Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-20
Cleveland Not a Consistent Winner Griffith Says

ledSue cluD. tnOuSn the local HldHdSS-
! ment seems to be under the impression
| that he is worth giving another trial. Had
| he shown anything warranting his cop
! tinuins with the team Griffith would
pitchers.
The securing of George Mulin was a
! ten-strike, as is shown by the fact that
| II he rad NOT Joined the team Grifhth
would now be in a bad way, with Cashion
injured. Cashion will have to Test Nor !
weeks before he will be able to pitch
again. but he is not permanently inca
/ pacitated. because the injury is in the
| elbow. spot which seldom proves fatal
| to pitcher.
| As a. pinch hitter Herman Schaefer is
| proving himself real success. To date
! there have been five occasions when he
| has been sent to bat for one Of the reg
| ulars, and he has never failed to make
| good. Four of the five times he has hit
/ safely and on the other occasion he drew
pass to first. Griffith sent him in yes
| terday in the sixth inning to bat for
| E.nSel in the hone of starting ia ly,
! and Schaefer made good, hitting clean
| single to center which. however. pro-
| duced nothing. for the reason that the
batters who followed him could not con-
/ meet safely against FalkenbergS peculiar
delivery.
| Much to his own surprise Joe Engel hit
long drive to right center the first time
| he faced Falkenberg in the third inning.
So surprised was the youngster that he
| forgot to touch first base in making his
run and after he was safely lodged at
| third the Cleve. and players appealed to
| Umpire Hart. and he declared Engel out
after the ball had been thrown to John.
| ston at first base. 1t was an unfortunate
| circumstance, for there was but one out
! at the time and it might have been the
entering wedge of rally, which was sure
to net one run if not more.
base record He stole another base yes
terday, but he is not getting his share
of the luck in batting. There have been
no less than twelve instances on this trip
when Milan has driven line drives right
into the hands of infielders or outfielders
and his batting average, result, has
suffered quite a little Mlan's trouble
appears to be that he is pulling the ball
continually and there has not been a
single instance this spring when he has
hit the ball into any field but right. This.
of course. is handicap, for knowing that
he is pronounced right field hitter. the
opposing felderS shift in that direction
and lessen his chance of getting the ball
safe
There is no getting away from the
fact that Joe Jackson is one of the most
natural batters the game has ever pro-
duced. He seems to be able to reach
most anything that is offered with that
enormously large bat of his and it makes
handler pitching. Engel was the only
one of the three pitchers Griffith used
yesterday who got away with a whole
hide. In the first inning, Jackson drove
in three of the Maps runs, and after that
he hit safely twice off Boehling one of
which produced the run in the eighth.
Jackson uses the longest bat in the
league and even when a ball has fooled
him he is apt to reach out and hit it |
hard
1t is the general opinion of managers
and Players that this years umpire staff
is the weakest the American League has
had in years. 1t seems that none of the
Ferguson-is making good. None of
them seem to be competent. and this fact
is naturally handicapping the oder mem
bers of the staff AS result the work
OF all the umplres is very unsa tiSfactOry.
Not only are their rulings on plays de-
cidedly off color. but there are many in
stances where they have proven them
selves unfamiliar with the rules. which
is the worst failing an official can have
The defeat Of the Nationals yesterday
came rather untimely. for Philadelphia
lost again, and there would have been an
excellent chance for Griffiths team to
gain ground. Blu. since 1t had to happen
1t was probably fortunate that Philadel
phia and Chicago, which team was
crowding the Nationals pretty hard. also
[. Keep
within whispering distance of the Ath-
letics their CHARGES for the flag are not
apt TO be marred, for 1t Is not believed
that any of e other teams can be
figured as real f>ntenders. now that Bos-
ton appears to be virtually out of the
running.
AS result of the long lay-off which
Chick Gandil had, the big first baseman
is not hitting as he should He is still
favOring that injured toe in taking his
step. and this has thrown him off his
stride Griffith. however. will keep him
in the game in the hope that he will
round into form with regular work. Gan
dis fielding. however. is up to the stand
ard. and that is helping the team more
than little. for competent first base
man makes ii possible for the other in
f1elders to have no hesitancy to throw to
first quickly when they are hurried on a
play.
So far as the Nationals were concerned
the game was virtually over after the
Maps had finished their first time at bat,
during which period they scored three
runs. Cashion opened well enough when
he struck out Johnston, but he got the
worst of the breaks. because the third
Johnston was safe at first. Then the
procession started. and Cashon walked
Chapman. Olson hunted and beat it out.
filing the bases. Cashion could not get
i
Johnston home. Then came peculiar
play. One of Cashion's wild pitches
caromed off Ainsmith's shin guards,
bounded to Cashon, who threw it home
| in time to catch Chapman, who was try
ing to score. There seemed to be hope
for the big pitcher, but Jackson singled
through the box, and Cashon, who had
hurt his arm in delivering the ball. was
| derricked. Engel took his place and Ryan
hit into a double play, which Mcbride
manipulated.
Those three runs would have sufficed, |
but the Maps got another in the eighth
when Boehling was pitching. Chapman
opened with a hit and Olson sacrificed.
After Turner had been thrown out at
first by Mcbride. Jackson brought Chap
man home with a hit over second.
, Falkenberg's pitching was very effective.
Once in a while the Nationals seem
| ed to have chance to score but on such
occasions the necessary hit was lacking.
| Finally. in the eighth they saved them
selves from being. shut out, for Williams
with one out tripled, and scored while
Johnston was retiring Boehling at first
base. There were times when 1t seemed
| that the visitors would rally. but in every
| instance luck was with Falkenberg and
| hard hit balls were gobbled up by the
! fielders. The score:
CLEVELAND. AR r. H. 70 A. f.
4 4