Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-02
PANORAMA OF SPORTS
IN DISTRICT COLORFUL.
Activities of Sufficiently High
Tone to Keep Fans Intrigued, But
Griffmen Proue Disappointing.

above the midway point in winning
percentage.
June proved a most disas
month. OF the first Is games PLAYED
then. but four were garnered by the
erstwhile champions. That woefully
weak showing was made on the road.
At home the Nationals did little better
during July. True. they managed to
subdue the Athletics and the Browns
here, but they got nowhere against
other opposition.
Nor was August particularly good
to Bucky Harris and Co. An indif-
ferent Western tour was followed by
a home stand, in which many games
were rained out and those that were
played generally went to the visiting
clubs. But toward the end of that
month the Nationals suddenly took j.,
new lease on life. They stepped out
to create a record season winning
streak of 10 games and went on to
capture 10 of their last % engage
ments.
Even Harris Was Puzzled.
The failure of the Nationals to
finish better than they did was some
what puzzling even TO Bucky Harris,
their manager. He began the season
with a fine lot of material, generally
aforementioned and inspired by pre-
vious successes. But he soon discov
cred there was little drive in his
athletics. At times they flashed cham
pionship form. but usually they play
ed only an average brand of base ball.
Some have insisted that repeated ex-
periments with the outfield In the
early part of the season prevented the
I.4h eroftir1o trrdoV- in Cnn6
order. Others have argued that the
failure of the youthful Buddy Myer to
fill the shoes of the veteran Roger
Peckinpaugh at shortstop in a capable
manner was mainly responsible for
the clubs drop.
But the outf1eid functioned well the
greater part of the year and Myer
was no failure. He played as good a
game at short as any man used by
four or five other clubs in the circuit.
True, the club fielding record for the
season was nothing to brag about, but
the club did hit. 1t finished the season
at the top in the official batting
| figures.
Slump in Pitching Notable.
/ Probably the failure of two pitchers
to work up to the form reasonably
expected of them at the outset of the
campaign hurt the Nationals more
than anything else. Manager Harris
expected good results. from the efforts
of Joe Bush. procured from the
! Browns in a Winter trade. and Alex
Ferguson, who did so well In 1925
Liter being transferred from the
| Yankees to the Nationals
And this pair of hurlers failed
miserably. Bush, who established
fair record while with the Browns in
1925, never did anything for the Ma
tionals. Nor did Ferguson ever per-
form capably after the flag race
started.
In game after game the Nationals
gave these pitchers good leads, only
to have them more than Offset any
advantage by their weak slabbtng.
Naturally, these pitchers faded out Of
| the picture before midseason, Bush
being released outright. while Fer
guson was shifted to Buffalo.
But before leaving they had handi-
capped their club so much that 1t
could not make any great Roadway
later.
One of the strongest men of the
Nationals was Leon Goslin. He led
his club at bat with a rating OF .354
that made him sixth best batter in the
league. After period of disciplininG
about midseason. Gosun was shifted
from left to center field and developed
into one of the finest middle gardeners
in base ball.
Marberry Best of Mats.
Only Ave of the Nationals lot of
pitchers were above 500 in winning
percentage. Fred Marberry led the
lot with a record of II victories
against seven defeats. But Fred did
most of his work as a relief man, in
which respect he was accounted the
best in the circuit. During the season
he took part in 81 games, finishing ~.
An unpleasant incident of the local
season was the attack Sdpon President
Clark Griffith of the Nationals in
letter written him in August by Ty
Cobb, then manager of the Detroit club.
In the letter. Cobb directly accused
President Griffith of prevarication, al
leging that the club head always had
been inconsistent in his attitude to-
ward umpires and recalcitrant players.
Cobb implied that the letter was the
result of Griffith's action and unfav-
orable press comment that followed
the Detroit pilots tactics on the field
during a double-header in Clark Grit
fifth Stadium in July. President Crit
fifth had formally complained to Ban
Johnson, head of the American
League, about Cobb's conduct I'M
nediately after the double-header.
1t was an open letter and for a
time it was thought President Grif1th
would seek redress through league
channels. but nothing has since been
heard of the affair.