Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-08
NO REASON TO
FEAR WHITE S0X
CaIIahan's Team Not as Strong
as Nationals Had Been
Led to Believe.
HUGHES ENTITLED TO
A SHUT-OUT GAME
Misplays Give Chicago Its Two
Runs-GandiI Out in Uni
form-0ther Gossip.
BY J. ED GRILLo.

-
Special Dispatch to The Star
CHICAGO. May S.-Judged on their
showing against the Nationals yester-
day, there is no reason for any team
with pennant aspirations to fear the
White SOx. If, as it has been heralded,
the Sox stand the best chance of any of
the western teams to break into the Sc
lect division in the race, the Nationals
are going to have rather easy picking
This opinion is not based on anything
that Galatians team did yesterday but
on its general appearance. To begin
with the Sox lack the proper spirit. The
players go about their work in a me-
chanical manner, and in this respect
they differed greatly from the Nationals
incidentally. there appear to be no ind-
vidual stars. Callahan may have
pitcher or two who will be hard to beat,
but the team as whole does not make a
good impression. 1t does not necessarily
mean that the Nationals will make a
clean sweep here. for base ball is too un-
certain proposition to allow such pre-
dlctlons but so far as having pennant
chances are concerned the Sox stand no
better chance than some of the other
teams which are picked to be f1oundering
around In the second division
1t is not revealing a secret when ii is
admitted that Griffith and his players
had some doubts about their own abil-
lty to keep up their winning streak here.
So much has been written about the bril-
liant work of the Sox that the Nationals
We're led to believe that the real test
would come in the games here This be-
ne1, however. was dispelled Yesterday
Notwithsta nding the fact that the Wis
ltors were victorious by a single run il
was evident when the nine innings were
over that the superior team had won
Had Long Tom Hughes received the
support that he was entitled to he would
nave had shut-out to his credit
Hughes pitching was good enough to
prevent the home team from scoring hut
two OF the three errors made behind
MN We're productive of the two runs with
which the Sox are credited. Hughes really
pltched beautiful game of ball. 1t was
not that he showed any miraculous
, amount of speed or a particularly decep-
i've curve, but he pitched a well caIcu-
lated game. He seemed to have every
Eastman sized up perfectly, and to this
! MS success must be attributed The Sc
cret OF Hughes success lay in the fact
that he could put the ball where he
wanted. Hughes is a pitcher who must
| resort to strategy. and strategy ia ont
| OF the question when his control Is off
color.
1t was poor play by Ala Williams
that gave the Sox their first rum Per-
| haps the official scorer will give the error
10 Mcbride, but it was really Williams
who was at fault. He put his mitt to a
throw not higher than his head, on which
ne could have used both hands and pre-
vented 1t from going through. Just what
happened will be explained later
The sox' second run was gift from
Alnsmith The first two men to face
| Hughes in the fourth inning got on: Mat
| tick by reason Of a pass and Schaller
on the strength of base hit Weaver
sacrificed. and Schalk struck out. With
two strikes on Easterly. who was sent
| up to bat for Cicotte, Ainsmith took
i chance and tried to catch SchalIcr nap
| ping OFF second. His throw was low. and
/ got away from Mcbride, and before it
could be recovered Mattick had scored
from third base.
Schaller. but for all that Ainsmith de-
serves credit for having been game
enough to take the chance. Griffith wants
his players to take chances, and there
! Is never any kick coming when in doing
| so they blunder. Teams which don't take
chances and rely strictly on straightaway
base ball are not going to cut much of
figure in the race.
Hughes did not have an easy game to
pitch for the very good reason that the
/ faltering of his support gave the Sox
two runs, and this left him but a one-run
| margin to work on. In all but one inning
| the SoX had mon on the bases and several
| times base hit would have changed the
! complexion of the proposition, but
| Hughes strength lay in the fact that he
| was at his best when danger threatened
He struck out eight of the locals and at
| least six of these came at a time when a
base hit would have played havoc show
| ing plainly that Hughes kept something
| in reserve for the pinches.
Chick GandiI was out in uniform yes
terday. He took his turn at batting
practice. and spent most of the afternoon
on the coaching lines. He is still limp
ing. but ii is believed that he will be
able to get back in the game by Friday
| 1t is really remarkable that the team
| continues to win with two such sterling
players as Gandil and Foster out of the
| lineup, though 1t must be said for both
Williams and Laporte that they are PROV
/ ing themselves excellent substitutes
| This is particularly true of LapOrte, who
is simply upsetting all the dope by play
| ing really good game at third base,
and he seems to be gradually recovering
| his batting eye. too.
| Schaik. the Sox young catcher, who
has the reputation of being one of the
! cleverest receivers in the league, has
| either not developed as rapidly as was
expected last fall or he had an off day.
! Both Milan and Moeller stole on him yes
| terday, and they did it with comparative
| ease.
! IL is the Nationals base running
/ which adds much to their playing
/ strength. On the average team there
is only one or two players who need
be feared on the bases. None Of the
others ever attempt to steal, and
naturally the opposing battery is on
the alert when these players reach the
bases. With the Nationals 1t is differ
ent Every man in the lineup is apt
| to take chance, and those who are
not particularly fast are not expected
to take the chances they have quite an
| advantage
i Griffith believes in base running and
! 1T Is to this fact-that his players take
! chances on the paths-that his team is
a full-hedged success.
| For some unaccountable reason Crit
| ffth's team plays its best ball away
| from home. 1t showed this last season.
| and IL is in fair way to duplicate it's
\ performance in the present campaign.
| To date but two games have been lost
away from home, while nine have been
won. This is remarkable showing
and simply proves that when fears
| were expressed because the schedule
4 gave the team long trip away from
l home they were not well based, for the
j chances are that more games will be
won on this trip than are lost, and
that is always Very satisfactory
1t is SO now that the players believe
that they stand better chance on the