Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-03-06
Weather at Charlottes-
vile Has Been Great
Handicap to Senators
for Three Years
BY CHANDLER D. RICHTER

ARTICLE MI.
| THE wonderful Ty Cobb recently de.
! i ,lared that Washington would never
win pennant until 1t changed its train
| ing camp, and we heartily agree with the
Georgia Peach" In summing up the Sen.
ators' chances in the coming race one must
seriously consider the advantage in phys
ical condition the seven other American
League clubs will have on Washington,
simply because Manager Griffith Is too
| stubborn to admit he is wrong.
Griffith picked out Charlottesville as
the training camp for the Senators few
years ago because he happened to be In
that town during n particularly mild spell
In mdwinter. He was attracted by the
beauty of Charlottesville and Immediately
made arrangements for the team to train
there the following spring. Washington
has had several sad experiences as a re-
suit of Grifiith's selection, but he will not
make a change, simply because he has
been severely criticised for not changing.
IF there ever was an obstinate man I'm
baseball, Griffith is that individual, and
he will not listen TO the advice of his vet.
eran players or the Washington scrbes
when a different training camp Is sug-
gested. Last spring the miserable weather
and chilly winds, which are a feature of
the Charlottesville brand of weather,
Milan. Grifth's best hitter, useless until
August The loss of Jim Shaw, Boehling
and Ainsmith for long stretch can also
be attributed to the poor training facili.
ties offered at Charlottesville.
No Practice
For two weeks last spring the Senators
did not get in days practice, and this
year they probably will fare worse. At
the present time there is five inches of
snow on the field used by the Senators and
every prospect of having some more be.
fore the month is over.
To show how blindly obstinate Griffith
is on this point we need only reprint what
he told Ed Grillo, of the Washington Star,
on Saturday after the scribe had informed
him of the condition of the field.
This is what Griffith told Grillo: THAT
is just what L want. When the boys get
down there today they can get lot of
beneficial work by shoveling the snow off
the infeld, There is nothing better than
that for them"
Perhaps the exercise will do the eplayers
some good but the impression was that he
was hiring ball players and not snow
shovelers. If Charlottesville was situated
further South it would not require great
deal of time to get the field in playing
shape, but as 1t is the field will not be
in fit condition for good practice for at
least three weeks
1t is frozen hard now, which will leave
it unfit for practice even after the snow Is
removed. AS soon as the desired warm
weather arrives the earth will begin to
thaw, and as It has been a particularly
cold winter in Charlottesville it will be
quite a thaw before the frost is out of the
ground
To win the pennant under such con.
ditions Washington would have to be a
great deal stronger than any team in the
American League. AS it is the Senator'S
are not nearly as strong, with training
conditions equal, as five other teams.
the league.
Johnson Still Marvel
One wonderful pitcher can completely
upset the dope in a pennant race if he re-
ceives some help from the rest of the
staff and a few runs per game. Washing.
ton has the marvellous Walter Johnson
but even he cannot turn the tide enough