Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-21
BY J. ED GRILLO.

Washington is the only major league
club which has not player fsrmed out
which ii can recall this fall. Every
other ma ior league club has ono or more
PLAYERS In the minors which IT can secure
this fall for the asking. and there Is no
doubt that many players will come back
to fast company by this route.
AS developer of material the local club
has never held its own with it's rivals and
this fact has placed great handicap
upon 1t. 1t has never been the policy of
the club to secure diamonds in the rough
and turn them over to some small league
club for development. The youngsters
vino have been secured in recent years
have either been kept on the team or
failed 10 show enough to warrant their
: retention for development. This, prob
ably, because the local club has not made
very strenuous effort in the matter OF
getting young players In recent years.
Most of the money expended for material
has been for seasoned players. With a
hundred or more players doing duty in
the minors who are the property of the
other fifteen major league clubs II is easy
to be seen that II Is no easy matter to
pick available material from this source.
Most of the minor league clubs are either
under moral obligation to some major
league club or have entered into an agree
ment to give one of them the pick of
their club. Washington seems to have no
such agreements. and. therefore. finds 1t
difficult to get players 1t needs.
It must be realized now that methods
employed by the other clubs would also
be beneficial here. and the farming sys-
tenn is one of the several things that
should be inaugurated by the Washington
club.
1t is strange how one ball team viii
beat another though 1t has been easy
picking for some much weaker team
for- tr1t t,aC hnop 4.
stumbling block for the Tigers all this
season. Jennings team has won but
comparatively few. games from the
Yankees, and yet none Of the other first
division teams seems to find Chase 8 team
very troublesome. Somehow or Other
the Yankees seem to play their best bal
| when up against the Tigers. only t.
slump badly when against teams which
are not to be compared with the Jennings
aggregation.
The great Mathewson appears to bt
slipping. DfeatS for the Giants star
are coming with alarming regularity and
must be causing much concern for Man
aser McGraw and the followers of hi:
team, for without Mathewson going a
his usual clip the Giants cannot be fisur
| ed to stand a chance for the flas. Il
| may be, of course. that Matty is just II
| a temporary slump and that later he viii
display all his former art. but even Il
| this be the. case. 1t will prove handicaI
enough to put his team out OF the run
Ming This has been a rather disastrou,
year for former pitching stars. None Of
| them In either league, has been doina
| the work expected of them. Mathewson
who easily outclassed every pitcher II
the old league, is performing but ordinar.
! lily. while Walsh, Johnson and Ford have
not been consistent performers in thu
American League.
But new masters of the art have made
| their appearance. Alexander OF the Phil
| lies has won twenty games and lost but
three, while Gregg. another newcomer
| has almost as good a record with Cleve-
| land Just what has caused the failure
Of the former stars is a matter of con-
| lecture. The claim that the new ball Is
| responsible hardly holds water. for the
! reason that the successful newcomers are