Show I of Sports Sports Sports- Old Man l Grove 39 Still King ICing in Portside Ranks s By ROBERT McSHANE l ROBERT p DOBERT OBERT MOSES GROVE who i came out of the hills of Lonaconing Lonaconing Lona Lana coning Md back In 1920 is pitching pitching pitching pitch pitch- ing his f fifteenth season of major league baseball Lefty LeCty was 20 years old when he Joined the Martinsburg team of the Blue Ridge league In 1921 he went to Baltimore where he be won games in five fhe years ears In 1925 when he was 25 years old he went to Philadelphia where in his first two years he won 23 games and lost 25 for the Athletics an Athletics an unimpressive record but one which taught him how bow to pitch lt h with Hh his head as well wen wenas as his ports portside ide arm The Lonaconing lancers lancer's time life-time major league record brought up to date is likely to stand for Cor many a ap p year At this writing Grove has pitched innings in games He has won of those games as against losses for a percentage percent percent- age of ot On May 3 1938 he joined the list of pitchers who struck J q g j 4 ROBERT MOSES GROVE out 2000 or more batters His present present present pres pres- ent strike-out strike total is 2117 In that time he has given up hits and 1080 bases on balls bans In a year four stretch stretch- 1931 1928 Grove won games and lost 23 for an average of In 1931 he hewon hewon hewon won 31 games and md lost only four I This is the best single season pitching pitching pitching pitch pitch- ing record in modern baseball In a year seven-year span 1933 1927 be lie won games and lost 54 5 for a percentage of Groves Grove's record is one of the greatest of all time and is especially Impressive in view of the fact that his pitching was done with a lively ball Speed Ball BaIl Artist Lefty Letty started out as a fire ball I pitcher No other southpaw could touch his fast ball and he depended largely Upon it He was strictly a speed ball artist But even the greatest great great- est pitchers cant can't go on forever smoking them over and he finally felt his speed slipping Grove then developed a curve ball ban and a change of pace He studied his batters learned their weaknesses and outsmarted outsmarted outsmarted out out- t i smarted them He saved his arm and when the occasion demands can still summon plenty of speed which he uses sparingly Tom Toni Yawkey owner of the Boston Red Sox bought Grove from Connie Mack in 1934 paying slightly more than for him Left Lefty had bad reported reported reported re re- re- re ported at the training camp with a aj j 4 dead arm and the experts were congratulating Mack for a smart operator Grove wasn't much help to the Sox that first season his arm failed to respond He finished the season with a record of eight won and eight lost The following year Mack wasn't so sure he had put over a good deaL Lefty was back in form winning whining 20 games for Cor Boston and losing 12 His career seemed ended again last year when his arm went dead he was pitching against De De- troit But once more he returned to form orm and through the early part o of August this year had bad won 11 games and lost two Not at all aU bad considering that the crepehangers hang crepe ers saw the end of ot his big league pitching days back in 1934 Great The former Blue Ridge lad is one of the most consistent reliable players players play play- ers In inthe the game today Unlike Rube Waddell one of the greatest left banders be has developed no Rubes Rube's screwball characteristics characteristics charac charac- kept him from being the greatest The The 1939 season is seeing a southpaw southpaw south south- paw famine Right now it looks as asif asif asit if it Robert Moses Grove the year 39 old haired gray-haired Sunday pitcher will willbe willbe be the anI only one to win more than 15 games Other left banders handers in both leagues arc are having more than their share of difficulties Gomez Vander Meer l Lee Hubbell Krakauskas Melton Whit chill in Whitehill-in in fact all of them are arc running f far r below expectations So chances Ire are that the Lonaconing ing lancer who has been pitching on borrowed time for five years will be bethe bethe bethe the only southpaw to come through with a creditable record when the 1939 season is ended |