The Washington times., 1916-08-27

Lect OF Bobby Roth and Ivan Howard
upon the old bunch. These fellows
they commenced to really think that
they might slip through to q champion
shlp. the only chance they had Was
tnat Boston would smash to pieces and
men: men: rsllying. cut down the Tigers and
serve force in the pitching stan 10 hold
the gait through the entire season.
Have Seen Best Days.
Washington 10 a team that has seen
It's best days. Griffith must inject new
blood. for his veteran players are slump
ing backward. and the new ones have
pot yet developed penpant class. with
waiter johnson as the chief asset. the
team always Is dangerous. and II has
iot OF power In spots, with Gripping
WEAKNESSES which do not seem to heal.
Inc club has weakened in direct pro-
portion to the loss Of effectiveness ana
working power by johnson. and perhaps
VIII continue to do SO. Griffith In n
genius At working pitchers. but he has
.ho tneory OF one man carrying the
great ouik OF the hardest work. II II a
very hne theory-or used to be in the
osys when ball players IMAGINED the
Sm,cI part OF baseball IL winning Rames.
out IN tnese days when the wear and
.es. on the GALAXY wing II computed az
SsreIuIy as are the batting averages, II
well and willingly. but there IL . l,neo l,mit
Me remarked In March that, in our
opinion. Fielder Jones IN head ana
ssnaouider. sae above Al the managers in
sort efsns Of mstsnisI sia thiat Mit 4 he had any
we would boldly throw. away the
cope ana predict that Jones would
kindiy XII i, obliged by proving that what
rather sorry mess Of us GOOD. hf b.d. sGos and &
indifferent players from two cIuhs
snd has taught them to play base
ssh,,nu esh Further; ; he has kept the team
outeissssd and whipped. and When
he finally whipped four pitchers into
working shape and began 10 rotate
them: he Just waded through the
or course. he has not the strength
through the entire season. The team
!. q lot better than II was at the
slayer. sn; no! 5oss: S:. g. ,.IsS
them baseball. II was Z rather des.
psrate task TO take that mess OF
Feds and Browns and melt them into
q coherent ana working ball club. but
In nxarins the Browns today. you
offensive and defensivs pe'ntS sSiiity' III ooto to
every man on the team and . lot
and even more to shotten. who. At
last. has found a manager that can
get the best best results out Of his un-
oIl,in The Brggn. viii! keep right on
ed to win. but a run OF accidents and
hard luck on the part of some OF the
leaders: and those Browns will be
right there within striking distance.
Just now the pace Is so terrific that
one or two OF the stronger clubs may
blow up and break temporarily under
the strain. 1t will be hard luck for the
tire field will romp past It. and. once lost
the ground will be hard to regain.
II looks to me as II the White Sox
will be hrst to break. and I discern
pretty clear signs that the Yankees and
Cleveland teams already are faltering.
The pace IL too hot for them.
Weather Hurt Some Clubs.
As in the National we hnd that the
strong teams Of the American League
were handicapped by the long and pro-
tracted cold during the spring. That
cold Spell hurt Detroit perhaps worse
than II did any Of the other teams, but II
undoubtedly affected Washington and
to some degree. the White soT and Red
last twenty-five years in which the
teams Of the. major leagues came North
after the training season IN such excel
lent shape. 1t seemed to me that every
club. with the exception Of Washington.
reported In perfect condition. and that
the pitchers were In fine fettle. The
end Of their trip. but II was q remark
ably good spring for training. Then,
just as the season got under way, the
worst weather Of the last quarter cent
territory.
It was we'll. It gave Cleveland and
Philadelphia a chance to win a lot OF
games. In fact. 1t Is hard to see how
the Athletics would have had any stand
ing at all in the American League but
for that brief spurt when. all the
teams being tied up by cold weather,
they were as good as any and perhaps
better on account OF the youth OF their
players. They doped to lose more than
tbat record all hollow. In fact, II
looks as II they have a chance to beat
the old st. Louis teams record for de-
feats. 'r.
Scolds a Little.
The dope in the American Is run
ming so truly I didn't intend to scold
at all. but It Is necessary to state that,
no matter how II may help financially,
or how exciting It may make a pen
nant race. It ID not a good thing for
baseball, to have certain teams boosted
and strengthened as New York and
Cleveland were this year. The Ceve-
land case was more or less excusable.
The team had been hopeless. and II
was necessary to help It In order to get
anyone to buy II.
Several clubs were willing to send
excess players there to bolster the
club up-and did IL. do not think
any of them expected that their as
sistance would result In a fresh rival
for pennant honors-suntil the Speaker
deal was made, doubt whether Bos-
ton realized what Speaker might do
In transforming a hopeless seventh
place club into an active pennant
factor.
But the building up of New York.
especially at the expense of the Ath-
letics. is not good. either for dope or
for baseball. I know II Isn't good for
baseball, because ] have received not
fewer than hundred letters from all