The Washington herald., 1912-07-22
Real Test Will Come When Col.
legian Gets Back Into
Harness Again.
TIGERS WITH US TO-DAY
By WILLIAM PEET.

i
ness, the extent of his present injur,
will not be known.
Water on the knee is serious ailmen
4 for any ball player, especially catchers
who are required to do the bulk of theil
| work from a crouching position.
Henry is still hobbling around with g
cane, and it is doubtful If he will b,
able to SO West with the Nationals mex
Thursday.
When Henry dons the shin guards and
chest protector again his first game be-
hind the bat will probably determine his
| fate. Even with silken elastic knee
protector or some other armament tbs
old injury may come back on him, and il
| II does one of the most promising young
ball players in the country will be lost
TO the Nationals.
Within the past few years catcher
named Crisp, rated as about the best In
the Eastern League, twisted his knee In
| Just such a manner as did Henry. Water
on the knee developed, and after several
weeks of treatment and rest Crisp was
pronounced cured and allowed TO work
again The injury came back on him,
and he soon dropped out of baseball.
For the sake of the Nationals it Is
hoped that a permanent cure is enected
in Henry's case, but the real test viii
come when the collegian again goes be-
hind the bat.
Hughey Jennings Tigers will be the
Nationals opponents in the opening game
of the getaway series this afternoon,
and as Walter johnson is slated to twirl
for the home folks Grif is counting on
drawing first blood,
Detroit has always found the Nationals
hard club TO beat here in the Capital,
and although Jennings braves have in
oil nnSSaSSPd rhR hpttpr
ball club. there was usually a hard battle
during every game, and with Grin $
bunch going at top speed, the Tigers Will
be forced TO extend themselves TO come
through with a good showing.
Ty Cobb will make his first appearance
in Washington this season when the
Tigers romp onto the field in the Con-
crete Coliseum to-day. 1t will be re-
membered that when Detroit was here on
its first trip Cobb was under suspension
for taking punch at spectator In New
York.
The Georgia Peach seems to have hit
his stride and is swatting the ball hard
these days. The Tigers are always a
drawing card in the Capital. and will be
welcomed by a big crowd.
A glance at the standings of the Ameri-
can League clubs for 19l1-l2, printed else
where on this page, reveals interesting
facts. On this day last year Detroit was
the league leader, five games ahead of
the Athletics, Boston was in the second
division just above the Nationals, while
New York held down fourth place.
To-day the Athletics are third, Detroit
sixth and Washington in second place,
only seven games behind the Boston club,
which is leading the race. St. Louis
seems to be about the only club running
true to form, as the Browns occupied the
same relative position this season as last
year-viz., the bottom of the heap.
Listen to this from the pen of Hugh
Fullerton: We shudder to think what
ticket scalping scandal would ensue should
Washington win the pennant They have
the art Of graft raised to the nth power
down there"
For the first time since Hector was
a pup. the st. Louis baseball writers are
handing out complimentary notices anent
the Nationals. The Post-Dispatch says:
CLARK Griff never obtained results un-
til he shook off the shackles of inter-
ference and bought a club of his own.
for which he could buy, SELL trade, or
reconstruct at his own pleasure. And
many a manager has suffered from lack
of similar freedom"
From the Star comes the following:
They all said Washington would quit.
Fhey all said that the Nationals would
do as last year-stay up on top early in
the season and then fall down. But.
thanks to Chick Gandirs hitting, Bob
Grooms improvement, the discovery of
several classy kids in the minors last
fall by Mike Kahoe. former Brownie
catcher, the continued wonderful work
of Walter Johnson, Clark Griffiths
splendid management. and Jake Schae-
fer's humor, the Nationals are making
Boston hump some TO win that cham
pionship. They haven't proved the ex-
pected joke as yet"
The Chicago News calls attention to the
fact that home run hitting is getting to
be a lost art among batsmen who for
merly drove out four-baggers with great
regularity. The News says:
Either the pitchers in the National
League are more effective this season or
the home run hitters have lost their bat
ting eyes, for fewer home runs have been
made this season than up to this period
of the schedule last summer. Frank
Schultz, of the Chicago Cubs. who came
close to equaling the worlds record, with
a total of tYenty-one, has found it more
than difficult to drive the sphere over the
fence. Fred Luderus. who threatened to
give the Cub rightfielder a battle for
home run honors in 1911, has also been
mastered. He finished the year with a
total of sixteen to his credit, but has
gathered only three so far this season,
the same number Schultz has secured
"Other athletes on the different teams
have failed to rap the ball over the
fences around the circuit with the same
regularity Of 1911 Probably the twirlers
have 'wised up to the kind of ball the
heavy hitters like.
Hans Wagner. of the Pittsburg Club,
who had gathered eight round-trip tickets
up TO this time last season. has made only
one this season, and that was fiuke in
when the ball struck in front of
Tommy Leach in center field
This is true enough, but then no one
has noticed falling off in Frank Bakers
ability to put the ball out of the lot.
Mack's great slugger in former seasons
confined his four-baggers to Shibe Park,
This year he has been making some rec
ord hits in the Western cities. Then there
is '-Gabby'' Cravath, of the PhilIies, who
has come to the front to take the place
Of some of the home run kings of the
mast