Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-23
BY ]. ED GRILLo.

With all the experimenting that Frank
Chance may do it is questionable if he
will be able to gather winning combi-
nation with the material he has on hand
Since the season opened Chance has
shifted his lineup in every possible way
yet has failed to make any material i'm
provement.
He is in the game himself now and has
sent Chase to the outfield, where he Is
believed to be perfectly at home. Chance
can play the bag as well as any one, but
the rest of his infield is a rather mediocre
proposition. HartZell for instance, mas
been tried in the infeld for seven or
eight years and never made good. He is
a good hitter and fast on his feet. but IS
much better suited for the outfield. Lack
of good material is seriously handicap
ping Chance. He hasn't the PLAYERS
which would give him a chance 10 SNOW
his ability as a manager. Hence his re-
gime in New York is almost certain TO
be failure this season.
II matters not how much a manager
may know OF the game nor what mar
velous ability he may have In handhhg
his players il these players lack
ability he is doomed
Grifith's pitching staff is still a rather
uncertain factor. That he has three
Hughes there is not the slightest doubt.
but it takes more than three pitchers to
carry team through hard campaign.
True, several of his youngsters are prom
ising but all need experience, and may
not get to working properly for some time
yet There is no doubt that the Ma
tionals standing at the end of the race
will depend largely upon what the young
pitchers show If couple of them come
through and do consistent work there is
a splendid chance for the team to finish
at the top. While it is not wonderful
hitting aggregation 1t is fast team.
great defensive strength and it's ability
to mix it's inside pay But it wants good
pitching before anything else.
Toe Birmingham is on a fair way to
make a success of his regime at Cleve-
land. The Maps are doing surprisingly
well to date. and have strengthened their
chances of finishing in the first division
by winning majority of the games from
Detroit and Chicago, their nearest rivals
for first division honors in the west.
Birmingham seems to have 1nSt1lled the
proper spirit into his players, and WIN
hustling infielders like Chapman and
johnson he stands chance of having a
team which will be prominent during the
entire race
1t is the Improvement which several of
the teams which finished down in the race
last season are showing this spring that
is going to make the road to the pen
nant a hard one for the strong teams
this year. Barring New York, there are
no easy marks in the present campaign
If the present investigation of the So
called base ball trust should result In
legislation which would Danish the pres
ent form of contract between CLUB and
players the game would get a setback
which would undoubtedly kill it. If ball
81. frao a
every season the large cities in circuit,
those which can afford to pay enormous
prices. would have monopoly on all the
best players. The pennant races would
he one-sided affairs and the circuits
would crumble for the lack of interest
in the majority of cities.
But the chances are that when our
legislatures discover that ball players are
better paid than senators or .epreSenta-
tives and even judges of the Supreme
Court it will not be easy to convince them
that the present system under which base
ball is operated is hardship the
players.
Base ball slavery carries with it high
salaries and luxurious accommodations
during the period that the players are
travelling. There is but six months work
for the ball player and he is paid hand
somely for his efforts.
a conference between Cobb and Presi-
dent Navin of the Detroit club is sure
10 pilTS ABOUT dIl d1llCdUle SellleIleHL
Of their differences over the salary ques-
ton. There have been few instances in
base ball where when difference eN-
listed it has not been adjusted when those
interested conferred. Letter writing sell
dom brings about desired results. and
Cobb and Navin, if they meet are sure
to get, down to business in hurry. The
Detroit club wants Cobb, and Cobb cam
not afford to toss away $4,000 for the
mere sake of trying to have the reputa-
ton of being the highest salaried ball
player that the game has ever developed.
Cincinnati seems destined to be a. dis
appointment in the National League race
once more The TinkeriteS are at the
bottom of the race just now. having won
but one game out of eight. 1t was hoped
that with Tinker covering short field, a