Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-16
BY J. ED GRILLO.

Charley Street Is going after a new
record. The star catcher Of the Nation
ais hopes to be the first man to catch a
base ball from an aeroplane. He VIII
make the attempt Tuesday afternoon on
the polo grounds in Potomac Park. An
thony Janus, the aviator, has invited
Street to make the attempt. and he has
consented. The airship will be about five
hundred feet I'm the air when the balls
are thrown from basket filled with
balls to be attached to the side OF the
seat so that they can be dropped at varl-
Gus points as Janus circles about the
polo field. AS the aeroplane Will be
travelling at about forty miles an hour
when the balls are dropped, 1t Will be
most difficult to judge their descent. But
Street believes it can be done, and he
proposes to try 1t. Being the first man
to catch a ball dropped from the Wash
ington Monument, Street wants to add to
this record the one Of catching a ball
from an aeroplane, though 1t is not like
Nv that the ball will be dropped from as
great a height as the Monument, though
the fact that the aeroplane will be trav-
cling at considerable speed will make the
feat all the more difficult.
his best Yesterday, and yet he would have
won had his support not faltered.
When Johnson Is right his fast ball
has a jump on It. 1t starts about Shout
der high and then seems to hop over the
bat. Yesterday most Of Walters balls
were low, and that hop was entirely abb
sent. which may account for the clean
hitting of the Bostons. though it should
be remembered that In three different in
stances these hits came after chances TO
thu eide had been offered,
Ordinarily Johnson's performance was
good enough to win. but every mtsplay
counted against him.
It seems to be a hard spring for the
crack pitchers to get a winning start:
Mathewson and Walsh were pun meled
the other day and johnson was also
touched up rather lively. But the game
yesterday should do johnson world of
ter advantage in his next appearance on
the rubber.
Eddie Ainsmith. like most catchers.
ness Being on the bench for week
seemed to have gotten him or OF his
stride and he gave the first amateur
ish exhibition since he Joined the team
Ainsmith was responsible for the loss
Of the game. Not by any one play. but
usually SO accurate and strong, was
away off yesterday and the visi-
tors ran bases on him at VIII. Three
of these pliers blossomed into runs.
while his poor throw to Henry In the
sixth was responsible for the three
runs scored in that inning. His other
error was a dropped foul fly from Will
liams' bat, who. upon being given q
life. hit for a base and scored Engle.
It is evident that the only way to keep
both Street and Ainsmith in good form
is to catch them every other day at
least until they have become thorough
ly seasoned.
Johnson's performance in striking
out the first three men to face him in
the fifth inning and yet having a run
scored on him has perhaps never been
duplicated in the history Of base ball.
In the records Johnson gets credit for
striking out Gardner. though his third
strike was at ball which hit In front
of the plate and got away from AIM
smith. In that inning Johnson eStao
lished another record. that OF striking
out four men in a single inning.
Miller's catch of Maddens long line
drive in the second inning was easily
the tielding feature of the game. The
ball was hit directly over his head.
making it most difficult to judge, but
he ran with the ball and turned just
in time to catch 1t. There was man
on at the time and the hit would have
been good for three bases.
When that game is dissected it shows
that Walter Johnson would have won
II easily enough had luck favored him.
The very first run which Boston scored
in the fifth was the one resulting from
the third strike getting away on
in the sixth. II Ainsmith had been
throwing IN his usual form every one
Of these runs would have been stop