The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-05
MANAGER WORDSWORTH WILL
 HAVE TROUBLE IN OUTFIELD

and his speed and ability to purloin bases
 is recognized He is a hitter, too, better
 than the average. He is enthusiastic in
 his work. and a popular favorite.
 However. toward the conclusion of last
 season, Johnston handled one of the swift
 est benders Of Rube Benton with his
 bean, and perforce retired to his downy
 couch for a month and more. Perhaps
 he sustained no injury which will affect
 his work this season. But if he is gun
 shy" then another promising youngster
 has gone the dreary way of Fred Houtz.
 
 All ye members of the fan flock remem- | Der Fred Houtz. Some seasons ago he
 was with Montgomery. He was a clever outfielder, a daring man on the bases and a man well to be dreaded when fac ing a finger. One spring, Birmingham
 tied him to a local contract and there was
 much satisfaction among the local | bugs"
 All might have been well but for con- | tract which Manager Harry Vaughn had | signed which necessitated a game between l his henchmen and the boys of the Uni- Versity Of Alabama. In the first inning IIoutz came to the stick as spicll and span as one might desire, and with so much | confidence shining from his optics that l he dazzled the young finger who was about to feed him. The aforementioned dazzled finger, who was no other than Manning Smith, who since has en- deavored to win couple of pennants for Montgomery dropped one coyly against the ear of Frederick.
 Thereafter Houtz pulled and fought and coughed while attempting to drive in runners for the Barons and a result he soon drifted into the bushes of ob- livion. It would be an interesting quest at the preesnt time that of attempting to locate the former star of his tight lt- tie outfit.
 l We all hope that Jimmy will not go the
 way of Houtz, not only for Jimmy's sake
 but for our own. And had we not been speaking of complications which might arise, never would we have referred to possibility much to be dreaded. | As a result of the foregoing. however, | we see that there might be trouble in
 store for Manager Molesworth after all 1 in spite of the fact that at the present
 time everything reflects a rosy hue. Sup
 pose that Mowrey's foot is not as strong
 as it should be? Suppose Mcbride should return with ginger and with that fearful | clout? Suppose Manager Moesworth
 should feel himself exhiarated in the knowledge that he can hit as hard as any | other man? Suppose Jimmy JonnSton
 should be suffering with a shyness for | the gun?
 Then what would you do, MT. Fan:
 How would you make up your outfield? On the other hand, suppose that no com 1 pication will arise and that the Baron
 outfleld will consist of Messenger, Now rey and Johnstoni
 We would be satisfied.
 There would be no other outfield in the league with one-half the speed. Mowrey is a spolish outfeld, one capable of talk ing rank with Dick Bayless. He is com- paratively light hitter, however, but a good base "stealer" and run getter. Messenger will hit between .2S0 and 500, and will make many runs. He is not IS clever on the sacks, however. as one with as much speed as he possesses should be. He is a very fair outfelder though not as | finished as Mowrey.
 Johnston hit last season less than .2l0 l He fields well, is a dare devil on the bases, and scores great many runs. We would be satisfied with the three. From the present indications, however
 we believe that Manager Molesworth will
 have considerable difficulty in selecting
 his outfield. We might be mistaken of course
 | We are positive, however, that the 1912 | outfield will be better than that of 19l1 it matters very little who is selected to fill in the vacant spaces, H. w. R.