Evening star., 1913-02-05
BY J. ED GRILLO.

Conditions on the Detroit team this
summer are not going to be ideal il the
report is true that Owner Navin Will
accede to the demands of Ty Cobb, but
will absolutely refuse to raise the salary
OF any other player.
Navin may he justified in his stand.
He may be able to explain that Cobb is
entitled to a raise and that the other
players are not but such course is sure
to create feeling i'll the ranks which
will place a great handicap on the man
who handles the team, Hughey Jennings.
1t stands to reason that there are go
ing to be "a lot of diseruntled players
on that Detroit team under such condi-
tions. and whenever harmony is lacking
a winner is out of the question.
While it may be club owner $
right to sign his players, it is.
nevertheless, II serious mistake for a
manager to allow any one to attend to
this end of his affairs. Ball players should
be signed by the man under whom they
are expected to work. 1t puts the man
ager in closer touch with his players. and
he is, perhaps, better qualified to fix his
players salaries than any one else. He
can. of course. consult with the club
owner and agree as to figures, but all
negotiations should be carried on between
the manag ger and the player In this way
much controversy would be eliminated
and the players would realize that their
real boss was the manager.
erS Griffith has secured for the coming
season seems to be Drohan. drafted from
the Kansas team of the Central Associa-
tiOn THIS young man worked in thirty
games of ball. and won twenty-siX of
them. His team finished second in the
race. due to his excellent work. The re-
markabie feature of his beng secured
here is that he came by the draft route.
One would naturally suppose that pitch
er who accomplished what DrOhan did
would be purchased long before the draft
went into effect. Most any scout would
have picked him up at a fair price on the
strength of his twentysix victories. But
he seems to have been overlooked, and
Griff succeeded in getting him for the
draft price.
Drollan has by far the best record of
all the pitchers Griffith has secured since
the season closed, and he undoubtedly
stands chance to make good here.
There is no getting away from the fact
that nothing will be more beneficial to
the Nationals chances than the acqulsl-
ton of one more capable pitcher. Even If
no other department of the team Were
improved over what 1t was last year II
would have better chance to hnish hrst
if pitcher who could win a goodly per-
ce1taSe or MS games cOuiu ne duucu "
the staff.
Whether Griff will be able to find such
a man among his corps of recruits re-
mains to be seen. Cashion and tngel, be
cause of their experience of last season
should have an advantage over some o,
the green hands from the minors. II
there is "A pitcher in the squad this spring
who stands a chance to make good nc
one is better qualified to select and i'm
prove him than Griffith. Handling pitch
crs is his strong forte. This was demon
strated during the last season, when every
pitcher OF the team showed marked i'm
proVement over previous years, not ever
barring Walter Johnson, who has been
star ever since he broke into the Amer
lean League.
Arthur Hoffman. who until last year wa!
considered one of the best players in the
! National League. proved ii failure whef
| he was traded to Pittsburgh. lie played
| in but few games last season and was
| considered a physical wreck when he wen
| into retirement. But Hoffman says he ha:
come back. He has signed with the Fl
| rates for next season and claims to be II
| as good shape as ever before III his CA
! reer If this be true Holman Will be Z
| lot of help to the Pittsburgh team, FOL