Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-05-04

OLD FOX GRIFF HAS GOOD
+ HURLERS WITH WASHINGTON
Despite Weakness at Bat Work on Defensive
and Strong Pitching Gives Senators Advan-
tage Now in American League

1ptr GRIFFITH Is a fox. He and
,sis benchnen admit It, But there are
...s Of foxiness just as there are de-
~ managerial ability. Which to
,..as 10 the point in question, the Old Fox
-, been foxy enough to collect band
net nsettssshall athletes who can be welded into
y " smooth and well-balanced machine.
s,a,,ortheIess, Griff has assembled a
70 ,,,tcbers which may develop into
san - q ,he strongest in either major cir
ons r.his is fortunate for Washington
CUT a. will take not only, excellent
ps,uss peCass hut an exceptionally puzzling and
'huIlns, huIl,as.rt brand of pitching to offset the
cssaI cons,s,I weakness of the Nationals.
.as,d washington cannot be rated
-. ,han mediocre. Foster Is the most
sn,shed defensive player on the club His
aort AZ third averages UP to an exceed
,ss,v high standard, yet he has not sutti-
ns nisa, hitting ability to be rated an all
iou' ~ tbe rest of the regulars7-Rondeau,
w mn Moeller. Mcbride, Morgan, Judge
and the catcners-lo
startling nature.
t,nt Washington Is strong enough in the
"a 20 get away with n pennant, provided
~ ,,,sn had an effective attack, which
~, have not. Clyde Milan is the only
IVA hitter on the club that be depended
,,nor 70 do uniformly good work. When
"a last figures of the American League
,ssre pnblished, Clyde was rapping at the
~ Of .2S6, a figure which he will very
ilpely maintain or better during the re-
,nainder of the seasons grind Last sea-
ano Milan played in t53 games, made 1876
~. hits for a total Of 1913 bases and fin
,-hod with an average Of .2SS. He Incl
aar,allv stole 40 bases, and Is regarded,
outside of Ty Cobb and Fritz Maisel, as
~ most daring and successful man on
,hs maths in the major leagues.
NIT as remarked. Milan rs the only
r,sn upon whom Griffith can depend abso-
in,ely TO hit up to- pennant-winning form.
I, Js apparent that the burden Is too great
sor the shoulders of the centre fielder
unless he is backed UP by the greatest
pltching ever seen In the American
League
him are correct. believes that he has
chance to land the flag this year. He
bases his hopes on his pitchers, exactly
where they should be based II at all.
waiter Johnson is naturally the main
spring Of the pitching staff. He is more
or less ably assisted by Doc Ayres, Joe
Boehling, Dumont, Harper, Bentley, Gallia
and Shaw.
Boehling, Harper and Bentley, the three
left.handers, who are to oppose clubs
which are supposed to have particularly
weak hitters against port-siders, have not
shown as much this season as the Wash
lngton fans desire. In fact, Gallia and
Dumont have exhibited more all-round
pitching stuff than any one of the left
handed trio with the possible exception
OF Harper.
AT the present rate of development,
those who will take their regular turns
In the box for the Washington club will
be Johnson, Harper. Gallla and Dumont.
Doc Ayres, who gave so much promise
In 1914 has not come up to his press
agenting. Doc it will be remembered,
Is the man who claimed to employ two
sets Of muscles in pitching, depending on
the particular delivery he wished to
use
1t Is barely possible that some of the
weight will be taken from the pitchers
duty by Joe Judge, who is occupying the
frst-base territory. But so far Judge,
though playing a very good game, is not
doing any better than Chic Gandil was
doing when he was released.
The catchers, Henry, Williams, Aim
miith and Charity, are not stars, although
they are by no means weak. Formerly
Ainsmith did all the catching when
Walter johnson was in the box, but now
Williams and Henry alternate with the
peed monarch hurting, and Ainsmith is
doing more bench duty than he has for
several years.
To some, Washington really has very
little chance to win the pennant, unless
the Red Sox, White Sox and Detroit are
sent to VeTdun or somewhere else" in
France for relief duty.