Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-10

continued from First Pageo
payers pa on the local clubs list. Griffith
League eye on several minor
bIosso,, players who are sure 10
trade some of his youngsters who ara
~ cay the least. an uncertain ouant,t,
1T VII NOT hesitate TO make such swans
,1.o nrow "here there are one or
TWO cracking good young hall nIav.Ts
VINO nave been missed by the draft who
"oufu help our team, and IL / can Sc
cure them for some of the vounystnr.
We nave and who may not make good
next season. l shall be Willing 20 ,noSe
some trades" he said. Il Will no, cor
sider any propositions for any n, tb.
seasoned players we hav. left for 9, a.
. .s to be seen that I cannot spare
To hear the agitation for open me..irss
or the two major leagues one migb, o.,
Ied TO believe that there was a general
,4diiior on the part of the press and pub-
a.; !ic 10 witness these gatherings. but such
Is Tar from being the case.
10 begin with there Is nothing trans
acted in these meetings which is Of the
slightest interest TO the public thar Is
WIthheld from them, and, as for the
Ia useaung oratory In which some Of
me members OF the National League in
oulse, that is better left unheard If
ever II comes down to where the Nation
al league meetings are held open to the
puoiLS they are apt to last from De-
cenper TO April, for if ever there were
set or men who like to talk to the
galleries. the National League are they
ne public is not interested In these
ABSURD base ball politics. This is demon
strdteu by the fact that Just as soon As
the players become active in the snr,ne
OF the year the so-caled magnates are
showed into the background, where they
neiong. The public is Interested in the
md
ball. and not in Fogels, Ebbets. Hedges
ano others, who, by some peculiar prank
or rate, happened to break into the sport
IL Griffith were to start out tomorrow to
get ms team ready for the coming cam
paign he would have his infield made I'D
as follows. Flynn. first: Cunning am.
second; Mcbride. short. and Foster third.
This viii undoubtedly be the line-up
when the team takes the field in the
spring. Notwithstanding the fact thai
John CAMEL. the Rochester manager.
gave II as his opinion that Foster wouli
mt in better at second than at third, Grit
nth proposes to give Cunny a fair trial
there, while he believes that Fos.e r whom
he has seen play. will eventually make m
ideal third baseman.
Within the last few years there has
been greater effort on the part OF all
ball clubs to secure good catchers than
ever before. II seems to be generally
realized that this position must be com
petently filled or the team. no matter / ow
strong it may be in other departments,
stands but little chance of being classed
with the topnotchers
One hears much of the young catchers
VINO have come to the front i'm recent
years-Stanage of Detroit. for instance.
and Thomas of the Athle ics-and yet
when the fact is considered that John
Henry of the Nationals was last vesr,
seeing his first season in organized has
ball, his showing was nothing short of
remarkable. and warrants the pred .ctiou
that the time is not far off when Henry
will have To be classed with the crack
catchers of the league. The average
catcher who comes into fast company
and attracts attention has had seve al
years of experience. Henry came from
college team, had no experience and
yet won the praises of such good Judges
as Connie Mack and Hugh Duffy
In hardly any direction will any team
show as much Improvement next season
as VIII the Nationals in the matter of
speed. BY dropping Conroy. Elberreld
and Lelivelt Griffith has rid tho team
of three annovingly slow runners. who
nave hampered the team more than tho
average spectator would concede.
On innumerable occasions has Il hap
pened tnat these players have faced tho
pitcher in pinch when q single run
might mean victory and have been thrown
out by an eyelash. when a faster man
would have won the ball game Not cnly
has their lack Of speed held down their
batting averages and caused defeats by
their failure to get to first base In time,
but many Is the time that some piaye-
has been robbed OF base hit and tho
honor or winning game when ono or
these players was on the bases and il
was possible to make a force play when
there was no chance TO get the man at
first.
The new men are sure to add speed
There VIII probably not be anything sem
sational about their sprnting but they
VIII be several steps faster than any oc
the THO who are sure to be seen else
where next season.