means
r drop of 20 games, which is no
short dive.”
"I'll tell you,” he said. "Most
ball games, at least many ball
games, are won by close scores.
We lost too many of these that
we used to win. Maybe four pen
nants and four World Series in
a row had something to do with
it. We didn’t have our old spring
zip. Later on some of our best
hitters began to worry too much.
They began trying too hard. When
you are not hitting you are bound
to worry and then to tighten up.
“We lost our first six extra-in
ning games. We've felt we should
have been much further away than
we are. None of the leading clubs
could open up any big gap, as we
used to do. They have been killing
one another off.
“Also teams like Washington and
Connie Mack's Athletics have been
using the harpoon freely on the
pacemakers. This has been a big
help to us.
“It is largely a matter of getting
started again—of collecting a few
more base hits.”
McMillin Surprised to Find
Dickey Still Looking Young.
A few minutes later I ran into
Bill Dickey and Joe Gordon. The
idea was to extract some scientific
Information on how .300 and better
hitters should go three months
from 50 to 100 points below average
form.
Bill Dickey, the Arkansas Quail
man, is only 33. But Bill has been
catching 15 years. He was with
Little Rock in 1925. Dickey still is
young in health and spirit.
“I expected to see an old man,”
Bo McMillin, the footballer, said
"Bill looks to be a kid.”
But 15 years back of the bat—
his 13th season with the Yankees
—is a long trek, my fellow country
men. It includes a large flock of
punishing yesterdays. William
Malcolm Dickey is far from being
through, but he is entitled to his
slump.
“A slump.” Bill says, "is just this:
You are not hitting for a while.
Why? Maybe it starts from some
fault. some bad body motion, Just
as it does in golf. Then it goes
into worry, into trying too hard,
tightening up too much. Then
suddenly you get - a few hits and
your old confidence comes back.
Lack of confidence is a big factor.
Slumps largely are mental or psy
chological. In golf, for example,
you might know what’s wrong with
your swing and how to correct it—
but many times you can't. The
harder you try to keep your head
Gordon Looks for Stork
To Improve His Hitting
still, the quicker it pops up.”
‘‘Don't throw that veteran stuff
at me.” Joe Gordon said. “I can’t
use that as any alibi. I was 25
years old in February. I never felt
better in my life. I expect to be
a proud father in a week or 10
days. After that, watch my smoke.
I may jump from .250 to .255 any
moment.”
Whatever happens, Joseph Lowell
Gordon looks upon life with level
eyes. He takes the breaks as they
come.
‘‘I might be a lot higher,” he said,
“if it wasn't for a fellow named
feller. Maybe Walter Johnson and
Lefty Grove were faster some
body will have to prove this to me.
I don’t want to look at any more
speed than Feller has. If Johnson
and Grove were faster than Feller,
I’m glad I was born In 1915. He
doesn’t know as much about pitch
ing as Derringer, Newsom, Grove
and a few others, but what do they
do expect at 21? I’ll say this much:
I’ll bet he knows more about pitch
ing than any other pitcher ever
knew at the same age.
Don't forget to print this.” Gor
don said. “Maybte Bob will read
It and slip me something I can see
and hit.”
Star Softies in Lead
Evening Star softball team was in
first place in Section B of the Sport
Center Sunday Morning League to
day as a result of winning its sixth
straight at the expense of Bachelor’s
Hall, «to S.
Forgets Trips Abroad
While Enjoying U. S.;
Off to Seabright
Plans to Address High
Schools and Colleges
On Will to Conquer
By the Associated Press.
BALTIMORE. July 22—Fresh
from a pair of triumphs in the mid
Atlantic section and Maryland ten
nis championships, blond Alice
Marble, the statuesque queen of
world tennis, headed for Seabright,
N. J., today in search of more
Ihurels on a tour that’s been “more
fun than you can imagine.”
