The Washington herald., 1921-08-11
LaMotte to Get
Chance at Short
ORourke's Recent Err
ratio Work Causes Nc
Bride to Bench Him.
y nv JACK NYE.

Robert LaMotte. the husky young
f1f~'de- secured last season from
the Tampa Club of the loFrida State
LeaSue, viii cease to decorate the
players bench and become a full
fledged regular when the Griffs next
appe~r in action against the Red
Sox Saturday.
eDIerIuIned to make as strong a
finish as possible, even though the
chances of winning the pennant
have become decidedly remote. Man
ager George Mcbride has decided to
bench the unsteady, though at times
brilliant. Frank O'Rourke. and give
the ambitious youngster a chance
to show his worth.
This decision was reached yester-
day at the close of the series with
the Browns. dduring which that err
ratio arm of ORourke proved costly
to the team. "Blackie" contributed
a pair of errors in yesterdays game,
one of which proved costly. and on
the previous day his misplay in the
ninth inning caused the game to go
into extra innings. resulting in the
ultimate refeat of the Griffmen in
the nineteenth.
O'Rourke's Arm Uncertain.
can be traced to a weak arm which
has been with him for many sea-
sons. This weakness was notable
last season with the Toronto club.
but O'Rourke was hitting at such
pace and showing such flashes of
brilliance that President Griffith
believed him to be a good risk.
During the winter he paid a visit
! to Bonesetter Reese for treatment
and reported at Tampa with the
intelligence that his whip was
much improved. In the early games
he continued to rely upon his
underhand htrow, but later he cut
loose and has been shooting them
over in the regulation way. Dur
ing the entire season his arm has
had a tendency to be erratic.
has become a general favorite with
Desite this drawback, O'Rourke
the fans. The bugs enthused at his
flashes of marvellous fielding. AS
a ground coverer "Blackie" has few
equals in the league and his spec
iaIty is picking them out of the
dirt over second base when the
chances are 100 to 1 against him.
In addition to his fielding weak
ness. O'Rourke's hitting has been
far below expectations. With To-
ronto he maintained an average
we'll above 800 for the season, but
major league pitching has been
much harder-for him to solve. To-
day he carries a mark of .234.
Big Chance for La Motto.
With LaMotte, a very promising
younEster on the bench, Mcbride
believes that the time as come to
give the kid a chance to earn his
money. The Florida recruit has a
fine throwing arm and appears TO
be sure on ground balls. Also he
has shown signs of doing fairly
we'll with the bat, having a mark
of .2S6 in the six games he mas
played this season. Al he could
continue around that pace. the
punching power of the team would
be decidedly improved.
Mcbride is also planning to use
Earl smith in right field until Sam
Rice's injured ankle improves, be-
I7cvfr" That the greater experience
and fielding Of the former St LOUIS
p.aycr viii he an Improvement over
the combination in use yesterday.
There is some doubt whether Joe
Judge will be in condition to play
i nSaturday's game. The brilliant
first sacker has been performing on
his nerve for the last week. he
refused to take a rest because OF
his determination to help win the
series over St. Louis, out II may
now be necessary to give him
chance to allow. his injured leg to
heal. In case he is hors de combat
Saturday, Brewer will pastime at
first, where he handles himself
much better than in the outfield. =
Faced by two off-days on the
schedule, the Griffs will take
well-earned rest today. Tomorrow
they will journey down to Rich
mond to play the Virginia League
team of that place. after which they
return to meet the fast-goinS Red
Sox i ma couple of games, begin
ming Saturday.
on Monday they board the train
for ST. Louis, where they begin
their final trip through the West
on Wednesday. Their next appear
ance at home after that will be on
August 30, when they clash with
tho New York Yanks