Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-06
BY J. ED GRILLo.


more formidable against Griffith's team
than did the Browns and the sixth con-
secutive victory was added to the string
of the Washington team. Nor was it a
fuky achievement for the visitors actual
ly outplayed the leaders They gave the
lbetter exhibition in the field. had much
1.-THE best of the hitting and pitching and
lactualy displayed much more inside base
ball than did their rivals The Kind OF
ball that Griffith's team is playing these
days is bound to land it We'll up in the
race. In fact, if it had been Grifiiths
good fortune to have picked up a good
left handed pitcher this spring he would
have TO be figured having a chance to
land the flag. Victory has brought con-
fidence to the players, and the fact that
their opponents happen to get a lead
only spurs them in taeir efforts. No
team in the circuit is playing better ball
and not one of them is establishing so
remar BILE a record for scoring runs in
the fourteen games played. The team
has averaged over seven runs per game.
a most remarkable showing, and one
which few teams have equaied. Yester-
day 1t was Grifiith's intention to work
Musser, providing Callahan trotted out
Walsh, figuring that it would be best to
take chance with untried younSster
against the Sox star than to waste one
of the regular workers, of whom there
are none too many. But Callahan evil
IDENTIFY thought he could win without
Walsh, and he gave Benz the chance. but
he miscalculated for Benz proved an
easy mark and was forced to retire under
fire. In all Callahan used four pitchers
in an effort to stop the Nationals, but
all to no avail.
Having won the first game Crit
outcome of the s npPs.u He aetuas
figures making three out of the four,
and he does not doubt his teams ability
to take four straight: And he has a
right to such a belief, for the reason that
no team stands much of a chance of
beating Washington just now and not
I until there is decided slump IL the
teams work.
Callahans team is not near as impress
sive looking 1t was when it made
its first appearance in Washington this
] spring. CARS pitchers seem to have
broken down under the strain he put on
] them. Benz, with the season hardly two
months cd, has already gone stale be-
cause of the inceSSant work forced on
him during the early part of the cam
! paign, when he was worked for four and
five days in succession. What is true of
4 Benz applies TO some of the other twirl-
j ers so that the SoX's chances for retain
4 ing the lead much longer have grown
I decidedly slim. Pitchers can't stand up
when they are not getting their share of
rest, and Callahan is learning that to
l his sorrow. Even Walsh is at that stage
where he cannot work as often as he did
formerly and if he bucks against John
son he is apt to get beating. though it
is more than likely that he will work
against Groom today.
I That Griffith proposes to dispose of
Jack Knight in some way other was
suhstantiated by the fact that American
League headquarters gave out the infor-
nation today that waivers had been ask
! ed on knight, but that no one had re-
| fused though
very likely that St. Louis would put in a
claim for him. knight is doing a lot of
work in practice these days and he is
really rounding into much better shape
than he has been, but there is little
chance of his breaking into the lineup
so long as Morgan continues to hit the
ball.
Old Tom Hughes is proving his value
to his team. He has won his first two
games and stepped in and stopped the
Browns the other day in game which
Engel started. The veteran is in better
. form right now than he has been in years
= and. barring accident, he can be relied
II upon to do his share toward keeping the
~ Nationals in the race.
81 An even break is now the Nationals
II record on the trip, a performance of
q which the team can we'll be proud and
& especially so when the fact is taken into
q consideration that seven of the first nine
IL games were lost. 1t is real base ball
u is nothing scratchy about their success
q 1t Is much better team than any one
Il has suspected it of being, and it is show
q ing constant improvement. In many re-
q spects Griftth's team has not an equal
. in the league. When it comes to inside
q base ball the Nationals are actually lead
= ing their rivals. They are constantly do
:? ing the unexpected. and it is this which is
giving them so many runs In the fifth
. inning yesterday, for instance tbs was
z demonstrated, and the runs which resulted
from one play in this inning gave them
. the victory Hughes and Moeller were on
. the bases and none out Foster went
through all the motions of intending to
. punt to move them up. He had the in
2 fielders all leaning forward TO make a
!. play on the bunt But instead he switched
. and hit the ball, it rolling through the
. box into center field, and the double
. crossed Sox We're up in the air Foster
y and Moeller have pulled plays of this sort
. every day, and to them more than any
other two men the team the winning
!. streak must be attributed.
. What prize Moeler has been to the
. team. He looks better with every game
, and has all the earmarks of establishing
himself as one of the greatest ball play
= erS in the league by the end of the sea-
. son At the rate that he is rolling up
2 base hits there's no certainty that he
. will not be among the topnotch hitters,
, and there is noting lacking in his work
in any other respect. He seems able to
90 everything that is expected of ball
. player. and with it all he has the right
? spirit and a splendid disposition Noel
. ler's value TO the team is hard to esti-
. mate. lie is always the bases and a
most dangerous man when facing pitch
I er in a pinch. BY the time the Nationals,
. make their next swing around the circuit
. Moeller VIII have the reputation he de-
. serves, for he is making rapid strides
: TO be numbered among the stars of Ban
? Johnson's circuit.
. The powers that be pulled off peculiar
decision here the other day, which is
. causing some newspaper comment Cal
= lahan had run-in with Umpire WeSter-
welt and was put out of the game but
the next day Lena Blackburn who hash [
played a game in two years. was sus-
pended for something that Callahan said
The SoN, of course, can't spare Callahan
: and Blackburn is Of no use TO them, so
s. that the punishment melted out really
|. does no one any harm.
Ii is doubtful If there is a better bat
. ter on the team than Shanks when it
: GENES to getting hits when they count
the most. He has failed in few pinches
since the team has been on the road and
he was there again yesterday with a
safe drive which helped to bring two
runs home. Shanks looks like another
good pickup. He needs a lot of expert
ence, but when il comes to natural abil-
ity he is well supplied. Not only is he a
nd good hitter, but there are few fielders
who can go farther for ball and YES