The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-09-16
Who Will Manage
 Washington Club?
Successor to McAleer Will Have Hard Job With National
 Squad

Until the Washington Nationals 1 nave a team of young players fans in the Capital City despair of ever roofing for a first division team. The veterans on the team are blamed for the Senators poor showing this sea- son. Instead of antiquated players what Washington needs more than anything else is a man who will make the combination a nine-man instead of a one-man machine. That is the way a Washington baseball critic sized up the situation.
 Washington. it is admitted. is prac- tically a one-man team. Without Wafter Johnson the Washington team would make about as much progress as fire spark in water-soaked hay.
 For two years Washington has been a tal-end figure The old. saying, w Washing in war, first in peace and last in the American league" is favordte saying of school boys. Now they are in that adage uplift it, only to become discouraged over the results The remedy to cure this tail-end malady has yet to be discovered. Rooters in Washington probably would erect monument to the man who discovers one.
 McAaeer, this year has made a vain try. As a. leader McAleer has many
  of cast offs, however, the Nationals leader at no time had a chance to develop a pennant winner. All during the season the Nationals were handi- capped by the lack of young players. Washington. is conceded to have the smallest scout staff in the country. and the fans have always wondered how the team could hope to get new players when there was nobody to get them. To acquire good youngsters a team must have a number of men whose business it is to be constantly on the lookout for; such players.
 The burden of this work has fallen on the shoulders of Mike Kahoe. He is a good scout He knows baseball material when he sees it. But scout, to land stars, must be backed up by the support of his club owners. If 8 magnate wants star team he must be willing to pay out money for his men, Stars cannot be purchased with smiles.
 Washington is badly in need of a first-class scout department. Mo- Aleer's successor to achieve success must have the players. A Washington baseball writer says that Washing toms baseball prospects for 1912 can hardly be considered any brighter than they have been in the clubs history in the American league. However, there may, be some consolation in the, belief that next years team. regard less of how it may be made up, is not apt to do any worse than has the present aggregation.
 Unless the team is reorganized next year, it is pretty sure thing that weaker aggregation than it is now. The worst it's critics can say about the club is that it is antique. Old timers say that ball players have only so many good years, and when they once start on the down grade there is no stop to their deterioriation: With three or four exceptions Washington boasts few star men.
 A Senator critic sizes up the Na-i tionals thusly: sfi
 ''There is no occasion to become personal and pick out the spots where the team needs new blood. Tt is so apparent that even the casual pa tron of. the game can give expert testimony on the subject, and be- cause of the service that the players have done in the game in years gone by they should be spared the humil- iation of being held up as having en- tered that class known as has beens.'
 ''But nevertheless that is the fault to be found with the Nationals. There are too many veterans, there is too much lack of speed and it might be SdIQ IHdC CHe SplrlC WHICH, tIldkeS Ddll teams winners is also lacking.
 "It may be, of course, and it is to be hoped that the new blood which is to be instilled next spring will re- juvenate and strengthen the team and make it one which has look-in to be a contender, but even if these youngsters should not prove. whirl- winds it is hard to figure how they can weaken the team as it is now made up. Players with batting. averages around the 200 mark are not apt to play on winning ball teams. Neither do winning teams have men who havel a snail-like stride on the bases. It is in these respects that the team needs to make changes if it ever expects to be anything more than one which gives all teams a hard battle but wins but seldom"