The Washington herald., 1911-01-20
By WILLIAM FEET.

By WILLIAM PEET.
Dolly GRAY. the Nationals left-handed
iflinger, has mailed his signed contract
ito Manager Jimmy McAleer. and writes
from far-off California that he IS en-
,joying life to the limit, spending most
of his time in the open air. hunting.
fishing. and bathing in the ocean.
Gray was married to a well-known
Los Angeles girl shortly after the season
closed last fall. and he and Mrs Gray
have taken a cottage at LaSuna Beach,
near Santa Anna. in Southern California
An interesting letter from the twirler
is reprinted in substance. as follows:
I.asaIna Beach Jan L.
William Pect, Sporting Editor. The Washington
Herald:
Dear BIZ: | have been gcins write ycu a few
lines for some time but have h.n busy enjoy
;ipg myself that could not tnd the opportunity.
As YOU will from the heading. of this letter.
tim. There Is fine hunting near us and always
nice string Of quail hung up in the c'oic1 We
can sep out Of the front door q the cottage and
icatch a mess Of FISH at any time.
I suppose It sounds ftshy to Won to- say that W.
suun around here all day IN shirt sleeves: hu'
fthe weather certainly is perfect. and If Se strike
II as nice Atlanta the team shosld open the
iseason in perfect condition.
surely enooying my vacation. but will be
glad get hack into harness again Am working
out little day and expect to rCpnrt IN good
shane
We have quite a o,lony of hall PLAYERS here. and
r!ay great :-sr'es in the cunning ny the old
Rrr1Iace One Of the boys VIII start spinning yarns
and rou depend uItn 1t the next fellow will 81
him better.
suppose you won't beie.e it hat was in the
Pacific Ocean for about hour to-day JuS I'm
iaSinc yourself in lnthinS near Washington dur1nS
the month of JaIHi&ry.
sent nv signed .I1ntr.ct to Manager McAlcer this
morning. The satisfactory. and | want
to add my HttF stor n the ot!.ers that ! eAvse1
next season will he hsrnc- one for NC. know 1t
is the old sag. but certainly fe't that way new
'Rerembr 10 tho boys in Washington AiwayS
yorrs friend WILLIAM q. GRAY.
Fred Tenney. erIwhile captain of the
Giants. has offered to give Mike DGnlin.
his immediate predecessor in that office.
a chance to ''Cor1e back as a big league
star as a member OF the Boston Ma
tonals Managr- McGraw has given
Tenney permission to negotiate with
Donlin who is still carried on the New
York clubs reserve list. but there is an
other bar that must be Jet down before
Mike can swing his club in the National
League again. Mike was declared ineii-
Eible by the national commission last
1ali. and must he renstated before he
can play ball again
Donin has had several unWelComc at
tentions from the commission in the last
few Years. and ut times finds it difficult
to remember whether he iS free of
cI pdIStlCIS. keep
away. Mike has one dear friend-Ban
Johnson-on the commission. Johnson is
SO fond Of Mike that he is willing to
keep the gallant thCspian among the can
ned athletes rather than him lost to
vaudeville
Several years ago Donlin broke his
ankle sliding to a base in Cincinnati.
The next season he did not play with the
Giants, but did perform with Chicago
em-professional team once 4 week. at
q time when he could not have stood
the strain of playing every day. The
following spring the national commits
sion put the bee on Sir Michael and he
had quite a time sduaring himself. Don
lin was 4 noncombatant in 1903. because
he could not agree with the club in sal
ary matters.
JigsS Donohuc, former first baseman
of the Chicago Americans. who is plan
ming to come back this year, is one
of the few players who believe that it
is to the detriment of ball tosser
TO work during the off season. Donohue
says he speaks from experience. it
was hard work in winter that put him
OutNof the game for season.
a few seasons agu Jisgs one of
the sprightliest first bascmen in the busi-
ness. but one winter he had charge of a
billiard and pool parlor, and the follow
ing spring when he reported for duty
he had about as much ginger in his
system as dried apple This winter
Jigss has been taking it easy. and he is
convinced that the rest cure will be
sufficient TO again enable him to rank as
a star first baSeman.
With the White Rats lining up for a
battle with the ball players who enter
the vaudeville field, the national COM
mission putting restrictions upon barn
Storming trips. and 4 player like Dono-
hrra nff I'm lYevytn
employment by the knights of the dia-
1nond. the big IeaEuers may soon he con-
WINGED that the only thing for them to
do in winter is to attend to the fires
help mother wash the dishes. and take
the baby for an airing every day.
Arthur Devlin is another New York
player who believes that McGraw's men
will have far less trouble beating out the
Cubs next year than they have had in
many seasons. The New York third
ba-senan is quoted as saying:
'Experience will tell the tale next sea
son. New York had one two promising
young pitchers last season. and they'll be
6 per cent better this year. The same
applies to the other newcomers The
Giants will be a vastly improved lot of
boys in this race
The Cubs have reached the critical
stage of their greatness. To my way OF
thinking. the defeats sustained in the
worlds championship games will sap tine
'old-tfme dashing spirit and confidence for
which the Chicago club has long been
noted. No; they won't be so formidable
this year. Watch New York and Cincin-
NATL
Devlin puts stress upon an improved
pitching department. McGraw hinted
, some time ago that the reason that the
Giants finished second instead of first was
ITO be found among the boxmen.
Experience has shown that the PEN
nant-winnng club in either league must
win approximately two-thirds of its
games. The winning percentages of the
two big league champions since 1900 are
ss follows:
, Year. Cub. Pct
1900 Brooklyn NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. Gus
1870. Chicago Observation-Disclosures. .6O7
800. Pittsbmg .............-... ST
Chicago ....-.........-..... $40
.Pittsbrg NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. ..il
f9rs- Athletics s................ $40
i1sB. .Pittsburg NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. $50
ilsD Bostrn ........-.......... $50
1901. Y0t........-.-....... .B3
fsN. Boston Observation-Disclosures. .G7