Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-06
R|NALS0UTBATTED
BY THE GR|FFMEN
Winning Streak Due to I'M
proved Hitting and Ell
fective Mound Work.
HANK SHANKS HAS ADDED
: TO STRENGTH OF iNFIELD
Team Might Now Be Up in Race
Had Shift to Third Been
Made Earlier.
BY j. ED GRILLO.

1t is a matter of actual record that
the Nationals have been outhitting
, their opponents ever since the team
! started on its present winning streak,
nearly month ago This would indi-
! cate that the pitching of the Griffmen
also has been superior, a combination
sure to bring about success.
Had Griffith made the change in his
| infield just as soon as it was certain
that Ray Morgan could not be depended
upon for some time the Nationals
would now be real contenders in the
| race. The present makeup of the team
has proved by far the most successful
in it's history, and 1t is because of this
that the Griffith forces are going to be
mighty hard to beat hereafter. 1t was
the experimenting around second and
third base which gave the team seri-
Gus setback earlier in the season, and
had Manager Griffith hit upon the
scheme of playing Foster at second
and Shanks at third a whole lot of ball
games which were lost would have
been victories and the team would now
be up with the first three.
Not only has ShankS proved himself
capable fielder at third. but he has
livened up that infield by his constant
chatter. There is never moment In
game that Shanks is not encourag-
ing the pitcher and keeping every one
in the game on his toes, and this not
only has an encouraging effect on the
players, but it is pleasing to the ears
of the fans. who like nothing better
than a hustling player who is in the
game every minute. Shanks has been
a peppery, talkative player ever since
he has been at third base. where he
has more of a chance to root than he
had in the outf1eld.
Considering the fact that Eddie Fos-
ter has only been at second for very
short period, his work there stands
out. There are few second basemen
in either league who have anything on
him, and if conditions are such that
he is retained there, it is only ques-
ton of time when Foster will be as
great d second baseman as he was a
third baseman. None of the stars in
that position can get the ball away
quicker than Foster. On slow hit
balls, which he takes while running
forward, his throwing is nothing short
of marvellous, because he gets the ball
away with the same motion that he
picks it up, and to date his pegging
has been decidedly accurate.
Manager Griffith will not decide def
initely on how he will work his pitch
1t is certain that Walter Johnson will
be used, and the other twirler will be
selected from Ayers and Shaw; and yet
there may be necessity for the use of
all three, for Griffith is sure to take
every precaution against leaving some
fading twirler on the mound longer
than is safe.
There is no doubt that Stallings abil-
ity last season to change his outfield
lnf -lnn 6n1 inc frin tn IN
right-handeds one whenever a left
handler was pitted against the Braves
did much to help him win the pennant.
Griffith now is In position where he
can Offset the effect of a southpaw
pitcher to a certain extent. Dan Noel
Ter turns to the right side against a
left-hander. Milan hits the southpaws
as we'll as he does right-handers and
Kopp can take Acosta's place whenever
1eft-hander is on the mound for the
opposing team, for the Canadian League
youngster looks to be very capable
when batting right-handed.
When team has couple of it's best
hitters in a slump 1t usually finds it no
easy matter to win games. Rowland
has been losing ground ever since he
came east on the present trip for the
very good reason that his team has not
been hitting anywhere near its stand
ard. Eddie Collins and Fourier, who
during the early part Of the campaign
did the cleanup work for the White
Sox, have fallen into a slump from
which they are having a hard time to
extricate themselves. and until they
get back into their stride there is little
hope of the Sox making much progress
The report that Manager Griffith is
negotiating for Inf1elders Terry and
McMu1len of the Los Angeles team is
denied by the head of the local club
Il have not entered into negotiations
for any of the players mentioned"
Manager Griffith said this morning. IT
| have no idea as to where the report
came from, nor do I know anything
about the players mentioned"