Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-14
BY j. ED GRILLO,

| Though Manager Griffith failed to ado
| any material to his list during his sta.
| at New York, where the major league:
| were meeting. he is not at all dfsappoint
ed because of this. Griffith really did mo-
expect to figure in any trades. and he only
| hoped to be able to secure youngster OF
| two. and he still has chance to do that
Phelan, a third baseman. who was Sc
| cured by Cincinnati from Chattanooga
is the one player Griffith would like to Sc
| cure and the chances are he will. All e
! clubs have waived on this player except
| ing Chicago. and it is believed that the
Cubs will relinquish their claim to the
| player. Griffith believes that Phelan In
very fast, and can hit, and II he should be
secured he will be placed at third base.
Though it was expected that many OF
, the clubs would ask waivers on players
| th<y did not want to carry there was not
| a single instance of this during the meet
! ing. Griffith proposes to scan these lists
carefully in the hope of picking up a left
handler Either Bill Bailey or Lefty George
Of the Browns would be acceptable.
Il am satisfied with my trip 70 the
meeting" said Griffith this morning. II
got in touch with American League mat
tiers, and besides l may eventually be
benefited in the way of players for whom
l have put out my lines. But / am not
worried about my chances If the worst
comes l will stand pat with what / have.
and then be able to present a pretty good
ball team
Griffith expects to have all arrange
ments for the teams training at Char
lottesville completed within the next
week or SO, but will not visit that place
until early in the spring. when he will
go to look over the hotel accommoda-
tons.
One of the New York papers comes out
with the story this morning that Griffith
had offered to trade Walter Johnson for
Hal Chase 1t is. perhaps. needless to
say that such a deal was never dreamed
of by Griffith. He would. of course, like
to have Chase. but he would not give
johnson for nine Chases. Il can't
imagine where that story started. l did
not speak to any one connected with the
New York club regarding a trade, and
1 would want some one to arrest me if l
ever suggested johnson in exchange for
Chase. johnson will stay right here, as
long as l have anything to say about it,
Season before last the Chicago White
Sox had a big young first baseman named
Gandil. He showed up fairly well. but
was finally sold to Montreal where it
seems he has rapidly improved and dur
ing the meeting was the most sought
after player in the minors. Yesterday
morning Charley Murphy of the Cubs
closed deal for Gandil. He gave Mon
treal First Baseman Savers. Outfielder
Goode and bunch of cash for Gandil.
who is to be installed as the regular
first baseman of the Cubs.
A little over year ago every club in
the two majors waived on Gandil, so that
he must have greatly improved himself
since joining the Montreal team.
Jack Flynn, who is slated to play first
for the Nationals next season, came
down from Providence to New York to
have chat with Manager Griffith. Flynn
is in fine condition and assured Griffith
that he would not have any occasion to
regret his selection. Il did not play in
enough games last season to break into
League. For some reason or other
was not given a chance to play though
| was never in better form. / will be
just as good next season and If l am
played regularly I will come up to every
expectation
Flynn expects to finish his law course
at Georgetown this winter coming here
Immediately after the holidays.
While there was no official announce
ment. 1t Is taken for granted that Bobby
Wallace will manage the Browns again
next season. The fact that he attended
the meeting in New York at the request
OF Owner Hedges and was in numerous
conferences with him is taken to mean
that there will be no change in the man
agement of the tailenders
The chances are that the Detroit team
will let out George Moriarty before the
opening of the season rolls around, and
the Washington club will be a bidder for
his services. There are several other
clubs anxious to secure Moriarty but
PRESIDENT Navin assured Manager Griffith
that he stood an equal chance with the
others to secure him, providing 1t Is de-
cided to let him out Of the Tiger lineup
1t used to be in years gone by that
whenever the major leagues held a meet
and deals resulted. But those days are
over. Trades and deals are decidedly
scarce nowadays, and the indications are
that. excepting for the securing Of few
minor leaguers. the two major leagues
will not figure in any transactions involv-
ing seasoned players. Playing material
OF the right sort Is SO scarce now that
when club has player who can hold
his own 1t will take no chances of trading
him. With every one Of the sixteen ma
jor league clubs represented at the meet
fngs in New York this week. not a<single
deal has been recorded between two ma
jor league clubs.
In the old days minor league players
could be secured for little or nothing. but
those days are past. 1t takes a small for
tune now to deal with the little clubs
Tor players who give promise The fig
ures asked go UP into the thousands and
to make a mistake in the selection of a
player means a heavy financial loss
Though 1t is given out at Doc Gessler
will be carried by the Nationals during
the coming seasOn-Or, at least, at the
start of the caInpaign-it can be stated
with authority that the chances are
against Docs returning here. There is
very apt to be deal made shortly where
by Doc will become a member Of some
minor league team, most likely Rochester.
for John Camel is in need of outfielders.
and Griffith figures that he can spare
Gessler.
Neither Detroit nor Chicago, the two
clubs which refused to waive on Elber-
field. intended him for their own use.
Both have minor league affiliations where
that Comiskey wanted Elberfeld to turn
him over to Joe Cantillon at Minneapolis,
while the Detroit club figured that ii
could make a thousand or so, IL it could
secure the Kid for the waiver price, by
selling him to some minor league club.
But Griffith Is wise to these transactions,
and IL Elberfeld Is to be sold he expects
the Washington club to derive the benefit
of such sale.
In the opinion of many base ball men,
there are going to be lively times in the
Boston American League club this sum-
mer. No one seems ready to believe that
John I. Taylor will keep his fingers out
of the pie, and there Is sure to be q clash
among the four or more individuals who
are interested in the venture. With Nc
Roy and McAleer In control Of the club,
Stahl another stakeholder, managing the
team, and Taylor showed on the outside,
t6Avo 10 dn ~