The Washington times., 1914-06-26
"staIIing" Tactics. as Shown
Yesterday, Should Not Be
Allowed in Big Show.
GRIFFITH BLGMES ENEMY
Says Connie Mack Started
Whole Trouble by Not Max
ing Play on Base Runners.
By THOMAS KIRBY.

PHILADELPHIA, June 26.-There ap-
pears to be a decided probability
that alleged exhibitions Of the ma
tional pastine of yesterday will breed
real results in the matter of delegating
TO the umpires more discretionary power
than they ever before possessed.
While he is almost willing to concede
that when the tide OF battle turned
against him; he and his hencnmen
worked their hardest to avoid what ap-
reared to be a certain defeat, Clark
Griffith today blamed the origin OF the
.'stalIinx tactics" en- the Athletics, and
insists that If the umpires had done
what appeared their duty there would
have been no necessity for the i:ntoward
ending Of what at one time promised 10
be fine battle. That the PhIadeiphisns.
fearing the humiliation of three defeats
IL q line, tried by every method on me
calendar to stall. quit an5 stop the play
is not likely to be doubted by those Who
were in the stands and were watching
the competition from an unbiased view
point.
The storm center of the whole affair
is Ollie Chill, an umpire who has been
SO thoroughly and universally roasted,
that another addition to the indictment
against him might appear unfair. But
the truth of the matter Is that Chul
failed absolutely to exercise the power
that is supposed to ordinarily be vested
in him.
When the Nationals got in front in
the fourth they were satisfied. That It
would rain was most apparent, and
that the best way to insure the victory
that was rightfully theirs was TO hurry
affairs along.
When Milan beat out a bounder 90
ward first base there was not the slight
est doubt among the unprejudiced that
II would have been possible to make the
play at the plate that would have killed
off Foster. But the Athletics refused to
make the play. That was the turn.
As soon as Chill saw that they were
trying to resort to these unspeakable
methods of unsportsmanship. against
which there is no defense. he should
have warned the visiting manager, and.
upon a repetition, should have forfeited
the game.
Bakers hand turning third. But again
the Philadelphians refused to make the
play until Milan ran directly into the
third baseman and forced him to touch
the runner.
OF course, there is no reason to at
tempt TO alibi the attempts of the Ma
tionals TO stop proceedings. once they
realized that their most detested and
inaugurated the proceedings that meant
disappointment to the crowd of more
than four thousand that was assembled.
But vor. have TO hand il to the Griff-
men or tie matter Of originality Of their
methods. The heat and the disgusting
methods that had been pursued by the
men froa. Pennsylvania had made some
of the Wasbir gtcn players so limp that
Chill suddenly found that Howard
Shanke was prone on the ground in left
neld. The umpire started out TO arouse
the tor-'d PLAYER when his attention was
attracted 70 first base by the shouts of
''Chick'' GanG!i that the base was loose
and il would require the substitution of
another strap before it would be pos
siole &C continue the exhibition.
That was CROUCH Chill called play on
temporarily. while rain was falling in
torrents ana FIVE minutes later Law
renee Phillips megaphoned to the crowd
that there would be no further opera
tions.
In the clubhouse last night, before
catching the ta&is for the station. Grif-
nth lcctured his players as they had
never tean le~tUrec before on the mat
ter of never taking matters for granted.
certain nan who figured that. orce the
club got IN front, it meant that It was
simply a matte, OF how rany runs
would Je scored. The manager sppar-
entity Scurei in his iustifiable Gisap-
poirtmcnt oTc- not winning Yesterday.
that this might have had some effect
on the oTtrcI7e. But at the end OF his
talk there ~I- rot a man in the whole
"olony %ko d:d not understand exactly