Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 161, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 July 1914 — SHANKS IS CLEVER FIELDER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SHANKS IS CLEVER FIELDER

Manager Clarke Griffith Puts One of His Players Ahead of This Speaker of Boston Red Sox, "Howard Shanks is, in my mind, the greatest fielding butfieldfer in baseball” This is the complimentary estimate of Clarke Griffith, when the manager was discussing the defensive strength ,of the whole Washington combination. [ “Like the rest ofthem. Shanks makes his errors, but if he has a chronic weakness in fielding I have yet to discover it He can come forward, go backward or move to either aide. No one is his equal in handling grounders and he throws so fast and accurately that he keeps the value of hits down to the minimum. "I have'often rated Tris Speaker as the leader, Jout now I give Shanks the place. In tact, I doubt if there has ever been a much better fielder than Howard. "We all know that Shanks is no world beater when it comes to hit-

ting, but he has always met the bail bo bard that there is still hope for the tide to turn, and then—- “ Furthermore, I would like to see any club in the country present a stronger defense than We do when Johnson is pitching with Ainsmlth catching. They beat us once in a while with thia crew going, but whenever they do they know they have been in a battle,’’ concluded the manager. *

Howard Shanks.