Evening star., 1911-05-31
BY J. ED GRILLo.

Three of the four defeats in the Boston
series can be directly attributed to the
lack OF alertness on the part of the Ma
| tionals. Failure to take advantage OF
| openings and forgetfulness in backing UP
lost both games yesterday. The pitching
| and hitting in the two games were good
enough to have brought victory to the
locals. but that dash and spirit which a
| winning team needs was sadly lacking.
Errors lost the game for Hughes in
the morning. and stupid work on the
bases cost Johnson the game in the after
noon. Good base ball would have won
| both these games. There was only a
| difference of one run at the end of both,
! and it can easily be figured where con-
ditions might have been reversed had the
Nationals played a better inside game of
ball. There is. of course, no doubt that
Boston outclasses the locals. 1t Is bet
ter ball team, and in series of games
should easily defeat the locals, but in the
two games yesterday opportunities to win
were offered and not accepted There
must be a brace if the team hopes to get
far enough away from ST. Louis not to
be threatened with being tail-enders again.
Following the New York team, which
comes here for single game today. come
the Tigers. Maps, White Sox and Browns
in the order named. Every one of them
will be hard to beat, and unless there is
general awakening there is going to
be a balance on the wrong side of the
ledger when the stretch of home games is
over. It takes something besides pitch
Ing and hitting to win ball games. Wide
awake base ball would have won both
games yesterday. True, 1t was a hot day
and two games were a strain on the play
ers, but it was no hotter for Washington
than 1t was for Boston.
Until yesterday Bob Groom was con-
sidered only as a pitcher. No one sus-
pected that he was a base runner until
he was used to run for E1berfeld in the
ninth. But he was given the preference
over several other players on the bench.
which threatened to tie the score by al
lowing himself to be caught mapping off
of second.
Had Elberfeld's hit toward the club
house bounded to the right instead OF the
left 1t would have been home run. 1t
barely missed the clubhouse porch. A
home run at that stage would have tied
the score.
Larry Gardner and Herman Schaefer
proved good men in the pinches yester-
In the morning game Gardner put his
team in the game with q double in the
ninth. and in the ninth inning of the
second game he gave his team a boost
with another hit which allowed 1t to forge
to the front
Schaefer made rallies possible in the
final innings of both games, though he
did not hit safely, getting his base in
the first when Wagner muffed his fly.
and repeating the performance in the sec
ond. when Wagner threw poorly to first
after scooping up his grounder.
rrt,n.a -
hitting or the local team that 1t is hard
to understand why it is not winning.
Heretofore the trouble has been in the
hitting, but IN the last week or ten days
the batting has been much improved.
vet the team has failed to win as it
should. In trying places some Of the
players do not seem to know what to do
on the bases. and there never was a
worse exhibition OF backing up plays on
the part Of the pitchers. That tired feel
ing appears to be prevalent again. There
Is q tendency to loaf to first base when a
ball is hit which apparently is going
to prove an easy out instead of running
the fielder ee errins. M % There is % no excuse M
for these ioafing tactics. Ball players
are paid to put forth their best efforts
at all times Fielding errors are ex-
cusable, and inability to hit can be over
looked, but there is no excuse for a
ball team loafing. Some OF the players
might be given a reminder Of their duties
In way that would make their pay
envelopes trifie slim.
Today's game with New York will be
called at 4 o'clock. Walker or Groom
will pitch for the Nationals. It Is not
known who will work for the Highland
ers, as most of their pitchers are under
the weather and Ford and Brocket work.
ed yesterday. Ford, by the way, has
yet to work a game on the local grounds.
Pitcher Hugh High reported to McAleer
yesterday and worked out with the team
before the game. He Is a good-sized
youngster. but did not let himself out
yesterday.
Gessler Is hitting in hard luck. On two
different occasions Speaker made circus
catches Of line drives from his bat near
the clubhouse Doc is hitting the ball
harder now than he did at any time last
year. but he is not getting the number
Of hits he should because OF his mis-
fortune of driving the ball within reach
Of the fielders quite frequently.
Had Groom not been caught off second
the chances are the score would
have been tied. Milan was in hitting
humor and Hall was not troublesome to