Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-29
BY j. ED GRuLO.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
BOSTON. Mass. May 29.-Chick Gan
dill, the giant first baseman recently pur-
chased by Manager Griffith from Mont
real, reported to the Nationals here this
morning and will play his first game this
afternoon in a Washington uniform. II
ever a ball player was pleased by deal
it seems to be Gandil. He is SO tickled
over the fact that he is to have chance
in the big league that he is anxious to
get out on the field and show what he
can do.
II have every confidence in my ability
to make good with the Washington
team" said he upon his arrival; "and
think that l will prove that no mistake
was made in purchasing my release l
have been in this company before. but 1
was a green hand then, and the two
years that / spent in Montreal did me q
lot Of good
| Gandil is only twenty-three years old.
is over six feet tall and weighs 40 pounos.
| He is said to be remarkably fast on MS
feet and, according to those who are
| familiar with his ability, Is second only
to Hal Chase as fielder.
| If there was any device in operation IN
the New York grounds yesterday for the
4
| signs it was useless. for after MS ex-
| perience in the previous four games Grir-
| fifth was not taking any chances. and ne
had Ainsmith give two different sets OF
signals, switching from one to the other
| every inning. The score might indicate
| that johnson was hit rather hard, and sc
| he was. but not until he had e comforta.
/ BILE lead. when he made no enort to 100
| the Highlanders until they got, on the
| bases, when he would cut loose. linn. Tor
| instance. who has been doing really fine
| work with the stick in the series, looked
| like a novice yesterday, Johnson strik1ne
him out four times on the very kind OF
ball that he has been hitting for three
bases. linn seemed lost entirely. and
| plainly showed that he missed something
| that he had grown used to-.
| When the Highlanders leave their own
grounds there Is going to be falling on
in their batting. Had the team remained
at home a month longer 1t would prob
ably have established a fine batting
record which. however, is sure to su1er
when it gets away from its own grounds.
There are some strenuous days In store
for the Nationals. To begin with. there
are four games to be played in the next
two days. and after the double-header
DECORATION day the team will be forced
to take a thirty-six-hour railroad ride to
st. Louis where series Of four games
is to be opened Saturday.
Just what the outcome of the four
games here in Boston will be is hard to
predict. The Red Sox are going at a
good clip now. and 'Griff" is none too
strong on pitchers. He will work Walker
and Groom in the double-header today.
and then fc- Decoration day he will work
Hughes and johnson. 1t would seem
that Johnson's easy days are over There
Is to be no more rest Of three and four
days for the Nationals star from this
out. Griffith proposes to work him much
more often than he has been worked, for
he realizes his only hope lies in Johnson.
as the others are either out OF form or
suffered because Of the existing conditions
| In New York. That. however. is to be
proven by their work from this out.
| young pitcher named White. who
graduated from Princeton last lear.
was given a chance to work olt by
Manager Griffith in New York before
yesterdays game. The youngster made
q splendid Impression and is n,w a
member of the team.
White pitched against the batsers in
practice and seemed tC have plenty of
stuff. He has hac s"me professia;is;i
experience. He Etched for Wilkes
barre in the New York State League:
but was let oat without getting much
l Of trial.
| The hitting of the Nationals in the
FIVE games played here has been a
revelation. In no series that the team
L mas ptdycu luIS spring Hue ~ HI AS
well as here. and yet 1t failed to win
more than one game. Yesterday the
hitting was splendid. every one Of the
drives being clean cut and hard.
Heretofore Quinn has always been one
of the most puzzling pitchers that the
Nationals have had to face, but ne had
lost his cunning or the Nationals
have solved his delivery. for in his
last two appearances against them In
New York Quinn had been numerically
nnnndad YQatQrdav he did last
more than a little over an inning. and
during his stay on the slab the Ma
tionals drove out six hits.
President Ed. Barrows Of the Inter-
national League was a caller on Man
ager Griffith this morning. BarrOws
has seen Gandil In many games and he
| congratulated Griffith on having Sc
cured the Montreal player.
He Is undoubtedly the best first
baseman l have ever seem" said Bar
| rows. land he will make wonderful
difference in the Washington team
| There is nothing he can't do. and ]
look for him to be the sensation of the
league by the time the season Is over
Howard Shanks is gradually getting
into his batting stride. The fact that
he has not been in the game regularly
has been a great handicap to the
lyoungster SO far as hitting is concerned
but with regular work he Is showing
seem to be the slightest doubt that he
has the making Of a good ball player
Shanks Is sure to play until MoelleY
| returns, and Griffith does not propose
to play Moeller until he has entirely
| recovered from his injury.
Grtf1th, by the way. is seriously con-
sidering the ACCESSIBILITY of consulting
a surgeon to find out whether or not
an operation to Moeller's arm might be
beneficial.
Every time Charley Street and any one
of the Nationals catchers clash the wis
dom Of Griffith in making the trade las
winter becomes more apparent. Street !:
not near the catcher he used to be. Yes
terday during the early innings OF the
game the Nationals ran bases on him a.
will, and his slowness OF foot was shown
, up later in the game when he hit to thu
bases and could not score on a local sin
gle 10 right center, which followed. hav
ing to hold third base on the hit Stree
: is not at all popular in New York. Thu
fans there who enthused when the trade
was made have soured on Gabby, ant
he comes in for a good share OF criticism
from the stands these days.
: Scout Kahoe has been with Manages
Griffith for the past few days and will
| soon start out on tour of the eastern
!, leagues Griffith is anxious to add (
D good pitcher or two to his STAFF as sool
as possible, and he will have Kahoe ruI
down every tip on a twirler that he ha
in his possession. GrifIith figures that
he can add a good pitcher or two by mex
spring he will have q team which
will be hard to beat. for he figures tina
, the addition OF Gandil will work wonder
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