Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-01
DERTINENT COMMENT
XssHappenin&$S1
BY J. ED GRILLo.

While the New York club may be right
in its stand against Catcher Ed Sweeney,
who refuses to sign unless he receives a
six-thousand-dollar contract, there is no
doubt that its failure to come to terms
with the player is proving a heavy loss
to the club. Sweeney was to the Yam
KEGS what Eddie Collins is to the Ath-
letics. With him in line the team would
present an entirely different front, for
it is an open secret that there are pitch
ers working for Wolverton who boast
that they cannot do good work unless
Sweeney is behind the bat.
Sweeney's demands are considered ex-
orbitant by the club, and no doubt he is
asking more than any catcher who is not
managing the team is receiving. But from
business standpoint it would seem wise
to get Sweeney into line. There is moth
ing in fighting for principle in base
ball when a team is going poorly because
of the absence of single player.
There. is not a ball club in either major
league which has not one or more of its
stars out Of the game with sickness or
injury, Washington excepted. Griffith has
been decided fortunate in this respect,
for there seems to be an epidemic of
mishaps in the wake of the big teams this
spring. That the fact that he trained his
players near the spot where they are to
much to do with the good health of his
team is likely. The Nationals We're
acclimated to the weather they have had
to date, while the teams that trained in
the far south have been victims of all
sorts Of ailments since the season opened
Clark Griffith did not make mistake
when he made the Street deal. Any one
Of the three catchers now on the local
team is more valuable tnan the former
battery partner of Walter Johnson. An
even trade of Street for Williams would
have proved satisfactory. True, Jack
knight has not set things on fire, but
he will eventually prove that the shift OF
Street for him was a wise move on the
part of Griffith.
With the base ball season hardly on,
efforts are already under way to strength
en- the Nationals for next season. Mike
kahoe. the clubs scout. is travelling
through the minors in search of material
and he expects to have few promising
youngsters picked out before long. The
scheme this year will be to select some
player who is showing well and watch
him for several months before the final
deal for him is closed. Griffith now has
a splendid nucleus for a ball team, and il
he has any luck in selecting new faces he
is sure to have real contender here next
SC6SOu. IL WOulQ require DuG the duulllOil
of good ball player or two to make
this a most formidable aggregation.
Conditions have been decidedly favora-
BILE to McGraw and his Giants this spring,
for there is no team in the eastern section
of the National League which can give
the champions a good argument. Boston
and Brooklyn do not figure. and Phila-
delphia is so badly crippled that the team
hardly has a chance.
The real test will come when the east
ern teams start west next week. Cincin-
natl, Chicago, Pittsburgh and st. Louis
appear to be much stronger than their
eastern rivals, barring the Giants. and Nc
Graw will have to show lot to hold
his own on his first clash with the west
ern contingent.
Just how long the United States League
will last depends entirely on how much
money the men behind it are willing to
put up. Under existing conditions there
Ia hardly a chance for this organization
to prove financial success, and if condi-
tons in other cities are no more promis-
ing than they are here in Washington a
month will be a long while for the ven-
ture to last.
With teams made up of lot of cast
off and unknown youngsters, and accom-
modations. which would not be tolerated
in the weakest minor league. the new
league is starting it's career under q great
handicap. Modern base ball plants have
become common. and a club which ex-
poets to. compete with organized base