The Washington times., 1923-01-16

Indians were tied in the ninth, the
Griffs were sure to beat them. That
was when the Washington team was
a fighting aggregation.
A strange iethargy came over the
Griffs last season. Possibly they
lost heart when they found their
hikhly-praised pitchers blowing up
on them. Yes, and some OF those
weak-backed pitchers lost their
nerve when they found their hitters
failing them in a pinch. 1t worked
two ways.
II might be well for DOME Bush
to have posted I'm the clubhouse
next season the figures OF 1872 Tor
overtime games. Let Three vic.
tories and eight defeats" stare at
the boys whenever they start don.
ming their toys. It might be . good
Doc COue treatment.
The pennant-winning Yankees had
the best record for overtime VICTOR
les, eleven out OF eighteen games
averaging .611. -.
eraging .571.
Cleyeland's, eight wins and seven
defeats. averaging .53S, gives Speak
er's gang third place.
The Mackmen broke even in ten
games. The Red Sox, tailenders, at
that. won nine out of nineteen, Tor
an average Of .474.
The Tigers won six out of thirteen,
averaging .462, an0 the Browns won
seven and lost nine, for an average
of .43S.
Down at the bottom Of the dis
graceful heap are the Griffmen,
whose average is bat .273.
The Brooklyn Dodgers have pick
nm a rookie pitcher who would an
author be. He is Charles y. Vi
linger, q six-fOOter, weighing Dut
160 pounds, who had brleI ana
unsatisfactory trial with COnnle
Mack's Athletics last spring.
olI;nper first attained fame on the
mound for the Alabama POLYTECHNIC
team. better known as Auburn, and
on graduating he signed with Will
son, in the Virginia League. 1t was
there that he attracted Connie
Mack's ivory hunters.
Finding the collegian too green,
Connie sent him to st. Petersburg,
Fla, eventual winner Of both halves
of the campaign in Florida last sea-
son. Ollinger won seventeen games
and lost only seven. For one stretch
he did not allow a run for thirty"
five consecutive frames.
.OIlinger, from the figures, knows
something about pitching, but that
is unimportant in his life. He wants
to write books, fiction. In the hopes
of acquiring live, snappy style, Oh
finger is working on Mobile news
paper this winter, spending his spare
time in outlining several novels. He
will probably work on them from
time to time next season on the
bench, picking days when the
Dodgers are either far IN front or
equally far behind.
So far as known, the Brooklyn
rookie is the first ball player to wish
to be novelist. Babe Ruth's mas
terly essays are we'll known. John
McGraw has become an autobiog-
rapher. But Ollinger is the first
would-be novelist to enter the big
show.
Ever hear OF Olaf Erickson's
meeting with the daughter Of
"POp" Arson? 1t happened when
the tall Swede was having his trial
with the New York Giants at Mar
lin, Tex, i'm 1914. Reading of
0laf's passing to the bushes, Fred
Lieb, OF New York. is constrained
to recite the tale for the 'steenth
time.
Dick Kinsella, the Giants scout
was responsible for Erickson's ap.
pearance with the Giants that year
and was tickled to see his protege
show a lot of stuff in the training
| camp. Here's the way Lieb rattles
on with the story:
Erickson pitched the first four in
! nings of an exhibition contest with
J Dallas and did not permit a score
After pitching, Erickson got dressed
and Kinsella, rather proud of the
youngsters showing, beckoned him
! to join him in a field box, where he
was sitting with q young woman.
| Kinsella introduced the ballDlayel
to the young woman, who was play
| ing at a vaudeville house in Dallas
The youngster, being bashfuI, did not
act as though he was particularly
impressed. The lady of the stage
began to fan with the rookie ano
chat in the parlance of the diamond
MY, you know lot about base
ball for lady" said the flatterinc
Eric.
We'll, suppose 1 should know
something about it, said the actress
II am Cap Anson's daughter"
cap Anson," replied the rookie