Evening star., 1924-09-28
Needs But One Victory for
Right to Meet Giants in
World Series.
SUCCESS WILL END SO
YEARS OF WAITING HERE
Goal Sought Since 1885 About to
Be Attained Under Leadership
of Youthful Stanley Harris.
By DENMAN THOMPSON.


Today one lone victory stands be-
: tween the base ball club representing
the National Capital and the cham
! pionship of the American League. a
single triumph only separates Bucky
| Harris valiant band of athletes from
! the attainment of goal sought for
| many years, but always in vain.
| Coming from behind in a typically
| courageous fashion to defeat the Red
I Sox on an alien field at Boston yes
/ terday, Z to 5, while the Yankees
| faltered. to 3, before the Athletics
! in Philadelphia, the Nationals TO-DAY
! possess a margin of two full games
| over New York, with only two con
tests remaining to be played by them
! and their rivals. This means that
! the Griffmen can get no worse than
! a tie, while one victory for them Or
| a single defeat for New York Will
j assure Washington of the title.
/ Due to the fact that Sunday base
! ball is not played in either Boston
! or Philadelphia, the outcome of one Of
! the most thrilling campaigns ever staged
! cannot be known until tomorrow IT
! is possible for the result to be de-
| ferred until Tuesday and that it may
| involve a three-gam play-of be
| tween tnF Nd dlioildiS anu diIh'Ns
! that has been decreed in the event
! they finish the season on even terms
| but the odds are heavily against this
| and all Washington and its enVlronS
| today are planning for the Struggi"
| for the base ball supremacy of tn"
! universe that is confidently expected
| to get under way here next Saturday.
Then the Griffmen will oppose the
| New York Giants, who yesterday
achieved record brea king feat
| of winning their fourth consecutive
! Naf"nal League pennant and their
| tent. within a score of years under
| the guidance of that master manager
/ JOHN McGraw.
| Seeking Goal for IS Years.
Over a span of So years. since 1896
| when it first had major league repre-
sentation in the old National League.
! Washington teams have Striven
| hard. but fruitlessly, for the honor
! that now is within grasp. a cellar
position, or next to it, usually was
! the portion of the entrant from the
| seat of the Government. this holding
| good even over the neriod of eight
seasons from 1892 through 1899 when
/ the circuit was expanded from eight
I to twelve clubs
! With the organization of the
| American League Washing en-
| joyed little better success. starting
! in 1901. sixth place being the high
! est it could climb for II years until
! Clark Griffith assumed field leader
| ship in 1912. That season he alter
nately bullied and wheedled a club
! composed largely of youngsters to
! within one rung of the championship
| ladder and furnished another second
! place contender the following sea-
! son, hut could not quite bridge the
IN ba nj rla
! here marked the dawn of a new era
! for base ball in Washington and. in
| four of the seven succeeding years
under his management the Nationals
earned first division berth
! Giving up active direction of his
! forces in battle following the close
! of the 1920 season when he became
president of the club, Griffith inau-
| gurated a system of experimenting
! with pilots raised from the ranks.
| but the results attained by George
| Mcbride in 1921. then by Clyde Milan
and finally by owen Bush were far
| from satisfactory.
Griff's Choice Startled Fans.
Convinced that his theories were
sound Griffith ignored number OF
| available managerial officers and
| commissioned another private as field
| marshal. Announcement that Stanley
| Raymond Harris would direct the
| destinies Of the Nationals this sea
son caused CONSERVATION among
| many followers of the team.
| The spectacle of a mere youth of
| 81 summers and possessed of only
! four seasons experience in the big
/ league being placed in command of
! athletes many years his senior: as
! signed to a task at which grizzled
veterans had signally failed, en-
, i
| loyal supporters of the club.
! But their reckoning was faulty.
! They failed to take into account the
! qualities of leadership inherent in
| the stripping whose heady fielding
| and timely batting they had come to
admire. They undereStimated the
value of indomitable courage, a clear
| keen brain and rare inspira tional
| powers They were unaware of the
/ measure apparent to Clark Griffith, "A
! veteran of three decades in the game
| of the attributes possessed by this
| youngster of Welch ancestry
| When Harris succeeded on June "a
| in plotting practically the same ae-
| gregation that had proved such a
| d1sa ppointment the year before to
| first place, the only time a local club
ever had reached that exalted posi-
! tion so comparatively late in a race.
! the fans marveled. but were skepti-
/ Cdi, convinced from previous expert
! ences that it was but flash in the
| pan.
A grueling series of doubleheaders j.
| later took its toll of stamina as re-
| suited in the team dropping back.
| but 1T faltered only momentariIv.
| Returning to the battle with un-
diminished determination it fought
| its way back to the top
johnson Deserves Credit.
| To Walter johnson must be accorded
d generous share of credit for the
| epocial achievements of the Nationals.
! The son of Kansas who in the 37th
year of his age and 18th in local uni
form has been officially honored as the
most valuable player to his team in the
! league fully deserves the homage that
/ is being paid him.
| But it is Bucky Harris who has
| earned the fullest need of credit. 1t
! is he who has welded the material
| into an effective unit and fired il
with the spirit that is due, tomorrow
or the day after, to mark the fruitjon
| of many long years of weary waiting
a pennant for Washington