Evening star., 1941-04-13

Nobody, that is, except Griffith.
Just before game time he sidled to
the presidential box and extended
a new ball. With a Chesterfieldian
bow, he appeared before Mr.. Taft.
Lets see you throw this ball to
the pitcher, Mr.. President" invited
the guy who had been called the
Old Fox since he was 80 years old
and earning a living as a pitcher
with candy arm.
The royal fingers reached for the
ball and the presidential arm drew
back A couple Of old grafexes,,
shooting at 400th of a second, re-
corded blurry evidences of the con-
cession. Baseball, at that moment,
became the national pastime. Down
through the years the Chief Execu-
tives faithfully have followed the
ritual Taft, Wilson, Harding,
Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, the last
"luckiest" of them all for the Mats
Griffith has won three pennants
and a world championship at WASH
ington, but his favorite team is that
1912 club. 1t was firmly buried in
eighth place on May 80 when the
new manager, as old then as his
present manager, Bucky Harris, is
now, persuaded the stockholders to
buy a first baseman named Chick
Gandil. At the time, Griffith was
proud of this purchase for $4,000.
With Gandil on first base, after
coming up fresh from the minors,
the Mats won II straight games,
which still is major league record
Later Griff regretted the Gandil
deal because, as a member of the
White Sox. Chick was one CT the
notable figures in the 1919 BLACK
Sox" scandal.
Life as Pioneer.
The Washington ball club made
$4,000 that first year with Griffith
as manager. The pilot got one
tenth of it. Earlier, in order tc
insure his job, he had bought one
tenth of the stock by hooking every
thing on which he could lay his
hands. He was born in Clear Greek
Mo, of pioneer parents and he
has been pioneering all his life
When the Washington opportunity
knocked, he made the most of it
The stockholders of the Washing
ton club in 1912 offered him a piece
of stock at SIS per copy. 1t was
worth $3.50 Years before, with
Ban johnson and Charles Comiskey
he had organized the American
League. He had jumped the Cubs
of the National League and per.
.sonally he .raided that circuit ot
many of its star players in order tt
set up the new order. He felt that
he was due a loan, inasmuch as
johnson had become the president
of the American League and Comis-
key owned the White Sox.
Both Johnson and Comiskey de.
clined an advance. Desperately
Griffith looked about and then HI
remembered his friend, Thoma.
Noyes. For years he had been one
of Mr.. NoyeS' favorite characters
and the part-owner of The Wash.
ington Evening Star, together with
Ben Minor, attorney for the team
and Ed Walsh, an insurance man
agreed to sell Griffith all the stock
he needed at cost. With native cum
ming and the boldness of the Nevada
faro dealer he once. was, Griffith
mortgaged his Montana farm fol
$4,000, bummed $500 more. and
purchased a one-tenth interest
That made him the biggest single
stockholder.
A vast change has come over CLARK
Calvin Griffith over the years. Wher
he broke into organized baseball ir
1888 he was hellion from way
back. He was II at the time anc
he remained bitter. hard-fighting
tobacco-chewing, umpire batting fig.
ure, until after he had starred with
the Cubs and the White Sox anc
the New York Highlanders, as tht
Yankees were called in the old days
When he came to Washington ir
1912 he was tough guy. He wa!
the bantam rooster of baseball. HI
didn't win, as a rule, but he fought
until they carried him out. Ht
drank his beer and he inhaled hi.
mash fumes and his on-the-fielc
vocabulary still is a model for al
that is intended to be vicious. Mean.
while, he levied a fine of SIS fol
every cussword uttered by any Of
his players.
The Old Fox got married to q
comely Scottish girl he met in Chi
cago. She was the sister of an ole
pal Of his, Jimmy Robertson. The
new Mrs. Griffith didn't know q
buns from . field goal and to tht