Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-02-07
PREPARING FOR BASE BALL.
Indoor Work Begins Next Week for
the Blue and Gray.

u inc DdSe Ddll season at HcOTBe-
town will be thrown, when the candi-
dates for battery positions begin training
In the old SKY parlor' dormitory of the
north building. 1t was originally intend
ed that this indoor work should be done
in the gym. but Prof. Joyce wouldn't
stand for it. as he said the base ball
men interfered with those doing gym
nastic work. But Manager Stuart did
not delay long in finding another place.
and before many days had gone by he
discovered that the upper floor Of the
old north building was available. BY
using stop-curtains there Is no way for
any damage being done to the plastered
walls, so that Coaches Ed Grillo and
Doc White will have an excellent place
in which to get the stiffness out of the
arms of the battery men.
There will be at least sixteen on hand
for this anti-season work, of whom four
will be catchers and the rest twirlers.
couple OF excellent backstops out Of the
quartet trying for the position, unless it
is in the difficulty OF selection. for all
are veteran catchers. DUFFY and Ecken-
rode both did the trick for Georgetown
last season, while Sitterding and Mont
gomery have been tried to good advan-
tage elsewhere, the former having starred
In the prep. school and the latter being
no other than the Blue and Gray pitcher
If three years past who is out in new
ole.
AS for the dozen slab artists, they all
carry enviable reps on their shoulders
Cantwell and Devine the only two Of last
years bunch in that department. need
no introduction to Washington enthusi-
asts. since all know that they are there
star, whose excellent work against Tech
last June was greatly responsible for the
latter's downfall. IS counted on to fill
the shoes Of Dimond, the freshman
phenom who went to Princeton. Eddie
Miller. the foot ball captain, has at last
got control Of the sphere and his speed
should make him valuable adjunct to
the catapult staff Mudd of st. Johns
and Wymard Of Mount st. Mary's have
played in this city before, as has also
of the men out for a place in the center
of the diamond are Healy. Dodge, Nc
Cormick. Corcoran and Michaels.
With Cy Mcdonald again holding down
the initial sack. Mayock back on second
and Dukey Mess doing his old stunts on
the other corner, there should not be
much trouble in filing the old vacant
place of the infield. that of shortstop.
with sterling player. since there are
going to be thirteen men to choose from.
Of course. all OF these are not experienced
In the way of filling the hole between
second and third. and some of them are
out for other places. SO that the three
old boys" may have to hustle to hold
their jobs. Smith, Feenan. Hunt and
Callahan are going to endeavor to GUST
and Mohn both want Mayock's badge
Brown should give Mess a hard rub to
stay on third. The rest Of the bunch
including Rice. Pallen and Cogan. are
content to go after the omen place.
Capt. Courtney will again be seen in lef,
Simon d1 hav 4
to fill the other two outfields L. Smith.
the hard-hitting understudy of the 1908
nine, is also on deck. But if these fellows
think they are going to have a pipe they
will soon get wise when Murphy Schlos-
ser. Jim Collif1ower. Vlymen and bikes
start in. Not that all of these first-year
ones are peaches, but 1t is a safe bet
that a couple Of them can handle them
selves pretty well. Especially should this
be the case with Murphy. whose work on
est order.
The number Of candidates will exceed
forty, which Is more than have ever be-.
fore tried for Blue and Gray nine. With
the pitchers and catchers going to work on
the 18th instant and the rest Of the men
two weeks later. the first cut in the squad
may be looked for by the middle Of
March. The weeding-out process usually
leaves five pitchers, three catchers. five
fnfielders and five outf1elders. A couple Of
utlHly IueI arc also kept IN AS
soon as the first cut is made the team
will be formed which will open the sea-
son March q against the Maryland Ag-
giles. Four days later the Catholic Uni
versity nine is on the cards and then fol-
low the big games.
. Beginning with Yale the first of April
there are sixteen battles scheduled for
tn t month. Including Penn State. Cornell.
Fordham. Columbia. Princeton. Holy
Cross. Pennsylvania and Harvard. all Of
which take place on Georsetown Field,
The first trip is to Charlottesville May l
70 play Virginia which In turn comes to
on the third. In all, twelve
e" mes are played in May and one in
June. thus making the complete schedule
a list of thirty matches.
The chances for winning the intercol-
Iegiate championship are unusually bright
1t seems that every other big university
has lost Its stars. while Georgetown
has gained some. PENNSYLVANIA, on ac-
count Of heavy f7culty inroads will be
very weak. as will also be Cornell Prince
ton and Yale seem little better fixed
is a dark horse. But TO pass up
the big title and look to the southern
one-there Is hardly any doubt about
chances for the peerage Of
the southland. Her greatest rival Vir
ginia, will not be az strong AS last sea
son, when Georgetown took three straight
from it. and unless some Of the other
schools th,s side OF the Mason and DIXON
Inc improve greatly they can h rdly ex-
pect to be in a class with the locals
AS soon as possible work will he heg,n
m getting the playing field In shane. TIE
foot hall bleachers will he moved hack to
heir usual position outside the running
rack and the grandsfand will be over
'auled. LIST year the grass diamond
1rOved so much better than the skinned
,nes Of the past three seasons that it has
oeen decided to resow the infield thus
nsuring a good sod when the season
mems