Evening star., 1926-02-19
Figures GriffS First.

II am not prepared to venture an
opinion as to the order of finish fol
any of our rivals. but | fully expect
them all to land below the Nationals,
and that will be good enough for me
l suppose it might be considered bet
ter form for me TO confine myself to
merely hoping that Washington viii
win or to use the soft pedal with some
such Stereotyped lines as that old one
to the effect that any team which
beats us out will know it has been in
q battle.
But that is not the way I feel
about it at all. so why should l say
50? 1t may be that the Nationals will
get licked even badly licked, but
not until it has happened will | be-
lieve it. 1t doesn't take much to
throw a base ball machine out of
gear. Loss of star player or two
will turn the trick, and no club has
a guarantee of immunity from acci-
dents. but with a fair break in the
matter of luck we will not have to
ask odds from any of 'em.
THE race may be a close one-fn
fact l expect it to be-but that 5
just where we shine. Winning our
first pennant was no child's play and
if another grueling finish develops we
can be counted on to put up just as
stiff a scrap as we did when We noSed
out the Yankees in 1924"
Has Calculated Pitching.
To demonstrate how much thought
he has given to the forthcoming cam
paign Harris has even doped out the
exact amount OF help he expects to get
from each of his hurlers. He smiling
ly admits that his figures may be sub
jected to radical revision by eventual
tiles, but his anticipations on this
score are interesting if for no reason
other than that they furnish u line on
how he rates his fingers.
To begin with, Harris has conclud-
ed that SO victories again Will be Suf-
fiCient to attain the title. He looks
for q of these to be turned in by
Johnson. An even score is the num-
ber he expects from Bush, and he has
Coveleskie down for II, Ferguson FOR
16. and ogden for a dozen, while Mar
berry is expected to emerge with
brackets 10 times. He did not go so
far as to apportion the 80 losses that
would go TO make up the schedule OF
154 contests.
Ii will be noticed that Harris failed
TO take Ruether into account at all.
He offered no explanation or THIS he-
vond the fact that he was considering
only the buXmen who were assured
for service, which Ruether most Ger
tainly is not, in view OF his flfm re-
fusal to accept the contract offered
him.
May Go to Giants.
Rumor has it that d deal is in the
making whereby the Dutchman VIII
be waited back into the National
League, from whence he came last
season, in exchange for Hugh NC
Ouillan, veteran right handler of the
Giants. Harris declined to either
deny or affirm that such a swap Is
being considered, but some color was
lent to the warn by the fact that
Clark Griffith yesterday held an ear
nest conference with John Joseph NC
Graw, the pilot of the New York club.
They met, apparently by chance, at
the races which inaugurated the
meeting of the West Coast Jockey
Club at Winnwood Park, the new
track Just outside of Tampa. Neither
would admit that their conversation
went beyond the confines of how to
beat the pari-mutuel machines, but II
was observed that no entry lists or
form charts were consulted during
their Confab.
To swing such swap waivers
would have to be obtained on Ruether
from all of the other seven clubs III
the American League. and the same
procedure be followed in regard to Nc
Oufllan in the National League.
Both performers have earned the
reputation of being hard to handle,
and this might help in getting the
pitchers out of their respective cir
cults, but while pilots in the parent
circuit might readily acquiesce tc
passing up McQuillan, who was
charged with frequent fragrant
breaches of discipline last season, when
he pitched only two complete games
and finished with a record of winning
but two and losing three, more diff
rultv could be expected in getting the
American League magnates to pass up
Euether.
Did Well with Griffs.
The Dutchman helped the Griffmer
TO the extent of bagging Is victories
last season, while dropping only yer
diets, and also proved quite an asset
In the batting way.
Ruether himself was at the track
yesterday, having run up from Sara
sofa, where he is connected with a
subdivision that McGraw is develop
ing. He refused to go into details
about his differences with the Wash
ington club, but said that money was
not the chief consideration.
Il have asked for only modest
raise in recognition of what l accom-
plished for the Washington club last
RADIATORS, TENDERS