This year, with the war wiping
out big tournaments in Europe, in
cluding that at Wimbledon and the
Wightman Cup matches, the 26
year-old Miss Marble took up her
rackets and began to learn about
America first-hand.
She’s traveled from coast-to
coast giving the folks a look at what
it takes to rule the tennis world.
The trip has put her in topflight
condition and even Miss Marble
thinks she is playing ‘‘pretty well.”
Will Lecture Before Students.
‘‘Really,” she said, ‘‘one doesn’t
realize how much fun there is play
ing in tournaments right here in
America when one is busy going
abroad and just to the bigger meets
in the East or West.”
Miss Marble said she intended to
keep up her ‘‘at home” contacts this
fall on a tour of high schools and
colleges for talks on “ ‘the will to
win’ or something like that.”
And, perhaps no one can talk
better than Alice about that, for it
simply was her will to win that car
ried her on after a sunstroke in 1933
threatened to end her young career.
Under the close tutelage of Miss
Eleanor Tenant, her coach, she did
come back and never knows what
it is to give up. In fact, she's
toughest when the chips are down.
Pauline Betz, 20-year-old Cal-,
ifornian, found out about that here
yesterday. Miss Betz took the first
set of their women’s singles title
match, 6—4, and led at 4—3 in the
second on her own service. Alice
simply tightened her belt and took
that one, 6—4.
Follows Orders to Win.
In the 10-minute intermission, to
show that champions sometimes
have to be told, too, Miss Tennant
went to the dressing room.
“If you’re tired and can't get go
ing,’’ Miss Tennant told her, “you're
certainly doing this the hard way.
Get out there and beat her 6-love
and get it over with, but anyway,
get out there and stir your stumps."
Alice did Just that. It took her
just eight minutes to plaster a 6
love defeat on Miss Betz in that
deciding set.
Miss Marble had teamed with
Mary Arnold, another Californian,
to win the women's doubles title,
defeating the English stars, Mary
Hardwick and Valerie Scott.
Young Donald McNeill of Okla
homa City won the men’s singles
title over unseeded Jack Kramer
of Belvedere Gardens. Calif., and
Bobby Riggs, world men's singles
champ, coupled with Welby Van
Horn of Los Angeles to take the
men’s doubles crown from Kramer
and Ted Schroeder of Glendale,
Calif.
Slab Battle Likely
In Mid-Atlantic
Softball Final
A pitchers’ battle is expected to
night when Billy Sullivan of Tru
Blue faces Bump Simons of Stand
ard Linen in the final of the Mid
dle Atlantic Softball Tournament at
Ballston Stadium. The game will
start at 8 o’clock and will be pre
ceded by a Tri-State League game
between Posner Brothers and Glen
Echo at 7:15.
In his last mound effort, Sulli
van hurled a no-hit, no-run game
against Powers Building to win, 5
to 0. While Simons has not been
that brilliant, he has shown im
provement lately.
After the game the winner will
be presented with a trophy with
each team member receiving gold
medals. The losing team will re
ceive a smaller trophy with its mem
bers being awarded bronze medals.
Five Teams Bunched
At Top in National
City Ball League
Five teams were perched atop the
National City A League second-half
pennant race today after four of
them won yesterday while one was
losing.
Winners were Klein’s Tavern,
Miller Furniture, J. C. Flood and
Packard-Washington. The loser
was D. G. S.
Feature of the day was Klein's
3-to-l victory over D. G. S. In which
Bill Liggett had held the loser to
four hits. Charley Kendall helped
Bill win by pounding out a double
and triple.
Benny Steiner, former Central
star, helped Flood beat Small Mo
tors, 4 to 2, with three timely hits.
Six runs in the first by Miller helped
give the Fumituremen a 10-;to-3
triumph over Marvin's Credit, while
Packard shut out Orange Disc, 3 to
0, behind Claude Bradley's two-hit
hurling.
Yellow Cabs Defy Heat,
Star on Softy Fields
Win or lose, Yellow Cab softball
team is the hottest ten around
town.
