The Washington herald., 1914-05-27
Grifmen Playing Brand d
Ball that Has Made Them
Feared by All Rivals.
OTHER SPORTING GOSSIP
By WILLIAM PEET.


Washington fans during the past two
weeks have been privileged to see the
Nationals play the brand Of ball that has
made them feared by every club in the
American League while on the road.
Take yesterdays game. for instance.
The Tigers hit Boehling harder than the
Griffmen batted Dubuc, yet Washington
won because the local club played smart
er baseball.
Manager Griffith has his club fighting.
The pitching has been uniformly good,
and the team has backed up every slab
man with giit-edge support This Is one
secret OF washington's recent successes.
The Nationals are today leading the
American League race for the pennant
by a scant margin, but this virtually acts
as a tonic, and the writer believes that
It will take a lot Of hustling to dislodge
them from the top rung Of the ladder
II is true that without the services OF
Ty Cobb, Detroit is seriously handicapped,
but injuries are just as much a part OF
the national pastime as base hits, and
without Cobb the Tigers would be In
exactly the same position as Washing
ton IL Chick Gandii or Clyde Milan hap
pened to be out of the lineup.
Detroit thus far does not look bit
more impressive than the 81 Louis
Browns: IL anything, they appear weaker.
and, unless all signs fail, the Michigan
ders win be lucky to win one game dur
ing the present series-
Doc Ayers will be in the box for the
Griffmen in the third game Of the De-
troit series here this afternoon. Mark
Hall Is slated to oppose the Richmond
finger, and it will be interesting to see
IL Ayers can prove as effective against
them as he has against the other West
ern clubs.
Joe Boehling had more "stun'' yester-
day than at any time this season, with
the possible exception Of the game he
twirled against the Boston Red Sox In
the Hub, when the Nationals opened th'
season. Joe's curve ball was the unsur-
mountable barrier and the blond south
paw was able to control II every time he
found himself in a hole
Joe S. Jackson. president Of the Baseball
Writers Association and sporting editor
of the Detroit News-Tribune. Is here with
the Tigers. Mr.. jackson. after looking
over all the clubs in the American
League, ventures as his opinion that
Connie Mack's Athletics will again win
the nag by a comfortable margin
Tomorrow's game with the Tigers.
which concludes the home stay Of the
Grifnen, will be called at 2:45 O'Clock.
in order that the full nine innings may
be played. The Nationals are TO catch
the 5:35 train to Boston. When New
York was here recently a game was
started at o'clock in order to let the
visitors catch a train leaving at the same
time the Nationals are scheduled to de-
cart, and II was necessary to halt the
game in the seventh inning at o'clock to
allow the Yanks to carry out their plans.
For this reason the time of starting has
been advanced three-quarters Of an hour.
instead of one-half an hour, as was
formerly the case.
For the Nationals to leave home in the
lead on their extended trip around the
circuit 1t is necessary for them to win
but one OF the two remaining games
from the Tigers. The defeat suffered
by the Athletics at the hands of ST. Louis
makes it impossible for the tribe of Mack
to attain the top rung of the champion
ship ladder for several days, at least.
Should the Griffmen be so unfortunate
as to lose two to the Tigers. that club
would go back into the lead. and the
Mackmen would move up to second place,
providing they win the remaining games
with the Browns
The best Connie Mack can do Is to win
two games and then no matter what the
Tigers or Grinmen do his club will have
moved up one notch in the race. Second
place will be the undisputed abode Of
that slugging crew with a percentage Of
.6lS Should the Griffmen drop one and
the Athletics win two. the Griffs would
go away with a lead of five points. A
clean sweep Of the next two games for
the Nationals would allow them to start
on their journey with a clear lead Of
thirty-four points over the highest mark
the Athletics could attain. Should St
Louis manage to slip over another kic-
tory on Connie Mack's band Detroit
could stay away from the third position
In this event, by taking one of the two
remaining games with the Nationals. It's
a pretty safe bet that we leave home
leading the league