The Washington herald., 1920-01-02
Figure Grin stung.

y Figure Grin stunG.
Here is the report taken from .
New York paper Of yesterday:
Expert opinion Is pretty well agreed
that Ed. Barrow outgeneraled Clark
Griffith in the trade by which the Red
Sox gained title TO southpaw Harry
Harper, Inhelder Kid Foster and Out
fielder Bobbie Roth and Innelder
Maurice Shannon. the former Oriole.
Most neutral observers believe that
Harper alone would have been a very
! fair return for Roth and Shannon,
neither Of whom Is likely TO be OF any
material assistance TO Griffith In his
, efforts to rebuild his club.
Roth. il is thought, is entirely
! too temperamental to show 10 any
great advantage at Washington. He
fits his stride TO that of his club
and is apt TO loaf when things
aren't breaking just exactly right
for him. Shannon never has been
a frst-class player and probably
never will be.
Boston. on the other hand. re-
ceives three potential players Me-
noskey, a fair fielder and a good
hitter. almost certainly will quail
ify. and Harper and Foster surely
will, though the latter will have
some formidable opposition 20
overcome. Barrow plans TO play
the Kid at second base, but may
shift him to third IL Oscar Witt
shows signs OF slipping. In this
event Mentally will be assigned 10
the keystone position.
It's n Funny World
The above may be all right from
the New Workers point of view, but
just the same Manager Huggins
tried very hard to land Bobby Roth
! for the Yankees while the New
York club had a chance to land him
he was a great player and would
just about round out a pennant
winner. but az soon as he came to
Washington he is found to be want
ing. Funny world.
Buying Players Gamble.
There is no doubt that prices for ball
| players have kept pace with the rising
scale in other fields. When New York
in 1906 got Cy Seymour. who led the
! leag1e in hitting, the price paid. Sl0.-
100. was considered high. Spike Shan
non, who also went 10 the Giants.
brought the same figure. OF course.
neither Of these men were stars. but
| there was no doubt about their ability
to ill positions on the New York team.
That is the most satisfactory thing
about buying an experienced player.
No matter how good a minor Lacquer
may look in his own league. he may
fail in fast company.
The Fr0mme Deal
The switching Of players is often =
gamble. At the time Heinie Groh.
Roush and myself were traded to Gin
cinnati, somewhere in the deal the
! Giants got Fromme. Although From
me had been pitching great ball for
| the Reds. he was a complete bust here
in New York Roush led the league IN
batting last year and Heinie Groh was
the best third baseman on the parent
\ circuit
When Pittsburg paid SesOoo for
Marty O'Toole a new hich mark was
| established for a player whose rec
ord breaking feats all lad been Pc
formed in a minor lea que As Mar
! ty did not make good. the expert
ment was costly. although some Of
/ the cash returned via the box Office
( from fans who wanted 20 sec what
could be done by so high-priced
younCster. The only tangible benz
. VI ENNNbAiE XVI Jul VI AiAla NeAl
was publicity.
Transferring star Helps
AS soon as club owners began 90
| find out that price does not always
mean quality the market took a
drop. The top quotation last sea-
son for minor IeaEuers was about
| S10coo which was the amount paid
last summer by the Reds for Out
fielder See. He has yet to show
that ne can make good.
| The transfer OF a star from one
club TO another is generally a god
thing for baseball as a sport IN
less the fans resent the loss OF one
OF their favorites.
Iris Speaker was a favo-ite In Bos-
ton. and the fans set up a howl
when he went TO Cleveland. But
Boston won the pennant mat year
without Spoke" so the game was
not hurt in Boston and il was great
| ly helped in Cleveland.
| II is possible that St. Louis might
trade Hornsby and. with new blood
and the increased capital from the
deal, finish high enough in the rsee
to rouse the fans. Anything that
could do that would be a fne thirig
/ for baseball all around. for 81. Louis
is a good town when the team Is