The Washington times., 1915-05-30

Washington fans have read lot
about Tommy Connolly, the former
Georgetown varsity star. but they Will
very likely have to wait for another
week before seeing him in action. Con-
molly is suffering from bad case or
Charley horse" and may not be able
to play again until the team returns
from Philadelphia. The Hilltopper can
hardly walk, and 1t Is impossible for
him to do any fielding or batting while
he Is in this condition Mique MarttRn'
the safe and sane trainer Oh the Griff-
men, thinks that Connolly Will pe IN
condition in about week IT.
Until Connolly is able to take MS
place In the garden, Merito Acosta %lti
piay left tield whenever right-handed
pitchers perform against the Nationals
Hank Shanks will oppose southpawe.
Many fans have believed that Acosta,
after being carried by the team Tor Two
years. should be used. If ne rams 70
make good. he should be discarded. II
he makes good, he should nave reg
ular place in the outfit. Whl!e Sonnony
&c out of the game Acosta VIII nave nus
chance. The wee Cuban has al tne
Confidence in the world, and the betting
Is that he will make gooo.
Tuesday morning the Griffmen VII de-
mari to play three games in fh'lauel
phia. The last trip to the Lana r ol
Nod was far from satisfactory. Inc
Griffmen dropped two out or thtee
games before hiking to Detroit and tne
frontier towns. The G!'Hmeh ar u
termined to sink the MaoKmen, OF an
teams. this season, and so they may pc
depended upon to hand Connie MACK
team as many defeats as posslpie; lne
Griffmen will go to Phladelpnla on
the 1903 train, and will return lhurS-
day ni"St to be in shape to race tne
Western teams on their appearance the
next day. The Cleveland Indians VIII
be the first Western team to play the
C;riffmen here, and the home boys nope
70 crawl IN on the leaders at the ex-
pense of the Indians. Here is the way
in which the visitors will tackle the
June 4, s, 7. S-Cieveland.
June O. TO- list Louis.
June IL, IA, 10. B,-Chicago.
June y, Is, ls-DetToit: q I. ,
June 25, 26, %, 29-Athletics.
viii leave for New York, to be away for
month If they haven't gained hish
place by that time, you fans may con-
clude that they haven't chance
Much comment has been heard re-
Earding the shift of Rippy Williams TO
first base and Chick Gandil to the
bench The ostensble reason ls Gan-
dis illness, but the real reason is the
heavier hitting of the third string back
etop, Williams Is the real leader or the
team with the fail He ought to be In
the lineup every day. The Grinmen
need hitting more than anythms, else Sc
III is not filling the bill. Williams can
be counted upon to hit the ball ana
while he may not be the smooth heIder
that Gandil surely is, he is hlttihs TOT
a great deal more than the regular first
sacker.
Since returning home the writer has
heard a lot of fans discuss the ball
team, and their one complaint Is that
the team needs more hitting lf this Is
true. Al Williams, Merito Acosta ana
John Henry ought to be in the game
each and every day: The, nig third
string backstop is hitting better than
Gandil, Acosta leads Shanks, and Henry
Is the best hitting catcher, not count
ing Williams.
The Griffmen led the league on the
wrong end with the bat. Anything thet
will increase their offensive strength
will be good for them. Unless they be-
come more vicious with the stick they
haven't a chance to he counted among
the contenders. Mere fielding and pltch-
ing will never win the 1918 pennant. NO
matter what Clark Griffith says, a
Ught-hittinR aggregation is doomed 10
failure so long as any other team eN-
lists which is able to get the runs nome
The runs count more than the great
catches. 1t is the hitting team which
wins pennants.
Ainsmlth has heen hlttlhg IN poor
fashion, and should be benched He Is
now out of the game with bad finger
but on his return Manager Griffith
should be fussy about his hitting, even
as he is with that Of Connolly, Shanks
or Acosta 1t is n distinct weakness to
have a catcher in the lineup who can
. not hit the ball.
Morgan, thanks to couple OF lucky
days in Detroit. has crawled up above
the 200 mark. but he should be COM
pelled TO maintain this low average
10 keep his place in the nfield, Major
league infielders with 200 for their aver
age should be superlative fielders tc
hold their places on their teams. Nor.
gan is no superlative fielder. At least
three second basemen are better field
ers than he is, giving him all that IL
coming TO him.
Bhsn II comes down to the last snAly.