The Washington herald., 1912-08-11
.PENNANT CHANGES
GIVEN A SEVERE
JOLT BY BROWNS
All the Ground Gained by Nationals
on Red Sox During Trip Is
Lost in Single Day.
GRIFF STILL CONFIDENT;
REFUSES TO TAKE COUNT
Walter Johnson Will Endeavor to
Halt Brown and Will Pitch
Final Game of Series.
Special to The w..hington Her,ld.

Special to The Washington Hersid
81. Louis. Mo-. Aug. lo.-The loss of to-
days double-header. It Is believed. Will
virtually put the Nationals out of the
running for the American League PEN
nant. for the reason that no other club
In the West seems to be able to stop the
Boston Red Sox
All the ground gained on Boston by the
Nationals during the present trip was
lost to-day. and the Red Sox are eight
and half games in the lead.
should Boston lose tomorrow and the
Nationals win. the Climbers will return
home seven and one-half games behind
the leaders. or in just about the position
the rival teams stood the day the East
ern clubs started West, nearly three
weeks ago.
Instead Of crumbling. the Red Sox have
played consistent winning ball and have
the advantage of three weeks stay at
nome, SO II looks Very much as II Jake
Stahrs fiery hosed gang would cop.
Grin refuses steadfastIy TO be counted
out. The Old Fox said tonight:
''St. Louis handed US an awful setback
this afternoon. but there Is still the
chance that Boston will hit a slump. I
am looking for them to let up. I don't
believe their pitchers can keep up Sch
terrific pace"
\Grin has been saying this ever since
the Nationals started West, but the Red
Sox refuse to slump. and the Nationals
are getting no help Whatsoever from the
other teams, and to-day lost ground In
stead of hanging on.
Frank Laporte to-day came through
with the stun for which he was hired.
The Frenchman singled safely in each
game. He also put up a strong defense
ct the Keystone sack and ST. Louis fans
were amazed at his work
II Is natural TO assume that the ST
Louis pitchers have Laporte's number
and that he was able TO reach them
safely at all. Is particularly gratifying
&c Boss Grin.
!, In the final game OF the series against
the Browns tomorrow Walter johnson
VIII be called upon to pitch. and the
Nationals should have little difficulty in
winning although You never can tell
what will happen. ST. Louis is PLAYING
the same kind Of ball as the Nationals
when they swept through the West lasr
June. al the lucky breaks come their
way. and Stovalls pitchers are in Grand
form. Even with Johnson on the Sic \
the Nationals may have TO be content
with the short end of the score.
Inc Nationals will not arrive IN the
IapitaI until Tuesday morning. as Hedges
refused to start the game ro-norroyv
carly enough to permit the Climbers
catching an early express. so the pIar
IS TO leave St Louis at SD O'Clock. stop
ping over in Pittshurg for six hours On
Monday and boarding a sleeper in tha
Smoky City for home
Two members of the Nationals ara
slated for change of scenery and NAV
hgure Ia trade during the next wei,
The names of the players are withheld
also the reason why they are no, Dc,
siraoie. In the hopes that they will come
up to scratch.
One reason why the National. .,,-.
not swept through the West winning
every game. as was the case on the frs,
mp Is because the Western clubs are
all playing better bali. ST, Louis was =,
bad slump and disorganized. The
White Sox pitchers were in poor shsne
Detroit had several regulars in the hos
pital and Cleveland was in a slurnp
Turing this trip the Westerners ara
putting up b per cent better ball in
every department. and Washington has
won few games by overwhelming scores
Inc Nationals also have improved over
she form displayed in the West on the
ilrst trip, but not in proportion IN :,
Louis, Detroit. Cleveland and Chicago
In onlN one game has Westminster
looked like bad ball club That corh.,
was the s to drubbing handed on, hv
the Browns in the Mound CITY las,
Thursday. and such defeat wa, inst
about due.
Grin felt whole lot better losing 3
TO than he would II the Brown. had
won to l. and the Climbers fallen doprn
at critical stages.
All the way from WASHINGTON coma.
letter written on a typewriter by a
Capital fan who lacks the nerve to sign
his own name. employing the signature
"A Misanthrope." This gentleman calls
the writer to task for using the word
set instead of sit in a sentence de-
scribing/a catcher who is set for a
PITCH s-.
Sit would be the, proper word to use
II the catcher could receive while sit
ting on the ground. but most bark-
stops get set in a crouchins position
word universally accepted and used by
baseball writers.
We are sorry to have offended the gen.
Continued on Pnge Two.