Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-31
IS WIZARD OF GAME
Clark Griffith Has Accomplish
ed Wonderful Things.
HIS WORK is REMARKABLE
Has Brought Washington From the
Rut to q Pennant Pos
sibility.

DETROIT. Mich, July 31.-Clark Grit
fifth. manager of the Nationals. is certain
ly the greatest wizard in the history Of
the diamond. It surely is a remark BILE
straightforward performance to take a
club which finished away in the ruck last
year and this season have 1t up In second
place battling for the championship.
In 1911, with Jimmy McAleer, who is
considered good base ball leader, by the
way, manager. the Washngtons fin
ished in seventh place in the American
League race. The base ball critics
| throughout the country, particularly in
view of Griffths failure to make any
thing out of the Cincinnati team. didn't
give the Nationals a tumble when it came
to predicting the order in which they
thought the clubs would finish this year.
Experts are not in the habit of bother
ing about picking tailenders-they have
enough to do to select likely winners-so
Washington was given the go-by COM
pletey.
Nobody can blame the experts for over
looking Washington. for last season. out
side of Milan and Johnson, none Of the
players looked particularly good.
But what a change the "Old Fox has
made in the team! With practically the
same players as last year, excepting
some talent never before In the big
leagues. and a few men who had been
tried and found wanting by other clubs.
he has rushed the team to the fore and
kept it winning with q regularity which
has convinced everybody that the win
ming streak wasn't just a flash in the
pan.
Nationals Have Won Longest String
To the Nationals belongs credit for the
greatest string Of victories OF the season
when they won seventeen in a row, only
to be halted by the Athletics In Phila-
delphia. Their temporary setback didn't
feaze the Nationals little bit, and now
they are nearer first place than they
have been at any time this season.
Just think of a club strong enough to
go to Cleveland and win two double
headers in succession from a team which
boasts of such hitting stars as Lajoie and
Jackson and such crack pitchers as
Gregg and Banding, yet that is what the
Nationals have accomplished in the past
few days.
For time it looked as though the Red
Sox were to have the race all to them
selves, but judging by the manner in
which Griffiths men are closing up on
them they will have tough time in
landing the flag.
AS a road team the Washingtons seem
to have shade on the Bostons. 1t will
be remembered that it was on their last
trip through the west that they didn't
lose a game. and IL their work In Cleve-
land is any criterion they bid fair to
make record almost as good on their
present invasion.
The Washingtons are now only six
games behind the Red Sox, whereas when
they started out on their journey they
were seven games behind. If they make
up as much ground in the other three
cities to be visited as they did In
Napland they are sure to be close to
first place when they return to their
home grounds.
The Nationals are now almost as far
ahead of the Athletics as the Red SOx
are ahead of Them and It is not unlikely
that they will even further widen the
breach within the next week or two.
When Griffith can take such pitcher
as Jim Vaughn. who was the rankest
kind of failure while working for the
Highlanders, and mold him into one of
the winning pitchers of his staff he sure
ought to be hailed as miracle worker
Then he has taken Eddie Foster. who
didn't make good on the Hilltop. and
developed him into such star hitter and
fielder that Hugh Jennings. the Tiger
boss. recently remarked that the Wash
ington youngster was the best man in
his position in the game today.