Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-24
BY ]. ED GRILLo.

ny J. ED GRlLLO.
Renorts that the Washington club was
involved in some peculiar transactions
based on the supposed official puiietin
announcing that the club had secured
pitcher Mercer and First Baseman Gill
from Peoria and Minneapolis. respec-
,iveIv nv exercising options il had Tor
the pick of the players OF these ciuos'
nr,ve "a no without the slightest fOunda-
ton.
The bulletin sent out and a copy OF
which reached President Noyes this morn
inc exnlains its purpose by requesting the
club presidents TO peruse IL carefuliy ana
point ont such mistakes as they may us
cover.
one Of the errors is that the bulletin
names Mercer of Peoria az one u .he
PLAYERS purchased by Plttsburg and then
awards the same player to Washington
on an option The fact of the matter,
however. Is that while the ashlns ton
club exercised its option for Mercer some
weeks ago. it was notifed py .ne conl'i .ha
sion at that time that the player was tne
property OF the Pittsburg club ana the
matter was dropped there and then. but
somehow or other IL got into the RECORDS
that the player was awarded 10 Washing
ton.
The case of Gill is similar. Joe Can
tiIlon thought Gill might be Of help TO the
ationals, and he SO wrote president
Moves who in reply told Joe mat ne
knew best what Washington needed.
and that if he thought Gil would 40.
Washington would take him.
In the meantime Cantillon wrote NC
Aleer. pointing out all Of Gilrs strong
and weak points, and In the opinion OF
McAleer the latter exceeded the former.
He, however. sent Padden to look gill
over. and Padden was not impressed with
him.
Cantillon, however, notified the commls-
sion that Washington had exercised It's
option for the pick of the minneapolis
PLAYERS and had selected Gill. The COM
such option or agreement on file, which
there wasn't, as the agreement between
President Noyes and Cantillon was verbal
But in some way il was recorded that
washington had secured Gill in this way.
But the bulletin is sent out for correction,
and the Washington club has rectified the
errors The awarding of Mercer and Gill
to the local club by bulletin was moth
ing more or less than a clerical error.
and IL is in order to prevent these going
into the official records that the bulletin
was sent out to the various clubs that
they may make the necessary corrections
No one would have suspected Big Ed
Walsh OF suffering with lame arm dur
ing Yesterdays session. and yet the big
fellow contends that there is hitch in
his elbow which does not allow him 10 let
himself out at top speed Even with a
sore arm pitchers of the Walsh type
would be welcomed by any team.
There is perhaps no wiser strategist be-
hind the bat than Billy Sullivan. Sulli-
van makes catching the easiest kind of
work Walsh undoubtedly is a hard man
to catch, for the reason that he not only
possesses a lot of speed. but he uses a
spit ball. Yet Sullivan handles his de-
livery as IL he were sitting IN rocking
chair His throwing TO bases is along the
same lines. He apparently only losses the
ball to the bag but he gets 1t away
quickly and II is usually to the mark
ahead Of the base runner. Most am
pitcher is helped by having Sullivan be-
hind the bat for he makes catching a
study and uses his head.
Johnson and Walsh famed each other
three times, Walsh was UP four times
and went out on an infield play the first
time up Johnson did not even foul ball
off Walsh. but he had three healthy
swings on each occasion.
II seems TO be the hardest kind of a
task for the Nationals to gain fifth place.
The several opportunities that have been
offered 10 pass the Maps have all gone
wrong because on days that Cleveland
loses the locals also slip cog. But the
chances still favor McAleer's men, for
while the Maps are on the road the locals
are at home, which is an advantage.
Johnson is improving his slow ball with
every game. He used IL on several occa-
sions yesterday to the annoyance OF the
batsmen. He is gradually getting control
of the teaser. and when he perfects ii his
effectiveness will be greater than ever.
Nothing so worries batters as change
OF pace, and this Is particularly true when
pitcher possesses the terrific speed OF
Johnson. Once that slow ball gets 10
working properly for Johnson a batsman
will be on edge all the time trying to