Yesterday, one of the warmest
days this year, it played three
games. In the morning it beat
Royal Arcanum at Fairlawn Field,
10 to 2. In the afternoon it moved
to Lorton. Va., and split a twin
bill with the Ramblers, winning the
first game, 5 to 3, and losing the
second, 8 to 7.
For games, call Manager Hum*
phrey at Hobart 1213. I
THRILLED LOCAL NET FANS—Three of America’s first 10 ranking tennis players and a mem
ber of England’s Wlghtman Cup team appeared at the Rock Creek courts yesterday for a series
of exhibitions. All scored over local players matched against them—Don McNeill of Oklahoma
City and Kenyon College, ranked third nationally, beating Gil Hunt, No. 0 on the national rat
ings; Bitsy Grant, the mighty atom from Atlanta, who Is No. 7, whipping both Barney Welsh
and Hunt, and Mary Hardwick of England scoring over Margo Lee. Miss Hardwick and Grant
also paired to defeat Miss Lee and Hunt. Above (left to right) are Hunt, Grant, McNeill and
Miss Hardwick._ —Star Staff Photos.
Fine Play by Browns' McQuinn
Makes Yank Bosses Squirm;
Pass Gives Zeke 'Big' Day
By LEWIS F. ATCHISON. '
It is a sad commentary on the
efficiency of the Yankees' labyrinthlc
farm system that George McQuinn,
the Ballston, Va., boy. turns up at
first base every afternoon in a St.
Louis Browns uniform. The Yanks
held the deed to McQuinn s native
talent until five years ago—owned -
him body and soul in a baseball way
until he escaped through one of
baseball's few legal loopholes.
Being hog-tied by the Yanks and
sentenced to the minors eight years
was no picnic. McQuinn will tell
you. Especially when you knew of
at least a couple of clubs willing to
trade a vice president or two for
your services and throw in a radio
commentator for good measure. It;
sort of gets you down, fills you'
with that heck-with-it-all lethargy. \
Ironically the same clu™ that:
blocked his promotion was willing,
nay eager to peel of a sizable sum
to get him back when he finally 1
arrived on baseball's broadway.
There is a moral buried some
where in these paragraphs. George
should have given up in disgust
when the Yanks kept him chained
in the salt mines of the bushes and
returned home to Ballston and a
comparatively complacent existence.
But the slow-talking, easy going
Irishman has oodles of moxie and
made up his mind he was going to
get into the majors if he had to
sneak in the back door or climb in
through a window. You see what
happened, don’t you?
Owen Gets McQuinn Chance.
Lem Owen, a name synonomous
with baseball in Washington, was
the first to recognize McQuinn’s
ability, but it was only because
Lemuel, a stubborn critter at times,
was a holdout from the New Haven
club one year that George broke
into pro ball. Owen refused to
sign at New Haven's figures and
organized his own team in Wash
ington. On first base he installed
the freckle-faced McQuinn. still a
high school student at Washington
Lee.
New Haven eventually hiked its
offer high enough for Lem to see it
so he abandoned his rebel team,
but took with him a vivid picture of
the flashy kid playing first like a
reincarnated Hal Chase. George,
he decided, had all the earmarks
of a genuine star. The following
spring New Haven established train
ing quarters at nearby Annapolis,
Md., and Owen recommended a
trial for McQuinn, who then was
fresh out of high school.
New Haven, a parcel of the Yank's
far flung properties, kept him a
month and shipped him to Wheel
ing in the Middle-Atlantic League
for further seasoning. When he
finished the season New York
Scouts realized they had picked up
a pearl in their inland oyster. They
didn’t know exactly what to do with
him or where to use him, but he was
too good to get away so they parked
him down on the farm pitching hay.
