Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-22
BY J. ED GRILLo.


ST. LOUIS, August 22--The much i'm
proved work of Griffith's pitching staff
brought about by the regaininS of form
by Bob Groom makes the prospects OF
the present trip of the Nationals loon
particularly bright. With Johnson, Boeh-
ling and Groom showing form, Grlf1th is
better fortified in the matter OF tW1riers
than he has been for some time, and his
is a team which needs strong pitching IN
order to win It's games. Groom work IN
his last three games has been as near
| perfect as could be expected In the
three games he has been scored on out
twice, once each by Cleveland and De-
troit and yesterday he shut out 81
Louis.
lust what it is that makes Groom an
inconsistent performer at tunes mas Iese.
/ been explained. For a month thls season
he could not hold his opponents IN checA.
/ He was hit hard and lost game after
| game. and all without any apparent rea-
/ son, for he seemed to have Just as mucn
/ stuff as he has now, when ne IS Wlnnins
with great regularity. There has never
been anything wrong with BOD arm,
but he has periods when the breaks OF
/ the game go against him. and he IS not
/ of a nature to fight against this. But
/ when going good, as he is now, tneTe
| are few pitchers more successful
1 His performance yesterday was really
! one of the best of his career. lie nol
/ only had a lot of stuff, but he worked
!, himself out of two tight hoes in a man
ner that would have done credit TO wal
/ ter Johnson.
! In the first inning for instance, Shot
ten hit down the right field foul nne
up. yet he did not score, dying at the
plate with one out when Mcbride made
| a one-handed pickup of Pratts
grounder.
the sixth, when two men got on after
there was one out. Shotten was one OF
| them, and he was walked. Austin put
down a perfect bunt, which he beat 10
| first in a gallop But neither of the
runners ever got near to the plate, for
Pratt hit to Groom. forcing ShOtten al
third and then Groom ended the in
ming by striking out the dangerous Gus
| Williams. These We're the only two
periods in the game when Groom was
/ threatened. There were other occasions
| when men got on and. once, in the
third. Johnston, the first man up. hit
safely. but Groom always proved
master in the pinches
| To assure himself of the services of
Johnson and Boehling in the Chicago
Boehling in the game today. so as to
| have him ready for the final struggle
with the White Sox Tuesday. This
leaves it up to Engel to pitch the final
| game here Saturday. and allows John
son to start in Chicago Sunday Groom
works Monday and then Boehling
comes back Tuesday. Griffith is ex-
ceptiona1ly anxious not to lose any
games here, and he wants to win the
majority of the three to be played in
Chicago. BY accomplishing this. he
figures to beat out Cleveland and crawl
up nearer to the Athletics. who, he
predicts, are going to have a close fight
for the flag at the finish
There has been SO much Improvement
in Howard Shanks' batting since he
broke back into the game that if he
, keeps up the clip there is good chance
of his boosting his average materially.
In the two games he has played Howard
has made four clean hits in nine times
at bat, and the beauty of it all is that
most of the drives have been timely. 1t
was his hit in the second which gave the
Nationals their first run. which, as mat
tiers turned out. would have been suf1i-
cient to win the game. 1t came with
Gandil on third, and was clean cut
Shanks, however, is not yet sure of his
ankle. and he is not moving through the
field with the speed which formerly
marked his work.
In the last game of the Detroit series
Chick Gandil broke his favorite bat, and
since then he has been searching high
and low for a substitute, which, to date,
he has been unable to find Chick Is not
hitting as he was, and he blameS II on
the loss Of his favorite stick. In none
of the recent games has Gandil hit the
ball hard, yet he has managed to get a
hit per game by scratch fiukes. Yester-
day he dropped one into short right
which Pratt could not reach. and the
lucky hit scored Milan, who had previous
ly tripled, from third and virtually put
the game on ice. Gandil says it takes
him a week to. get accustomed to a new
bat and it will be at least that long
before he can be expected to hit in his
old form.
George Tebeau, owner OF the Kansas
| City club of the American Association
and one OF the leading lights in minor
| league affairs, had a long conference
with Griffith yesterday. Tebeau has nu-
merous offers for Clarence Walker, the
| former National, who is leading the
/ American Association in hitting. All
| of them involve players. and Tebeau
| wanted to get Griff's opinion on the
| various players he has been offered in
! addition TO cash for Walker. Tebeau
! contends that Griffith is the best judge
of the players whom his team plays
| against The chances are that Hugh
| Jennings will succeed in getting
| Walker. though this is by no means
| assured, since there are so many clubs
anxious to have "Tillie" wear one of
| their uniforms.
| The members of the st. Louis team,
| realizing that there is no chance for
( the Browns making respectable