Evening Star Newspaper, July 14, 1926, Page 38

BATTING SPLURGE LIFTS GRIFFS TO THIRD PLACE Clouting at .395 Rate in Last Five Games Brings Four Victories—Amass Twenty Safeties in 13- 10-9 Triumph Over White Sox. -~ BY -JOHN B. KELLER. TANLEY HARRIS has said that one more pitcher would put the Nationals very much in the race for the American League pennant, ; despite the wide gap now existing between them and the leading " but skidding Yankees. But if his club continues to “bu'st the apple” during the remainder of the present homie stand as it has since the Western invasion started, it will pick up-a deal of ground , before leaving town, pitcher or no pitcher. o i After playing through weeks of the campaign without arousing much excitement with_their . warclubs, the holdover Champs have - suddenly | Jaunched upon a batting jamboree, reminding one of the murderous mauling 3 im;ulged in by the Yanks early in the season that put them where thiy are today. g In the A tionals have slugged away at a .395 rate. About everything ! - pitchers have tirown-has been slammed around the ball yard. nTh® Nationals started slowly against the Western clubs,, hitting lightly and losing the first game to the Browns, but since they have been . ‘whaling away for dear life. Four wins in a row have been registered, the fourth over the White Sox yesterday in a 13 to 9 game that opened the series with Eddie Collins’ club Mft- ing the Nationals to third place in the American League standings. Average Ten Runs Per Game. In the five games here with the West, Bucky Harris' outfit has comb- ed opposing pitchers for 73 hits in 185 times at bat. These hits, totaling . 307 bases, have netted 50 run—an | g% [ average of 10 runs a game. Four times the Nationals haye hit " in double figures, waiting un#fyes- terday to chalk up their greatest total of safeties. They socked four White Sox flingers for 20 hits that ‘were good for 30 bases. Three triples, four doubles and- 13- singles leaped | { ' from the bats of the .Harrismen. _ Mixed with these were three passes, [ and every pass was converted into a five games against Western clubs within as man{ d‘vs,tthe e Western run. Prominent in this terrific onslaught | were Earl McNeely, Goose Goslin and Muddy Ruel. Earl stepped to the | plate five times, and each time he cracked out a hit. They were pro- ductive hits, too, for Earl drove " across the plate four runs in ad dition to registering a couple him- . gelf. The Goose helped himself to a L pair of triples and a single, scoring | twice and sending another tally home, Muddy, with a double, two gingles and a brace of pass not knock in any markers, but his keen eye put.him in position to score four times. X Four White Sox pitchers took all this punishment. Al Thomas, who appear- ed to such advantage when he held the Nationals to a couple of hits and ‘beat them - in Chicago:last month, | started, but failed to last through the ~ first inning. A five-hit bombardment " ‘drove him from the .- with the L round only one-third completed. Mil- " ton Steengrafe followed Thomas, but © quit under fire in the fifth. .George . Connally pitched through the si and Hollis Thurston finished the game. Runs were made all except Con- the Chisox in the latter part of the fifth with doubles by Ruel, Marberry ‘the way. They were not pl jeast by the seven-run lead the Na- tlonals staked themselves to in the " first three frames and before the fitth " inning ended had whittléd that lead tg & lone tally. That was dore at'the ex- pense of Dutch Ruether, . thres good innings weakened fourth and did a fadeout in the fifth, glving way to Fred Marbe: after $wo Chisox had been retired in this in- " ning. Seven of the eight hits glegned . off Dutch were concentrated in the fourth and fifth sessions. Marberry did not find the going any too smooth. He had one bad inning, _ when the White Sox again got within & run of the Nationals, and after that | 3 frame in which wildness got him into ‘trouble. But he was fortunate in that . his club always came back for more ‘markers after the White Sox tallied, and he finished his day’s work with a | snappy ninth