Evening star., 1912-06-30
n. HESS SONS, Q3l Pa. Ave.
ONE-RUN VICTORIES SHOW
LUCK FAVORS ATHLETICS
Continued from First Page.)

been few games played by the big fel-
low since ae Joined the team in which he
has failed to hit the ball safely. and most
Of his drives have come when they
brought In runs. His fielding Is just as
consistent as his hitting. for in the month
has been charged with but few errors, and
most of these have been excusable.
Even II the Natlonals do not ,,.1,gx show
over what they have done against Boston
and Philadelphia. they should made
good showing against the western teams
when they start their second invasion OF
the east next week With it's pitchers all
going good, the team fielding brilliantly.
and sure to improve in its lifting. the
western contingent should not prove near
as troublesome as have Boston and Phila-
delphia. Ground should be gained during
those series, and If Philadelphia and Bos-
ton do not keep up their preset clip some some
of the space now existig between these
teams and the Nationals may be cut
down.
The games scheduled between Philadel-
phia and Boston, to be played In the
should prove a real test for the Red
Sox II they can win a majority OF those
games they will not only materially
strengthen their lead. but the moral effect
of such victories is hard to estimate. and
it will then be most improbable to Wrest
the lead from Stahls team.
What makes the Red Sox look most
formidable right now is the fact that
they are not making any mistakes In the
series with the weak New York team.
They are cleaning them up to a queen s
taste, and thus gaining so comfortable a
lead that they can afford 70 get few set
backs without having their position ma
terially affected.
Dixie Walker, who started with Balti-
more in a manner that might have Gre
ated the impression that mistake was
made in letting him go. has fallen back
into his old rut, and after winning the
first three games he pitched for Jack
Dunn. he lost four straight. and is being
hit rather hard
Other former Nationals in the lnterna-
tional League are doing well. Jack Leli-
welt continues to hit like a fiend Tor
Rochester, while old Wild Conroy Is play
ing the best ball of recent years for that
team. Cunningham, who was sent to
Montreal as part payment for Gandil, Is
more than filling the bill. because In
ternational League pitchers are not fool
ing him to any great extent, and ne is
earning the reputation OF being one OF
the hardest hitters in that league
Coombs' value to the Athletics is hard
to estimate. Not only does he prove him
sell one or the pest p1tCnSIS III the lcdSo o6
in games that he starts for himself. but
he finishes as many more for other mem
bers of the staff when they get into dan
ger. Besides his pitching he is frequent
ly used as a pinch hitter. and there Is
never a time when he ig not in perfect
copd ition to give his team his best serv-
ices Take Coombs from the Athletics
and It would be safe to declare them out
OF the pennant race. There is no such
thing as too much work for Coombs. He
! t, rv
and he does not appear to do anything
that strains his arm. He Is even more
valuable to his team than Is Ed Walsh tG
Chicago. because he is not only grea1
pitcher but hitter.
Nationals travel to New York next Sat
unley, there will be twenty-five more
games played on the local grounds before
the team leaves on another trip. This
includes two more with the Athletics, fpul
with New York and four with each OF tho
four western teams. When these game:
are over there should be fatty goot
line on what position the Nationals vii
occupy by the end OF the season. 1t be-
gins to look very much as II 6. first dtvi
much.
The ouly place that a coacher Is OF any
value to a base runner Is at third base
when the ball Is behind the runner ant
he must rely on the coacher for instruc
tions. Yet one often hears the coache,
at first base criticised when a base runnea
is caught mapping of that bag. Il
stands to reason that Ivy the time tht
coacher could caution the base runner
| the play Is made. 1t is UP to the runner
to watch out for himself on that has
| unless 1t be that the coacher watch tn.
| first baseman when he is playing back te
| prevent him from running up to the bas
| and thus catching the runner mapping or
| a throw from the catcher. This wa.
shown yesterday when Maggert wa:
| caught mapping by johnson. He was
| caught of his balance and regardless Of
| how wise the coacher at first may have
been he could do nothing to help his
| teammate.
| Three unsuccessful attempts to stea
| SECOND were made on Egan Shanks trieS
| IL twice and was thrown out by yards
| and on another occasion Gandil wen
down and Egan nailed him. Collin,
| handled all the throws. He seemed Il
/ get the ball four or five. feet to the LEFT
Of the bag and then would ride the run
| ners in. All OF EGan's throws were per
feet and we'll handled by Collins.
| When Caesar Crossed the Rubicon.
From life.
julius Caesar was about to cross tn,