Evening star., 1916-05-03
BY j. ED GRILLo.


BY their victory over the Red Sox
yesterday the Griffmen have beaten the
champions five games out of seven.
On only two occasions has the Hub
team been able to beat the Nationals
this spring. Yesterdays game. like
the two preceding contests. found the
Griffmen hitting the Red SoX pitchers
decidedly hard. Carrigan's twirlers do
not seem to be in very good form. and
the locals had no trouble fattening
their batting averages at their ex-
pense.
Grffith's team Is now playing a high
grade of ball. Not only is its fielding
classy, but the team is hitting as it
never has before. Rondeau and Judge,
in the two cleanup positions. have
finally gotten into their strides, and
runs are coming decidedly easy for the
locals. Other members of the team,
too are hitting well. and on the whole
the Griffmen seem to be hard-hit-
ting aggregation that is also getting
good pitching.
First place is safe for the locals de-
spite the fact that they Will not pc
active today, there being no chance Tor
any team to pass them in the race 10
morrow the Griffmen open four game
series in Philadelphia. and waiter
Johnson is slated to pitch TINS game
Griffith realizes that his team must
play its best ball in order to make
good showing against the Mackmen.
for that team is by no means a wear
one and is apt to upset calculations AT
any time.
clean sweep. but Griffith will be We'll
satisfied if he wins three OF the 1our'
which probably will keep his team at
the top of the race and have IT IN
which open here next Tuesday Tor
long series of games.
Joe Boehling pitched brilliant game
of ball against the Sox yesterday. ana
but for the unfortunate muf by Judge
he would have scored Shut-out over
the champions. None of the runs scored
| by the Red Sox were earned ana Will
not be charged against boehiins ny
the official score. for there was a
chance to retire the side in the seNenth
| without run being scored, hence
| Boehling was not responsible for What
| happened later.
The Griffmen had another great DAY
, with the bat. hitting Ernie Shore naru
er than he has been hit in some time
| In eight innings the locals made eleven
hits for a total of twenty-one bases
| there being four triples and two dou
bIes on their list. The Boston pitchers
have absolutely failed to hold the loca
batters in check in me .nree .hs saMes me-
tionals has been one of the surprises
of the spring games.
The team has won its last five
straight games and may be able to IN
crease this record materially before Il
| suffers defeat.
George Mcbride attributes his con
sistent hitting to the use of Cubar
| wood bat This spring Rondeau anc
haf
these bats from a Louisville firm anc
Mcbride has been using one ever since
with the result that he is hitting bet
ter than ever before in his career. Many
of the Nationals are using the Cubar
wood bats and they are giving genera
satisfaction. These bats drive a bal
much harder and farther than the wooc
which is used in most bats and for this
reason are very popular with the play
ers.
Mcbride had a very busy day of Il
yesterday. accepting eleven dffhcul,
BILE. His accurate throwing was one
of the features of the game.
Incidentally. the Nationals captain
continued his good stick work, scoring
run himself in the fifth. which he
opened with a single. and driving in a
run in the sixth when he hit safely to
center.
| In every one OF tne tnTee games "itH
Boston the Nationals seemed to have
more spirit in their playing than the
visitors displayed. Grifnth has his
players hustling. and a result they
are winning games.
| 1t was asserted in these columns s
after the Griffmen took their first east
ern trip and played the Yankees and
Red sox that neither of these teams
had shown any marked advantage
over the Griffith team. and that If
There were no more troublesome teams
in the league than this pair the Griff-
men were sure to hold their own. This
lhas been proved since then, for the
Sox in a majority Of the games they
have played.
| 1t is logical to suppose that the
western contingent, which will start
Its first invasion next week. will not
be any stronger than the Yankees and
Red Sox. and it is therefore probable
that the Nationals will continue to
win a majority of the games they are
scheduled to play on their own
grounds.
| There is no way for an outf1eld to
play for Henri Rondeau. He is just
| as apt to hit into field as the
other. and hence often crosses the op-
posing outfelders by hitting just where
they are not playing for him.
| In the fourth inning yesterday. for
instance, he hit the first ball pitched
on a long journey to left field. but the
ball struck on foul ground and
amounted to nothing. Then Ron
deau came right back and drove liner
! into right field. the ball hitting just
| inside the foul line and rolling behind
| the pavilion, which netted him three
bases. Players who saw Rondeau in
action with the Minneapolis team last