inning, the second of the game in which not a visiting play- | er got on the runway. *"The Nationals did not wait to amass a'\ substantial lead. ° ‘Three singles and a brace of triples off . Thomas netted four markers in the first frame and in the second a pass to Ruel, followed by the singles of | Ruether and McNeely off Steengrafe, were good for a tally. Passes to | Moon Harris and Ruel were turned | Into runs by Ruether’s and McNeely's pingles in the third. Ruether Driven Out. Then the White Sox began to make . the afternoon interesting for Dutch. [ With one gone in the fourth, Sheely singled and after Barrett flied out . mcored when Kamm doubled. Gra- | Bowksi's one-baser sent Willie to the plate. : Dutch got himself into trouble at the outset of the fifth by passing Mostil. Hunnefleld, who singled Johnny to second, was forced Collins, but singles by Falk BASE BALL ;235 AMERICAN -LEAGUE PARK Tickets on Sale at Park at 9:00 AM. ‘ith Powerful Attack. BIG LEAGUE LEADERS.: 26| Kni SPITBALL HURLERS DUE TO TOIL TODAY Spitballers were likely to clash: this afternoon in the second game'of the series between Nationals and White Sox. Manager Collins of the visitors intimated that Red Fuaber, oldest is slabmen, ‘was apt to - for ;- while Collins might swing to Al Thomas as {and starting ‘pitcher. This ng fellow, who was driven from &W slab befo! the first inning ended yesterday, is much better hurler than he thén ap- peared, He proved ‘worth in Chi- cago last month when he allowed the Nationals but two hits, one a bunt, and a pass. -Then only one National got to sec- ond and he had to steal .to do that. President 'Grifiith left this morning for points South. He will ' make his first stop at Memphis to watch the Chicks and"the. Barons in action. ‘I am making this trip to buy ball players, not ball clubs,” was his part- ing shot Johnson has come to Wash- ‘This one -rflv:d at Sibley at " |- Membérs of the Eliott Bold :a- meeting - tonight at 8 o'clock Elwer Leo) Smith, who has been pitch- ughts- of Alexan- © Wi geriés with the .Norfolk ip, . | defeated the Navy Yard nine, 13.to 3. FIFTEEN SANDLOT LEAGUE | “GAMES BILLED ON SUNDAY INE unlimited games and six in the junior and midget classes make N up the program being offered for Sunday by teams.in the Capital " City Bage Ball League. crowds to. two of the clashes in the unlimited series, which. . Sunday.. Mount Rainier and Maryland Athletic Club u‘:m:,h lea petitors for Prince-Georges County honors for several seasons, are meet- ing on the Mount Rainier diamond, while at the own Hollow the Chase team is to get a chance to show its wares against the erbockers: by 3 The complete schedule follows: 5 m5 BENNING HAS SUNDAY ig TILT AT ALEXANDRIA & Al witnessed an amat this city '-hlidnnon. ety iwards is Motor Company team tm? e one el Havets at Wi polios at East guurfi.y kept the* sundown 'rom operating at the Ellipse, includes a meeting ond Trensury Jn “the - Government | The O ury- in.. the vernmenit ) Boat Club a it “bringing Fashion Shop |ists will an:‘-?:‘:r in_the Chun“n&: - | of Commerce regatta at Belmar, N, J. - |on Saturday, July 24. Five paddlers - | will make the trip, and as Capt. Mag- - |nus Bales has not yet made known bis selection, the entire squad is work- ing at top speed. Manager Eddle Carroll has called practice for the Dreadnaught Athletic Association for Friday afternoon in the Dreadnaught Park at 5 o’clock. e tomorrow and Saturday afternoon on the North Alfred. street diamond, where Siinday’s game will be played. Either Hartman or Butler will twirl with Capt. Elliott catching. % will ‘attempt to humble the Union Printers a second time tomorrow.