Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-31
BY J. ED GR1LLo.

|
nothing short of marvellous. Considering
that ii was his first appearance in a
champion major league game, the i'm
preston which he created was that he
will lineup very favorably with Walter
Johnson, which is saying a good deal.
Engel has plenty Of stuff and though he
| gave eight passes yesterday he showed
himself to be made Of the right material
| by pitching his best ball with men on
the bases. The chances are that Engel
| will show lot of Improvement on the
occasion of his next time out He will
| gain confidence by reason of his good
| work yesterday. and the stage fright
from which all young pitchers suffer Will
| have worn off entirely. Most surprising
of Engers work was the fact that he
was always cool, though he found him
! self in many trying positions. Incident
ally. he showed ability to watch the
bases In manner which would nave
| done credit to veteran twice ne
caught runners off first base, and there
| was never a moment when he did not
/, give the impression that he was vet
| eran of the game. That he should have
been defeated was unfortunate. The ball
which knight fumb,ed and which caused
the defeat of the young pitcher was an
easy chance. which Knight apparently
| was too sure Of and did not go after the
ball as he usually would. But even
under a defeat .Engel looked very good,
and so much better than any of the
young pitchers that Griffith has tried
out this spring that the outlook is de-
cidedly encouraging.
With but single days rest Walter
Johnson gave an exhibition of pitching
yesterday which went far to strengthen
the opinion that he has not an equal
in base ball. 1t was about the worst
fIH@t tn1rn ba
work. There was a constant drizZle fall
ing, and it was cold and raw. yet Walter
pitched as IL it was a midsummer day
He famed thirteen of the hard-hitting
Red Sox. allowed but five widely scat
tered hits and looked at his best when
danger threatened. In the second in
ming, for instance, with one out Gardner
got a lucky three-hagger over first base
and it looked like certainty for Boston
to score But johnson called on that
wonderful reserve force and struck out
both Bradley and Wagner on seven pitch
ed balls. He appeared to be in particu-
larly brilliant form, and did not show
by his work that he had had but single
days rest. He had one or two wild spells
but he worked himself out of these with
great ease. usually striking out batter
or two when base hit might have ma
terially changed the situation. Washing
ton played splendid ball il. the field. john
son did not offer many difficult chances,
but when he did there was fielder there
to take care of them. All things con-
sidered. it was the best game of ball that
Johnson has pitched this spring. He ap-
pears to be in his very best form now.
and he is to do whole lot Of work on
the present trip, though it is the intention
to allow him to rest now until Mondays
game in st. Louis.
If Chick Gandil has a weakness he has
failed to show it in any Of the four games
he has played with the Nationals. There
is nothing that he does not seem able to
do, and his hitting. which was supposed
to be rather doubtful, could hardly have
been better. He has displayed a whole
lot of intelligence at the bat and. like
Foster. seems able to shove the ball
through the slightest opening whenever
the hit-andrun play is intended.
! To date he is hitting at 400 clip and
| most of his hits have been timely. He
/, can run the bases. too. and pr5ess the
pitchers put the ball over the plate Gan
| dill does not go after it. AS fielder. he
Is wonderful improvement over any
| man the Washington club has had in the
| position for many day. In all Gandi
! looks like good ball player and Griffith
! ha: undoubtedly greatly strengthened hi:
/ team by his acquisition.
| 1t would not be at all surprising il JACK
Knights days with the Nationals were
numbered. He is sure not to be consid
| cred regular any more from this out
for be is playing poor ball and not show
!! ing any indications of improving his sticl
work. If Griffith does not let knight ou
! he will mercy be utility player
he is not feeling well and a lame wrist i.
| proving quite a handicap. During hi:
absence Ray Morgan will hold down tn,
| position, and If he continues to hit as vel
as he did Yesterday he stands a chance
| of becoming the teams regular SECOND
baseman. Morgan believes that he cal
| learn to play the place, which is new Il
him. Snd his work yesterday was a grea
| improvement over previous efforts.
/ There is so much Improvement in the
Nationals batting that it does not lool
/ like the same team. and il the pitching
| was anywhere near the standard this
/ would have been splendid trip for the
team. Now that Dixie Walkers place ha.
! been more than filled by Joe Engei
there is sure to be improvement in tn,
| pitching and Griffith is hopeful of still
4 making a good showing on the trip H.
| expects to make up some lost ground il
| the series with st. Louis, though he real
/! ICES that his team will have to play a
i top speed to wrest a majority of tn,
4 games from the Browns. The team lef
| Boston just before midnight last nigh
i and will not arrive in ST. Louis until Sat
! urday morning.
The decision to rid the team Of Dixi,
| Walker was reached by Griffith only afte
he had exhausted all his pa thence. and 1
/, will be good example for other play
! ers who may think that they can draw
| salary from the Washington club with
out delivering the goods. Walker wa
listless and did not seem to care whether
| he Won his game not, but the fina
| blow came Wednesday in Boston. wher
he gave>a very sloppy exhibition. Griffith
| made himself very plain to the player:
when he said: II would rather go through
| the season and never win a game with
/ lot of amateurs who are trying than 10
| Of supposed stars who are looking for
/ summer vacation. Walker cannot pitcf
for me because his heart is not in HI:
work and no other player who does no
/. work for the best interests of the team
can draw salary from the Washington
club
| jim McAleer is careworn. When III
became the principal owner of the Boston
club he had visions Of rapidly accumu
lating whole lot of money. but matter.
have not been breaking very well. Though
his team has played good ball. tn,
weather has been SO poor that the at
tendance has been very low. Further
more. Boston fans have not taken kindI,
to the arrangements at the new ball parl
and are bowling over the increased prices
The result is that the attendance hal
taken a serious tumble and the gate re
ceipts have been far from coming up t,
expectat ons. Nor is the looked-for i'm
provement in interest at hand. henc,
Jeems is not feeling particularly gay
though he has hopes for the future.
The accident to Moeller has given Grit
fifth a chance to get good line OIL
Shanks. and the youngster has been any
thing but appointment. He reall,
looks to have the making OF a good bal
PLAYER. ard with more experience will b.