Evening star., 1940-02-25
BY EDDY GILMORE,
Associated Press Sports Writer.


Associated Press Sports Writer.
It's time to call Clark Calvin
Griffith something besides the Old
Fox-it's time to call him Mister
Baseball.
The bushy-browed, stogie-smoking
president of the Washington Sen
ators is 10, and for So continuous
years his life has been wrapped up
professionally in a hard ball with
a horsehide cover.
The word professionally" makes
1t sound as If Griff has been sitting
around in a front Office swivel chair
directing the destinies of a flock
of paid athletes. Nothing is further
from the truth.
Clark Griffith wasn't born into
baseball He had to blast his way
into the business and he did it the
two-f1sted, arguing, wrangling, fight
ing way.
His parents were poor farmer peo-
pie in Vernon County, Mo-, and his
father died when Griff was 2 years
old.
He doesn't remember the first time
he saw a baseball, but he remem-
bers vividly the first time he learned
it had money angle. 1t was a
lesson he never forgot.
A barefooted, knotty little fellow
Of 10, young Griffith was part of
a crossroads bunch of boys who de-
cided to play with real store ball.
They raised SIPS and sent another
youth IL miles on a horse to pur-
chase the precious object.
THE second time somebody hit
that ball." said Griff, ut bust"
Taught Griff a Lesson.
Investigation disclosed the ball
buyer paid Is cents for the ball and
pocketed the dollar. Seldom, If ever,
since that day has Clark Griffith lost
money in a baseball transaction.
He played his first professional
game when he was II, travelling 40
miles in a wagon to get the chance.
He was wild in those days and base
ball kicked him about, from coast
to coast, in fact.
But Griff loved this game and he
kept on. When he wasn't pitching
he nailed handkerchief to fence
and threw balls at it until his arm
was sore. But he gained control
control that made him one of the
games great pitchers.
In 1893 Griffith joined Pop An
sons famous Chicago team, and he
baff1ed the batters eight straight
years. He tangled with the best
the game ever offered-Amos Rusie.
Iron Man McGinnity, ct al, and he
held his own.
Griff's record as pitcher is filled
with games in which his opponents
scored a lone and useless run after
two men we're out in the ninth
inning. He held to the belief it
was unlucky to infiict an unneces-
sary shutout on a team.
Griffith was dubbed Old Fox be-
cause of tricks he employed while
pitching. He rubbed ball with wet
hands, cut 1t with his shoes, COL
ored it with dirt and also was so
canny he generally outguessed his
hitters. He pitched with his head
long after his arm was gone.
Helped Found American League.
With Ban johnson and Charles
(the Old Roman) Comiskey, Grif-
fifth founded the American League,
and since then, along with umpires,
the National League has been the
object of his RACES.
Griffith came to the Nations Cap
itol in 1912 and took over the sad
team that made the country's vaude-
vile houses rock to the chant of:
"Washington-First in war, first
In peace and last in the American
League"
During his first year as manager
here he established a big league
record, winning II straight games,
16 Of them on the road.
In 1919 Manager Clark Griffith
became president of the Washing
ton team. He did it by investing
all his savings, mortgaging his prop
erty, borrowing 100000 and per-
suading William Richardson of
Philadelphia to put up another
100000.
Since then, his team has won
three American League pennants
and one World Series, and Clark
Griffith has become as much part
of Washington as the Capitol dome.
The average Washingtonian thinks
Griffith is a nickelnurser-a
penny -counter-a club owner who
puts profits ahead of performances
on the field.
But those who know him smile.
Clark Griffith stingy? Why, he's
the easiest touch In town. Griffith
gives away hundreds of dollars in
loans he'll never get back.
A Kind Hearted Old Gent.
He's the city's supreme sucker for
a hard-luck story. He hands out
money to people he never saw. He
is soft-spoken and one of the kindest
men who ever lived.
Buns stop him in the street and
Griff politely listens to their tale.
His personal charity extends
throughout Washington
Childless, Clark Griffith adopted
seven children. One of them is
married to Joe Cronin, manager of
the Boston Red Sox. Griff sold
Cronin to Boston for the staggering
sum of $250000. and he saw to it
that Joe got q f1ve-year contract,
since renewed for an additional five
years.
A son, Calvin, is the head of the
Washington owned Charlotte Hor-
nets. One child died. To the rest
Grifi has been a loving, doting
father.
Grif1 plays a good game of golf,
but his great love is baseball. When
the Senators are at home he's
always at the game, a familiar
figure with his coat OF, a black
stogie. smoke swirling about his
white hair.
Perhaps it's because Griff has
seen so many ball players in his
day that he has a hard time re-