New-York tribune., 1912-01-26
TIMELY BITS Of SPORT
snortsmen'S Dinner To Be Re.
peated Here This Year.
wRESTLERS FAIL TO SIGN
Nav Agree To-day on Question
of Referee-Gossip of the
Baseball World.

~ tho Astor Gallery Of the Waldorf
,s,ora on Monday evening. February 19
t"r,,stons will be sent out shortly TO all
,ho leading sportsmen in the country. In
snoakinc of the dinner, which proved so
s,,ccessful last year, Mr.. Smith said yes
terday:
The first dinner given last year, brought
che spIendid gift from August Belmont to
- United states government which has
siready started deep interest In the army
TTsmount problem. as the purchase OF land
o. breeding farms in Virginia and else
,CberA bv the government plainly shows.
in the last decade America has made
unnderful strides i'm the breeding Of the
lieht harness horse as our successes IN
france Germany, Austria and even snow
hound Russia show, and within the last
lew months a number of farms in and
about Lexington, KY homes of the thor
ouebbTed before he was baniShed, have
Scsn purchased for light harness studs.
last year officers of the American army
were seen riding on the fiat and be-
tween the FLAGS over the jumps at tho
prjncipal hunt meetings, but that erica
e still far behind Europe i'm its cavalry
horses was evidenced by the pitiable show
ins Of the American officers against the for
II is now believed that by the aid of Au-
gust Belmont. Judge Moore. Alfred Van
dertilt and. others and proper education IN
horeemanship the cavalry officers Viii ere
long bring those who wear the uni rm or
Uncle Sam to the front.
The dinner is a gathering. OF breeders
owners, gentlemen riders. polo players, ON
GERS Of the army, members or the Ieadlhg
show associations and sportsmen ana II
The good work i'm he coming year can equal
that shown by the tremendous strides ~
The last year, the value of this annual
gathering will be even more apparent
The collection of works Of art, bronzes,
trophies emblems. etc. in the Myrtle Room
ot the dinner last year was unique, ana
m pNh which WOULD
been impossible to have brought together
for any other reason. namely, for the sake
Riding. driving. racing. hunting, polo, in
fact. an SPORTS in the open, and greater
than all. breeding the production OF some,
thing of value. are becoming more anu
more interesting to Americans as they ma
more leisure: and At this annual gathering
they meet together and do homage TO thoSe
who have accomplished something OF merit
In the last twelve months.
. This year quarters have been engaged at
the Wadorf-Astoria for two days, so iIdI
spOrtsmen from far and near may gdtnsr
a day or two before, ana meet ana ana CUi5- oI5
mune with one another, without the end-
less rush which was so apparent AT the
dinner last year
After a three-hour discussion between the
managers OF ZbysZko and RaiceYtch' at
which practically all arrangements were
made for the finish wrestling match TO De
held at Madison Square Garden on Monday
evening February 12, the men Will meet
aeain this afternoon and decide upon
referee This was about the only thing
which prevented the men signing articles
and posting their forfeits yesterday. In or
der 10 decide the question OF referee, the
managers will submit list Of half dozen
names, and no doubt an official will be
chosen from among them. Both Of the
wrestlers are in this city and ready to es-
tablish permanent training quarters.
TWO new players sent in their signed con-
tracts TO the Yankees yesterday. They
were W. p. Osborne, an outielder Of the
Rochester club Of the International League,
and G. p. Shears, a pitcher of he Paris
club. OF the Blue Grass League. Osborne
had a batting average of .29O for 152 games
last year and a fielding average of .97S,
making only eight errors. Shears was the
star twirler on the pennant winning Paris
team Of the Blue Grass League, He won
twenty and lost ten games. striking out 16S
men and passing only Sc.
Another game has been added to the pre-
liminary schedule Of the Yankees, Georgia
University will be played at Athens on
March %
The epidemic of meningitis in Texas is
beginning to worry Connie Mack The Ath-
letics have planned to train at san Antonio,
but the situation in the Lone Star State is
being watched and change may be made.
McGraw declared yesterday that he thought
there was no cause for alarm so far as
the Giants are concerned, and that the epi-
demic would be over before the teams went
South.
Hugh Duffy former manager Of the Chi
cago White Sox and now the director OF
the fortunes of the Milwaukee club, of the
American Association, thinks that Vean
Gregg next season will fall far short of
the record he made in 1911 Duffy inti-
mates that Gregg's arm has been injured
beyond repair.
Il don't think Gregg will set the Ameri-
can League on fire as he did last year."
said Duffy recently. "He was wonderful
pitcher last season. but in his last game
against the White Sox he DIDN'T have a
thing, and every time ne threw the ball 1t
appeared TO hurt him. A couple Of players
told me that his arm had gone but 1t did
not appear TO be as bad as that at the time,
and possibly a winters rest Will bring the
youngster around ali right. Gregg GER
tainly was a remarkable pitcher last sea-
son. and hope that tho work which he did
has not injured him permanently
The Detroit Tigers are doing some whole
sale housecleaning, seven players having
been released, accordingto an announcement
made yesterday. Six Of these will go TO the
Providence club, of the international
League. which was recently purchased by
President Navin of the Tigers. The other
player, Ralph Stroud. a pitcher. will go TO
the Buffalo club, Of the same organization,
Drake, an outielder; Lathers, an infeld-
er, and Lively. pitcher. ali figure in a
trade which brings Perry, an outfelder, TO
the Tigers The latter is a star. leading
the hitters of the International League last
year. His average was 343 for 40 games.
He also was the heaviest hitter in the or
ganization, making lS5 hits 90 for a total
Of 269 bases Thirty-three doubles, twen-
ty-one triples and three home runs were
part of his record. He will make up a
brilliant trio with Ty Cobb and sam Craw-
ford.
Providence gets by outright release
Schmidt, the veteran catcher; Renter, a
pitcher, and Reynolds. catcher. Schmidts
release marks the passing Of an old favor
ite Of the American League lame arm
made him practically valueless as a catch
er last year, but he did well as pinch
hitter. The Grays ought 20 make a good
showing next season with the infusion Of
all this now blood. Drake. Lathers and
Lively all showed signs Of future brill
iancy last season, apd are being farmed out
for a little seasoning. Lively started the
season I'm the box sensationally. but did not