Yanks Want Him Back. 1
Each year, as regularly as the
seasons, they brought him up and
each time they sent him back until
their string ^of options was ex
hausted. Lou Gehrig had given no
indication of cracking up at this
time so the Yanks let McQuinn go
outright to Newark. That made
him fair game for all the clubs and
St. Louis grabbed him at first op
portunity in the draft. A couple of
years ago New York’s frantic bids
almost weaned him away from the
impoverished Browns, but they held
off and this year the rule sponsored
by Clark Griffith prohibiting traf
ficking in players of the champ’s
part kept George in the Blues City.
Both New York clubs, incident
ally, are notorious buyer-backers of
players previously sold down the
river. Mr. Griffith still gets a trifle
warm under the collar when he
thinks how John McGraw of the
Giants sold off his rookies and
bought ’em back when they acquired
the smooth sheen of a true big
leguer. McGraw figured it was
easier to develop his players this
way and as inexpensive as any oth
er in the long run.
McQuinn has two brothers on the
sandlots, both with Cameo Furni
ture In the Industrial League. ‘‘Boo
ty,” the older, has no Illusions about,
a big league career, but Ken, a 19
year-old infielder, is trying to reach
the top and George thinks he stands
a good chance.
Ken Promising Player.
Ken had a contract with Centre
ville in the Eastern Shore League:
this year, but came home when he j
developed a sore arm. Minor league
teams are not financially able to
carry ailing players and when they
ship one home he stays until the
following year. Ken is going back
next spring and expects to stay.
oBth Ken and ‘'Booty" regard
George as the quintessence of grace
around the bag, an opinion in which
most big leaguers concur. Even
with his slim batting average he'd
be a welcome figure on almost any j
diamond in the league. Bucky Har- |
ris calls him one of the smoothest
fielding first sackers he ever laid
eye on and Harris played alongside
Joe Judge—who concedes nothing
to any of them.
"His arm isn’t strong," said Buc- j
ky, "but it's perfect for his posi
tion. I don't know of any other
position he could play other than
first, but he fits that bag like a
glove.”
“Bonura’s finally shaken off his
slump,” a wag yelled when Zeke
drew a walk in the third inning or
the first game. In his other appear
ances at the plate Zeke rolled to
Berardino at short, popped to Clift
at third and fouled to Swift.
Grace, incidentally, robbed Myer
of a hit in the seventh inning of
the first game, running back almost
to the scoreboard to take Buddy's
well-hit ball.
Bob Swift, Brownie catcher, either
pulled a fast one on Ed Rommel,
umpire at home plate, or was two
thoughts ahead of him on a fast
double-play in the eighth. Swift
tagged out Myer on a rundown after
taking a throw from Clift. Rommel
! failed to‘call the play and Pofahl,
following in Buddy’s footsteps, broke
for third. Buddy .looked as good as
out and Jimmy figured on moving
up. But Swift pegged to Berardino,
covering the bag. and Jimmy ran
head-on into a putout.
Capital Pistol Shots
Mop Up in Virginia
Championships
Walsh of F. B. I. Is High
Scorer, D. C. Policemen
Take Team Events
Bt thf Associated Press.
RICHMOND. Va., July 22 —Wash
ington marksmen cleaned up ih the
State pistol championships over the
new Virginia State police range here
yesterday, placing one-two in the
individual competition and winning
two team events. Washington police
team was runner-up in the 45-cali
ber event.
Walter Walsh, Federal Bureau of
Investigation agent who lives in
Arlington, topped the Cavalier tour
nament of 93 individuals with 182 in
slow fire, 197 in time fire and 190
in rapid fire for an aggregate 569.
His total allowed him to beat out
M. O. Bridges of the Washington
police force by five points.
Metropolitan Police beat out nine
other teams to win the center-fire
title with 1,368, against 1,356 for
National Capital Rifle Club. The po
lice, however, were second to the
Quantico rifle range team in the 45
caliber event, the marines winning
with 1.240 to polices 1.235. The
police came back to win the 22
caliber competition with 1.375, Na
tional Rifle Club being second with
1,342. National Capital also was
third in the 45-caliber event.
