The Washington critic., 1888-04-07
SPRING BAIL GOSSIP !.
i Glance at the League Mines and
the Players.
THEIR FEEMTHrSoF STRENGTH
Gopoment tCauscd by the Recent
Sale OF Clarkson.


lacity is equaled only by that which
brought Kelly to Boston last year.
But there is a difference between the
two transactions and far-seeing base
ball men perceive it. As AL. Spaldng
tersely says: Boston bought Kelly as
an advertisement, but Clarkson to
win games" and that is the way the
majority Of good judges will look ut
il. Clarkson's acquisition means u
great deal for Boston. lie will play
40 be never did before, for he is de-
termined to bring the pennant to New
England if IL is possible. That he is
the'be pitcher IN the country, all
things considered, few doubt. There
are those who will cry 'Pooh,
another spurt like that last year
and Boston will fall back where
10 belongs, fourth place ~ Were
the circumstances the same
rs they were last year IL might
be so. But they are not. There
was constant friction then. Morrill,
was manager, and Kelly, by virtue Of
his notoriety, was captain. This
double-headed monstrosity never was
satisfactory. IL destroyed all har-
Inonious action and killed discipline.
There was continual jealousy of Kelly
among Morril's friends and i'm
patience among the players at playing
second fiddle to man who was no
better ball player than themselves.
II must be confessed that Kelly did
not add lustre TO his fame by his play
ing last year. He was an Indifferent
fielder, and dropped in his batting
Men like Johnston and lIornung could
not but be restive that Kelly should
be the one player on the team. But
there is no need TO hint at the discon-
tent, the lack of discipline, and,
finally, the utter decentralization that
overlook the nine. They are we'll
known.
This year everything promises to
work tremendously. Morrill, will be
captain and manager. Kelly will be
treated like the rest, with the eXccp-
tion that he will be II member of the
star 800, 900 battery" which will be
advertised for all that it is worth, and
Clarkson's position is so well estab-
lished that there will be no grum-
bling over any special honors paid
him. Then, too, the whole nine
know how he ran the risk of being
blaek-listed in order to play with Bos-
ion. Then, too, he has won his asso-
ciates' good will at the start by de-
claring that they are a better nine
than Chicago. There is not likely to
be any petty Jealousy in Boston this
season. The old reliables have come
10 time and signed. An increase of
$1,000 has been made in the salaries,
and every disposition shown by the
management to be liberal with the
men. With such state of affairs,
nothing but accident should keep
Boston from the front this year.
The most satisfactory nine in the
League besides Boston appears to be
Washington. 1t is well provided with
batteries, better than any nine, so far
as the experience in the early spring
games has demonstrated. Gilmore,
O'Day, Daily and Whitney in the
box, Deaslcy, Mack and Murray be-
hind the bat-these are lot that
would be credit to any nine. Shock
has picked up wonderfully in his bat
ting and the outfield is as good as
could be asked. O'Brien is all right
if he will always play his game, and
the only doubtful points are second
and third base. Donnelly is an excel
lent third, and were it not for his
weakness at the bat, would certails,y
20 there permanently. Irwin covers
the base very creditably and is a bet
Ter batter than Donnelly. Between
Myers and Gardner the choice Of the
majority will doubtless fall on the
former, for Gardner has shown no
strength at the bat and is no match
for Myers on the base. There is great
harmony among the players, When
the Providence crowd was dropped,
some excellent players, doubtless,
were let go. But with them on the
nine the rank of the club would never
have been raised. Farrell, Carroll,
Gilligan, Shaw and Hines, they are
all good, but Washington can play
better ball without them. The nine
is more evenly matched than last
year. The young blood will infuse
more spirit into the base running, a
thing in which Washington was sadly
deficient last year. The management
will be more judicious, and better re.
suits can be expected. The men are
better satisfied Whitney, for one.
who signed on Monday and received
what he wanted t$3 ,0OO), will pitch
with more heart this year. The
younger pitchers, Gilmore and O'Day,
will have more confidence in the box
for they will feel that they will be
given as good support as il Whitney
were pitching, something they could
notibe sure Of last year.
Although one cannot Judge how
Washington will meet League team
from the work done in the preliminary
exhibition games, yet the style OF
playing Of the team can be scrutnized
and the defects aseertained. First, il
10 noticeable that the base-running is
generally better than il was last year.
During the early games last year THE
CRTIc repeatedly called the attention
of Manager Gaffney TO the fact that
the nine was running bases very
poorly, and urged that especial atten.
ton be given to its Improvement even
at the risk of losing games. But the
old manner of things went on. The
consequence was that during the
championship season any nine could
give Washington points on stealing
bases. 1t is better this year, but
could still be improved. Second, the
playing is more intelligent. When q
base is left unguarded some one al
once covers il. On long hit to the
field line is pushed out TO return the
ball 70 the diamond. In base-runnina
one runner will make feint TO run
10 attract the ball in his direction
that his companion on the bases may
be given a chance for a steal.
These are just few instances
hastily noted during the games of the
past,week. They indicate that team