Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-09-18
Bio Pitcher Leads All Rivals in
Being Defeated by This
Margin.
GRiFF HAS USED SQUEEZE
PLAY BUT ONCE THIS YEAR
Passes Up Offensive Factor Success
fully Employed by Other Man
agers-Shanks to Play Short.
By J. ED GRILLO.

Ever since Walter johnson has been a
member of the Washington team he has
been unfortunate in that his team on in
Vulnerable occasions has failed to get
Linn any runs. while tie opposing team
has been able to gather in one tally. suf-
Icient to win the game and charge de-
feat against Johnson
This happened again yesterday. Other
pitchers who do not class with Johnson
seem 20 be lucky enough most of the time
10 get enough runs from their team
mates to make victories possible, but
johnson has to go at top speed in most 81
the games he pitches. and then frequently
loses them by to Q.
Luck has only occasionally broken the
! ether way for Walter. 1t would be easy
to prove that he has lost more games by
4 to score than any pitcher VINO has
been in the game as long as he.
Just how many more games the Ma
tionals would have won this season had
the team occasionally resorted to the
squeeze play is hard TO estimate. There
has been but one occasion this season
that this play was attempted, and then it
proved successful
In yesterdays game at st. Louis the
bases We're full and none out. Yet no runs
We're scored. 1t was all right to have the
first batter fail. but the second one up
should have taken chance on the
squeeze. which would have brought one
run across and maybe two
Manager Griffith does not believe in
this play, yet other teams have won a
lot of games by this method of of.
Tense
The Mackmen have not been easy
picking for the Tigers in the present
ha To- 6arc
race to go their best in order to beat
them by single run in the two games
played. 1t required ten innings for the
Jennings team to beat the tailenders
yesterday. and the day before when the
Tigers worked their way into first
place, because of the defeat of the Red
Sox at Chicag go. they gained only one
run margin over the Mackmen.
Boston now is only four points behind
Detroit. Having beaten the White Sox
yesterday the Red Sox moved back into
second place. Beginning tomorrow Bos-
ton will start a three-game series in
Detroit and then wind up the western
trip with four games at Cleveland,
while the Grifmen are playing a SINH
lar number of games at Detroit.
Shanks is the next one of the MEM
bers of the Nationals to be given
chance to short field. He probably will
be shifted to that position tomorrow,
when Mike Menoskey is expected to
report to the GriYmen at Cleveland.
Menoskey will be placed in left field
to allow Griffith to get a line on his
ability. Menoskey has been playing
right field for the Minneapolis team
all season.
After experimenting with Morgan and
Shanks at short field, Manager Griffith
will be convinced that neither of this
pair will be able to fill McBride's
shoes
There is no better utility player than
Howard Shanks, but he is not as great
a shortstop is Mcbride.
Shanks has played more positions this
year than any other player in the
American Lee que. Shanks has played
every one of the outfeld positions, was
at third for some time, played several
games at short and. incidentally, proved
himself a most competent first base
man in about six or eight games.
Manager Griffith proposes to make
fight for Third Baseman Smith. who. ii
is claimed. was sold to the Cardinals
of the National League too late to make
the transaction legal
smith was the man the Washington
club wanted from st. Paul, and Griffith
intends TO take the matter up with
the national commission in the hope
Of having the sale to ST. Louis set
aside.