Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-28
R|XEY WON'T Join
TEAM THIS SPRING
Virginia CoIIegian Promises to
Give Griffith First Chance,
However.
Thirteen TWlRLERS ARE
ON THE LOCAL LIST
II Formidable Staff Can Be
Developed Nationals
Chances Are Good.
BY ]. ED GR1LLo.

Eppa Rixey. the Virginia College
pitcher, will not join the Nationals this
spring. Rixey had long conference with
Manager Griffith yesterday afternoon,
during which he made it plain that he
does not intend to give up his studies to
become professional. He does expect to
pitch major league ball though some day,
and as this is his last year at Virginia
il is not at all unlikely that he will join
the team late in the summer.
Rixey is a very impressive looking young
ster. being several inches taller than six
= feet. and one of those long-armed, rangy
individuals who should develop a lot of
stun, particularly as he is a lcft-hander.
Griffith is believer in the future, and
Z he was not at all disappointed at Rixey's
determination not to quit school just yet
He figures that 1t will benefit the young
man to pitch college ball for another sea-
son before joining the professional ranks
Rixey will probably have several oppor-
tunities to show Griffith and his players
what he mas In the way of fooiers wnen
lottesville, for he will likely be pitched in
both of the games the college team Is
scheduled to play against the big
Ieaguers.
One reason for the popularity of base
ball lies I'm the fact that the average
patron of the game considers himself
thoroughly capable of running the team
~far better than the man in charge. This
characteristic of the So-called fans stimu-
lates discussion and consequently gen.
crates interest
Managers of ball teams are the recipe
ents Of many communications. These
come from all sorts and are mostly Of an
advisory nature Not infrequertly are these
signed by the writer. but more often Is
the word fan used to identify the writer.
"Alexandr1a Fam" and. to use vulgar
expression. II was a ''beaut.''
The writer started by criticising the lay
ing out of the ball park, which he charac-
terized as the work of boneheads. Then
our friend from Alexandria tore the team
entirely to pieces. He demanded that
Milan, Street and Mcbride be disposed of
at once and that some local material be
signed in their stead. He incidentally
Informed Grifiith that he had already
given evidence that he did not know his
business, and took occasion to give every
one and everything connected with the
local club a strenuous turning over. The
amusing feature of the letter was that
the three players whom the writer recon-
mended to take the places of Milan, Nc
Bride and Street are three amateurs who
find II difficult matter to hold their own
on the local lots.
The acquisition Of Taylor the Browns
Vile. Tex. southpaw. brings Grihith's
which IL Is hoped will not prove hoo
doc, for If there is one department on
the team on which much depends. 1t Is
the pitchers With high class staff
Of four twirlers. much Of the weaknesses
that any other department Of the team
may develop will be more than Offset
And there seems to be q good chance to
have a strong pitching staff here. john
son. of course. Is a recognized star, but
he needs at least three first-class helpers
to make the staff formidable and 1t is up
to Griffith to bring this about. There
does really seem to be some good ma
tcriaf among the pitchers. Dixie Walker
and Bob Groom should show q whole
lot of Improvement. Grif1th will be able
To team them the art Of pitching which.
when added to their natural ability, IL
sure to make them effective.
From a physical standpoint at least.
Karl Cashion gives the most promise.
The gigantic physique of this youngster.
together with the fact that he has ter
rife speed and not at all q poor curve,
gives him a chance to become one Of the
greatest of twirlers. He Is of course q
green hand and needs a lot of develop
ing. but he liz young and the chances
are all in his favor. As for Tom Hughes
he can earn his salt by occasional APP
pearances. There are games which Tom
can save because OF his knowledge OF
the sport. OF the others little or moth
the outset of his career as a National.
but did not last. He. too, needs school,
ing and may In time be a successful
twirler. The youngsters, and there
are quite bunch OF them, are all un-
known quantities. but only time will tell
what they amount to.
Five weeks from tomorrow the first
squad of the Nationals will report at
charlottesville, and week later the en-
tire team viii be In action there. Not In
recent years has any training trip PROM
iseo so much interest as the coming one
for the reason that never before have
there been so many positions in doubt
as there are this spring. Heretofore
every position has virtually been assign
ed to some player long before the team
went south. What youngsters were taken
along were not figured on to break into
did, This spring ii is different. Except
ing Mcbride and Milan, the catching
STAFF and Waiter Johnson. not a man in
the squad Is sure OF position. There Is
~ among players " no are unknown here.
There are sure to be new faces galore
when the team In $ up here for the
opening game Of the season
There are Flynn and Spencer for first
base, and while Mcbride Is believed to
have q clear field for shortstop no one
can pick the players to hold down the
other two infeld positions with any de-
gree Of certainty. What is true of the
infeld is also true Of the outfield for
Milan is the only one Of the lot who Is
sure OF his job. With this condition
existing, the training trip will be an
interesting one indeed An almost en-
tirely new team will have to be develop
ed before the season opens, and on what
success Grifith will have In this respect
depends the showing Of the Nationals
I'm the race.
Ted Sullivan. known everywhere where
base ball Is played, Is In the city to spene
q month or So Sir Tedford, while still
in touch with everything pertaining Il
the game. not actively engaged in Il
these days. Ted is a believer in Griffith
He says that the new manager will dis
play great interest in his work. and III
hgures that this will make a great differ
ence in the teams showing. 1T faxe,
time to build UP ball teams" said he
"but believe that Griffith IL the mar
-hn can TURN he trick fhnsrui, foo rn,scf