Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-15
NATIONALS ARE FULL
OF THE FIGHTING SPIRIT

would have won about all the games we
have lost. The club Is bound to finish
we'll up this year. few straight games
keep plugging, SO don't lose confidence"
There is great deal OF the lighting.
never-say-die spirit there. and as this is
something Washington has needed for
years 1t will win out in the long run.
Does 1t pay major league ball players to
dabble in the national pastime in the
winter months? Read the answer in the
mer Flick went down to Florida a year
ago last winter and played for several
weeks in the Hotel League down there.
He complained of weakness early In the
to lay off just when his services were
needed the most. This year Flick has
been out of the game all season. and the
Maps have missed him as sorely as the
Tigers would have missed "Ty'' Cobb or
the Browns would have missed George
Stone. Terry Turner Joined the Florida
Hotel League last winter. and now little
Cotton Top has followed Flick into re-
tirement. and the Maps are losing games
for want of his services at short. Per-
haps If Glen Liebhardt had not touched
a ball all winter out in California he
could point to better record as q Nap
pitcher since the opening of the season.
about eight weeks ago. 1t is curious
fact. but one that has been often dem
onstrated. that the players who do the
most brilliant and effective work In the
early months of the regular season are
the men who quit the game for good In
until they report for practice the next
spring. There were other men down in
the Hotel League last winter. playing in
the minors. and reports from their work
indicate that it would have been better
for them to have rested during the win
ter months.
Up to the present writing the individual
and collective strength in the American
League has been shown by the western
club members. all of the eastern teams
running in the second division. The Chi
cago White Sox. who were considered out
of it by many at the beginning of the
season. have developed a surprising burst
of speed and promise to duplicate their
great successive string of victories which
practically won for them the champion
ship in 1905. The st. Louis Browns and
the Clevelands are playing strong ball,
Detroiters have not done so well proper
tionately at home as they did on the
road. The ultimate outcome of the race
Is just as much In doubt now as 1t was
a month ago. Just now the Sox are rum
ming like house a-f1re. while the Yankees
and Athletics are back in the ruck. But
a month hence the reverse proposition
may prevail. The Sox may be on the
the way There is no intelligent way
of anticipating the beautiful uncertainty
Of the national game, which, after all,
makes it what it is-the most attractive
and the most popular of all national
past1mes.
Ball players who bet on the games are
fearing that Ban Johnson will fire them
out of the American League. Johnson
has sent out circular letter appealing
n
all gambling. Ban B. intimates that 1t
will go hard with any player caught wa
gering as much as nickel" on a ball
game. In an official bulletin Johnson or
ders club owners to stop the betting.
While the authority Of the owners and of
f1uence and that Of the players. properly
directed, will be powerful factor Base
ball has been free from the gamblers
black hand. 1t Is so essentially part Of
the American life that it would be a
shame to permit the encroachment Of any
evil And once the hydrahead Of gam
bling enters, just SO soon will base ball
begin to lose its hold upon the public.
Long ago gamblers bet high on base ball.
and some wagers ran into four figures.
In Louisville a plunger framed deal with
three players to throw a game upon which
he had fortune staked. The plot was
exposed and the men were barred from
base ball. The expose almost killed base
ball in Louisville. 1t is said that some
players bet upon the games. They lay
their money upon their own team. how
ever. Sometimes pitcher will back him.
self to win. This acts as an added in
centive to him to win the game. But
the practice should be checked now, and
Ban Johnson reasons that a player who
bets on himself gets into company where
temptation is always present and some
day it may prove too strong to with
stand.