- their Tenth Regiment has two postponed games to_play off and may tie the Aviators for the championship. The i | atter club's final win * was over the Engineer Battalion, 17 to 0. are on the look- $tein at Lincoln 5159, in the home .of 1286 M Morse street northeast. call Lincoln 5233 after 8. Managers of “teams Northern _ Virginia unlimited cham- plonship series meet tonight at the ‘Washington Post Bullding to com- plete plans for thelr title games. go_to Shen- three-game & Western jway team. One tilt will be played Friday and a double-header Satur- L i 3 1 £ | ;e » £ t3 ; ] 2 Moose Juniors, winner of the Sport series ¢! yesterday 13 3 g ? £ o Ef 1 i " i !s : i i ¥ 5 £ 5 L3 kit sk i i ; i g i fs o a o art S99~ Neighborhood .rivalry should draw big|. ned last a Tennis i 37 ¥ 110] la_110)—1 7| 7/ 24| 7i10} t 8] 711} DAVIS CUP TENNIS MAY BE CURTAILE lvmmn:dm- LONDON, July 14—A report just issued says that at g of rep- resentatives of 15 mations 11 for the Davis Cup, which was_ held here recently, it was decided to ‘send to the American Lawn tha Davis a year. France, Great Britain, Denmark and New Zealand supported the proposal, which, however, was defeated. decided, - nevertheless, the proposal to the American association that it might be submitted to all nations which compete for the “tasting better than ever” TO MACKS IN FLAG HUNT HE sgdry of Jci Pate of the Philadelphia Athlefics is one of the inter- esting yarns of the ba}e ball season. He has done what the Athletics wished he might do, and he may do a lot/ more of it if the Yankees crack until they yawn as wide as a hippopotamus coming down with ennui. . In his jugate the uest for left-hand pitchers, with: which he expected to sub- erican in 1926, Hannibal Mack corralled Pate, 2 mth'p‘:w of Fort Worth, Tex.,.who had been the standby of the Fort Worth club [ not only in the Texas League, but in flu:.gflmeys ?ha‘t :vergrphyed i.f:fle | Dixie series. Wherever base ball men met there was always a lot of talk that Pate was a winning pitcher who ate fire liké a’ salamander. Once a statement was made that Ty Cobb had safd his team would have won the American League champion- ship in a certain year, when the New “York club won, if only Pate had been willing to come. Hast and play, ball with him. . Pate wouln’t. He pre-{< ferred’ the flaring winds of the Lone Star State to the Eastern climate, and Detroit to Texas is as far Fast as London to New York. b . Mack Attracted Pate; Mack angled for Pate in many ways, and when at last he put in a. draft Tor him and put up the most for the draft there were some of the old guard who went around commiserating With ‘Connie for losing his judgment as well as his cash, becaure they insisted that nothing could get Pl? out of Texas. to no club prior to July 12. ‘The Athletics have played more than half of their season, and Pate has fully justified the belief that Mack had ability. } lnlhll . t may also be added to the credit of this ruddy-faced and amiable son of Texas, who has been missed out on the prairie over the hill from the courthouse Fort Worth, that Pate battered home winning runs both as a pinch hitter and as & regular of that | team when he has been confronted y. with the need to do so. May Get 10 Games. ‘With any kind of luck for the re- maindér of the year, he should win 10 games for the Athletics if he has to do so. There were American League men and National League men who fig- ured that Pate stood the Athletics too high. kind. He has done nothing of the ‘He has fitted in exactly where Mack figured upon putting him, and . |and.the if the Yankees had not run away with the lead at the beginning of .the year, and’ if they had not held it all the time right down to today, it may bave been that Pate would have been transplanted from Texas soil to that of Phlladelphia only to grow another hamplonship bud, and maybe that ‘will_ be his fate yet. To.a large -extent - it will depend upon._how generous the Yanks may prove to be, or how unreliable they may prove to be, as the heat of battle heat of atmosphere increase. But no matter what may happen between now and the end of Septem- ber, Pate is one player who has made good on his contract to date, with every indication of paying other dividend before 1926 is over. (Copyright. 1926.) g 5 i2 5 " 5 = -n.u.a-no-o.: e =4 -] % ) eunauatioSLBLEEL 2, R R hEgEash, vaztzzi‘.iiiié!nfi i wiiu e Complete Rames, started. e o runiseioEsES ninry TR b, ebpie vyl 08180350t Lost. OOmEauBinatin Games W. S. Kenworthy & Co. 1617-19 14th St. N.W. North 441 ice and Parts Tires, Tubes and Repairing _ “MID-WASHINGTON" 1602 14th St. N.W. Phone North 366