Evening star., 1916-07-21
BY J. ED GRILLO,

! The splendid work that the patched
| up Nationals have done in the last
and present series. winning four out of
fve from Cleveland and three out of
the first four of the six games that the
Sox have toplay here, has again put
| the team in the first division.
If the present winning streak can
| be continued for the next two days
! there is a good chance of further adj
vance of the Griffmen. At this time
the locals are but three and a half
games behind New York, which is lead
/ ing. and one and a half games behind
Cleveland. which is in third place.
That all this has been accomplished
since the accidents to regular mem
bers of the team forced Manager Crit
fifth to do lot of experimenting with
his idle players is most remarka ble-
The necessity of being forced to utllize
both Sam Rice and Ed Charity, now
ever, has served to improve the team
for this pair has shown that II is oi
great value and can be relied upon TO
be very much in evidence during the
remainder of the campaign.
| Sam Rice corralled four hits in the
two games yesterday, and the fact that
every one of these was made on a lell-
handed pitcher is conclusive eVloence
| that Rice is going to be one Oh 'he
most valuable batters in the league.
The average leftshanded hitter is use.
less when facing a southpaw pltcner, ou'
Rice has demonstrated that these pitcn-
ers are no more puzzling to him than the
righthanders Rice does not seem to be
a fash in the pan Ever since he has
been played regularly he has denvereo
with the bat and is not only leading ms
team. but is very apt to De among 'he
leading hitters of the league
Rice's hitting ability is natural He
has a short. snappy blow at the ball. and
has perfect batting eye, never hlttng
at balls that are not within reach Oh MS
bat
incidentally it is beginning to be proved
that he is anything but a poor neider.
He has been handling all sorts OF mes
out in right, and in due time should be
one Of the best of fielders. Having speed
Rice can cover lot OF ground, anu ne
seems also to know something ABOUT
running the bases.
1t is decidedly questionable If Harry
Harper ever displayed better form tnan
In the second game yesterday. What
helped his effectiveness was the fact tnat
he had almost perfect control. giving but
| single pass in the ten innings ne oc-
cupied the mound.
The first hit Harper allowed came In
/ d.
pened to catch hold of low one and
| lined it to center. But Schalk famed
and Russell forced Collins for the hnal
out.
When a pitcher can hold hard hit
! ting team like the Sox to three hits in
ten innings he is displaying rare abll-
ity.
After Joe, Boehnng got out the first
inning he steadied down and pitched
splendid ball. His fielding, too. was a
big factor in the game, for less com
petent fielder might have been In a lot
of trouble with so many balls 10 nan :
die Boehling is pitching consistent
ball these days. and he Is sure to be
| one of the winning pitchers OF the
team.
Manager Griffith undoubtedly realizes
! that he might be better off II he had
allowed Ed Charity to break into the
game a little sooner. Charity is play
ing out Of his regular position at nrst
but is doing mighty wei! there He Is
an excellent catcher, however, and
ought to be allowed to work behind
the bat as often as feasible, for the
very good reason that Charity IS
dangerous hitter and is apt to break
up a ball game at any time
Roth Raw Moran and Rip Williams
will be ready to get in the game by
the time the team reaches Detroit, and
there is little doubt that both of them
will be in the lineup in the first game
next Tuesday, when four-game
series is to be opened on the Tigers
grounds.
George Mcbride played brilliant ball
| in both games. He had nineteen
chances and was charged with but one
| error Mcbride is one of the most
consistent players in the game today
He has no equal in handling thrown
| balls on attempted steals. and when it
! comes to knowing what to do with the
| ball Mac is never at loss. In the
| tenth inning of the second game. for
| instance. with Collins on second. when
Ness hit to him he grasped the situa-
| ton in an instant and had the ball in
| Shanks' hands before Collins was
within six feet of the bag. This was
the play which put the Sox out of the
the bases at SO critical a stage meant
whole lot.
John Henry went through two hard
BAH games and at the end apparently
was as fresh as when he started
Henry is a tireless worker. He never
weakens under any conditions and he
had much to do with the good judg
ment that both Boehling and Harper
displayed in pitching to the various
batters in their respective games.
Buck Weaver had great day, not