The Washington team at one time or another occupied every position in the race except the first and last. The Senators were in seventh place for a few days in the opening weeks of the season, but not anywhere nearly as long as they were in second place later on. They climbed out of the second division by rapid stages and after May 1 they were driven back into it only once during the rest of the year. That was for three days in the beginning of June. In the meantime they had knocked Boston out of second place for a short while in May and, most of the way, had enjoyed a close fight with Philadelphia for third and fourth spots. Near the middle of June, after the Red Sox had ousted their White namesakes from first place, the Senators also passed Chicago and started after Boston. But the youngsters were not yet hardened to the strain and soon fell back to third and fourth. On July 5 Washington went into second place and held onto it, with the exception of three days, for a period of two months. September brought a slump and Griffith's men surrendered the runner-up position to the Athletics for about two weeks, then came back and took it away from the Mackmen at the end. * * * * * What happened to the world's champion Athletics the public did not really know until after the middle of the season. Then the suspensions of Chief Bender and Rube Oldring blazoned the fact that Manager Mack's splendid system of handling a Base Ball team by moral suasion had fallen down in the face of overconfidence and too much prosperity. Few people saw any reason for changing their belief in the prowess of the Athletics during the first half of the season, because they were in as good position most of the time as they had been the year previous at the same stage of the race. They were expected to make the same strong finish that swept everything before it in 1911. Not until the second half of the season was well under way did the adherents of the Mackmen give up the battle. Philadelphia's sterling young infield seemed to stand up all right all the year, but the outfield and the slab staff gave Connie Mack sleepless nights. When Dan Murphy was injured in Chicago in June it was discovered what he had meant to the team. Dan was what the final punch is to a boxing star. His timely batting was missed in knocking out opponents, and the injury kept him out all the rest of the season. The strain which Jack Coombs gave his side in the world's series of 1911 proved more serious and lasting than was expected, and if Eddie Plank had not come back into grand form it would have been a tougher season than it was for the Athletics.