Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-03
BY ]. ED GRILEO.

By some peculiar coincidence there is
always dearth of hitting on the few &C.
casions when the Nationals are encour-
aged by good pitching. About the only
good pitching the team has had this
spring has been furnished by Walter
Johnson, yet he has lost three out of the
tive games he has pitched, and every one
of his games have been nip-and-tuck
struggles. Many of the games which
were lost would have been won had
Johnson been on the rubber, for enough
runs were scored to win an ordinary
game, but on such occasions the pitching
was weak.
Johnson seems unable to get an easy
game. 1t is seldom that his teammates
get many runs for him. and yet they seem
able to pile UP good sized scores for other
members of the pitching staff. who, how
ever. can't hold their opponents down.
And has there ever been a team SO
fortunate with its errors? Base ball with
out miSplays would not be much or
game. They are essential, just as are
base hits. But whenever the locals err 1t
costs something. Other teams seem to
be able to make their misplays costless,
while il is doubtful if there has been an
error made y the Nationals this spring
which has not cost runs.
The element of luck in base ball is
great and, strangely enough. the good
breaks seem always to go with the win
ming teams.
Among the disgruntled fans one fire.
Quently finds those who advocate the re-
lease of this or that player, and even
the entire team save one or two. But ball
teams are not built up by any such sys-
tenn
1t is slow work to turn loser into
winner. Much too slow, in fact. to be
pleasant from any viewpoint. Ball play
ers can't be had for the asking. Money
even won't buy them. Some of the best
players before the public today have cost
their clubs little or nothing and some, of
the most conspicuous failures have been
players who brought enormous sums
when purchased by a major league club.
Jim McAIeer has task on his hands.
Just where his team believed to be
strong it is weak. He lacks pitchers.
The one twirler who always performs
well is Johnson. but it is his luck to get
into games in which his team does lit
tie scoring. That is the luck of the
game. The Nationals are not a team
which can overcome weak pitching
There are few teams that can, but ours
is not smuggling aggregation. 1t is a
we'll balanced team which plays a good
grade of ball, but one which in order to
win games needs good pitching every
day.
George Mcbride has not shown good
form at any time this spring. The spell
of illness which overlook him just before
the season opened seems to have left
rim out of form. Mcbride was threat
ened with typhoid, which he but mar
iewly- escaped. There is no denying the
fact that when he is himself Mcbride Is
one of the greatest fielders in the league,
but his fielding has been far below the
standard this spring and he has been un-
fortunate enough to have all his errors
cut a figure in the score.
McAleer is well fortified with infield-
He has Conroy and Killifer. and
it might be good policy to give Mcbride
"a chance to regain his strength and al
low one or the other to fill his place for
q week or so.s
On top Of the fact that the pitchers
have shown but little this spring. there
also seems to be considerable falling off
in the batting of Gessler and Ungiaub,
depended for much of his hitting
strength To date neither has hit up to
p,s standard. or there would be an en-
tirely different story to tell of the games
glaub has. ever since he joined the
team, been its most reliable hitter, but
this spring his batting has come in
streaks. and they have been rather short
fiyed.
There is, of course. no way to account
for these batting slumps, nor any way
10 break them up. They run their own
race. and eventually both Unglaub and
IL
is rather unfortunate to have them weak
with the stick at a time when the team
: nest in need of a few hits.
in several games that johnson has
pitched he has shown a disposition to
yFeaken in the closing innings. Whether
this Is because of lack of condition,
which is not likely. for Johnson appears
to be = mt an every way, or whether 1t
is because the games in which Johnson
work are such that he has to strain
himself turing the early innings to pre-
vent runs from scoring is, of course,
hard to say, but there mast be some
thing materially wrong. In former years
Johnson often started poorly, and then
improved as the game progressed. but
this spring it is just the reverse.
Errors when made by a losing team
always stand out most prominently, for
is seldom overcome. Take teams like
Boston, Philadelphia or Detroit, il an
eyror costs them run or two, this Is
made up in batting. and is lost sight Of.
But with losing team 1t Is different.
1t lacks the strength to overcome a
handicap as rule. and the misplay
which has given the opposing team runs
stands out as the cause Of a defeat. That
who makes the error stands to reason.
for while on the whole he may outfield
his rivals, yet the loss of games is
charged to him. while II he were on
team strong enough TO overcome a few
runs the misplay would not attract at
tention.
Connie Mack's Athletics are going at
tester clip this spring then they ever
have before. and Mack's prediction that
his team would win the pennant this
year or never seems to be based on
sound size up Of the material he has on
hand.
For the next month or so the Athletics
Will have the advantage of playing on
their home grounds. while the Tigers,
who are considered their only rivals for
pennant honors, will be on the road
Being at home means much to the Ath-
letics, for the fans of Philadelphia en-
courage the team more than in any other
city. In order not to lose much ground
Detroit will have to play remarkable
ball on its first eastern trip, for the way
the Athletics are going there is a good
chance for them to get big lead in the
race.
Not unlike the Nationals, Clarke Grif-
hth's Cincinnati team lis disappointment
because Of the inability of his pitchers
to deliver the goods. Cincinnati was
picked as a certain factor in the race,
yet to date the team has shown but
little because II has mostly been placed
IN a position where it has a lot of runs
10