Blozis Beats Disc Mark
With Kingston Toss
Associated Press.
KINGSTON, N. Y„ July 22.—Still
continuing to shatter records, al
though representing the New York
Athletic Club instead of George
town University, A1 Blozis annexed
both the discus throw and shotput
here yesterday with a record throw
in the former to feature the second
annual Kingston track and field
meet.
Blozis hurled the discus 161 feet,
11 Vi inches—nearly 8 feet farther
than the record throw made by
Archie Harris of Elberon, N. J., last
year. Blozis’ shotput mark was 55
feet, % inch.
Parks Net Doubles Title Play
Postponed Until Week End
Because most of the finalists are
employed and the title matches are
expected to be too prolonged to start
late in the afternoon, the finals of
the public parks tennis doubles tour
nament at Rock Creek have been
postponed until Saturday and Sun
day. One title contending team,
in mixed doubles, is yet to be de
termined.
Willie and George Herbert en
tered the final round of the mixed
tournament by defeating Dorette
Miller and Hy Ritzenberg, 9—1,
6—4, yesterday, but Margaret
Keever’s and John Smith’s 9—7,
*—2 victory over Nancy and F. 8.
McCandllsh put them only in the
semifinals, where they must meet
Charlotte Decker and Allie Ritzen
berg.
The men's doubles finalists are
second-seeded Allie Ritzenberg and
Phil Burkom and unseeded Stan
Haney and Hy Ritzenberg, who
eliminated the first-seeded team of
Herbert and Smith Saturday.
mflRvus
The CIGARETTE of Quality
ITS TIME TO TRY MARVELS 1
Vfcfliwftwfc fl
Home Talent Routed, but Show
Put On by National Experts
Makes Hit With Net Fans
By BILL DISMER, Jr.
It was a total rout of the home
forces, but a complete success as
an exhibition of the best tennis
being played in America today.
That, in short, sums up yester
day's two-hour presentation of such
nationally ranked stars as Don
McNeill and Bltsy Grant and Eng
land's Whiteman Cup veteran, Mary
Hardwick, who scored one-set vic
tories over the best Washington had
to offer—Gil Hunt, Barney Welsh
and Margo Lee—before nearly 1.000
fans at the Rock Creek courts.
And although they'd seen him
before and realized he was older
and four notches below McNeill in
national rankings, the local enthusi
asts got the biggest kick out of the
, 30-year-old Grant, who apparently
1 put Just a little more into his per
formance than the other visiting
stars.
Welsh Takes Fancy Beating.
After McNeill gave District fans a
sample of his all-around game to
open the program by defeating
Hunt, 6—3, Grant took the court to
knock off Gil with the loss of one
less game before scoring a love-set
victory over Barney Welsh, ex
Dlstrlct champion. That set. in
cidentally. was the worst shellacking
a local player took all day, Welsh
scoring only nine points In the six
games.
Miss Hardwick then turned back
Miss Lee without too much trouble,
6—1, and after the English woman
had paired with Bitsy to beat Miss
Lee and Hunt, 6—1, Grant and
Hunt played another singles match
in which the Washington star could
win only one game.
All three visitors said they’d
thoroughly enjoyed the party de
spite Washington’s terrific heat;
the paid admissions more than cov
] ered expenses and the crowd was
satisfied.
As Welsh walked off the court
following his lacing by Grant, an
official expressed regret that there
had not been more time for warm
ing up, intimating that Barney had
not attained the "feel” of his racket
as play began.
"It wouldn't have made any dti
| ference,” replied Welsh, "the way
Bitsy was hitting 'em today.”
Grant showed District fans what
: is meant when he is called the
| greatest retriever in the game. Tim#
: and again the Atlanta atom evoked
I rounds of applause for racing from
I sideline to sideline and from base
line to forecourt to make seemingly
(See DISMER, Page A-14.)
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