Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-05
BY j. ED GRILLO.

All 0OunI as 10 W OlEdSI pTOWcSS as d
fighter was wiped out by the little cham
pion yesterday when he knocked out Owen
Moran in the thirteenth round Though he
beat Nelson and every one else he has
met. there have always been some doubt
ing Thomases so far as the Michigan lads
real ability was concerned The fact that
he made several poor showings against
Knockout Brown after recovering from
an injured arm seemed to create the i'm
preston with some followers Of the sport
that Wolgast's victory over Nelson was
nothing more than fiuke. and that there
were several boys in his class who could
beat him. But by his victory yesterday
Wolgast absolutely established himself as
being at the head of his class. There NAV
be several lightWeights who in short
bout could outpoint him, but as a fighter
he is even more sturdy than was Nelson
In his palmiest days. Punishment seems
to have no effect on Wolgast, and he
virtually lets his opponent fight himself
out hitting him.
Wolgast's next fight will i'm all proba bill
ity be with Packy Mcfarland. but the
Chicago boxer will not stand much more
of a chance to beat him than did Moran,
because. like Moran he lacks the STAN
ina necessary to stand off Wolgast for
any length of time.
BY their dual victory yesterday and the
defeat which Chicago inflicted on Detroit,
the Athletics have taken the lead in the
American League race, and 1t is the con-
sensus of opinion that Macs men will
not be headed again in the present cam
paign. Last Fourth of July the Athletics
had similar experience. On that day
they took doubie-header from the High
landers, pushing that team out of first
place and taking command them
selves. History has repeated itself in this
instance. though it seemed that when Ed
die Collins was injured Mack was up
against tough break. But II seems that
the absence of Collins is not felt as was
expected. -Four games have been won
with him out of the lineup, principally
because the other members of the team,
and Baker in particular. have been hit
ting terrifically against the New York
pitchers. ~
The Nationals lost the second game at
Boston yesterday because McAleer did
not have pitcher to work in that ninth
inning when his team had tied the scove.
Hughes. who had held the Red SoX down
after Groom was taken out. had AinSmith
bat for him, and that of course, el;mi-
mated Hughes. Walker was pu, in to
finish the game. He had given way TO
the heat in the morning, and could not be
expected to get away with a whole hide.
Johnson and Sherry or either of them
would have been more apt to deliver the
goods than Walker.
The glorious Fourth certainly made
some changes in the standing of the two
major leagues. Both changed leaders.
and the teams representing Philadelphia
are now leading their respective leagues,
and it is not at all unlikely that they
will hold this advantage until the end
doubt about the Athletics coming out on
top, and the Phillies are not going to
be easy to beat Doom has strong
pitching staff and a good hitting team,
which is inspired by its success to date
and will be hard to beat from now out
The setback the Phillies have given the
Giants fits McGraw's men none too well
for the coming invasion of the strong
western teams If the Philies can keep
up their present pace they should gain
a comfortable lead within the next three
weeks. 1t is of course much too early
to predict pennant for the Phillies,
for there are four teams in the old
league all within haling distance Of the
lead, but should Dooin's team be sue
cessful the chances are that the worlds
series will be played in Philadelphia next
October. as it was played in Chicago at
the end of the season of 1906
Never before in the history of base ball
were there as many players used in one
days contest as yesterday. Not one
team managed to get through a game
without making one or more changes,
and Cleveland broke all records by be-
ing forced to use nineteen men in a sin
gle game. Weather conditions were re-
sponsible for this state Of affairs. The
heat was telling on the pitchers. and
most of them had to quit after going a
few innings, while players in other po-
sitions also had to get out of the game
to save themselves from being Frustrated.
Clarence Walker has been benched be-
cause he fell down in his stick work.
The youngster who made such an i'm
pressive debut into fast company on the
occasion Of his first few games with the
Nationals is badly off Of his stride. There
was all the difference imaginable in his
manner at the bat when he first joined
the team and when he last appeared here.
In his early games he impressed every
one with the fact that he refused to go
after anything that was not over the
plate. Lately, however, he has been go
ing after the wide ones, and this has
caused his undoing.
The benching of Walker does not nee
essarily mean his failure in fast COM
pany. His slump is undoubtedly due to
the fact that the pitchers have grown
wise to his weakness. He may overcome
his faults at the plate and hit again. 1t
was not to be expected that a mere boy
with little or no experience could break
into fast company and make good right
from the outset. Even Cobb, a most nat
ural player, did not do that He was in
ana out Of the game all during his first