The Washington herald., 1912-04-01
WALTER JOHNSON
AND MATHEWSON
TO GO FIVE INNINGS
Worlds Best Twirlers Will
Work in Game Here
Tuesday.
OTHER SPORT COMMENT
Nationals Face Busy Week and
Improvement Is Bound to
Show-Gossip.
OTHER SPORT COMMENT
By WILLIAM PEET.

Griffs Nationals will put on the fin
ishing touches of the spring training trip
here this week when exhibition games
are scheduled for every afternoon. and
each morning will be devoted to the
hardest kind of practice.
Catholic University plays in the con-
crete coliseum to-day. Tuesday and
Wednesday McGraw's New York Giants
are slated; Thursday and Friday the
Boston Nationals are on the bill, and
Saturday Cornell University will be the
attraction.
Griff's hopefuls should find the Brook
land coIlegians easy picking to-day, not
withstanding the fact that the boss Will
probably pitch several OF his recruits
With the New York Giants will come
the great Christy Mathewson, and Man
ager Grifith stated last night that he
had received a telegram from McGraw,
nf the New Workers., to the efect that
Mathewson would pitch the first five in
could oppose the National League slab
man with Walter johnson. The local
boss says johnson will work.
This game should tax the capacity OF
the ball park. providing the weather
holds good 1t is needless to add that
both johnson and Mathewson will try
10 do their prettiest, and Washington
fans arc assured of a treat seldom pre-
pared by big league managers.
The Boston Braves, under the man
agement of the famous Johnny Killing,
should also prove a frst-class attraction.
II the latest accounts are to be credited,
the Beaneaters are much stronger than
last season and have with them a bunch
of heavy hitters.
Local fans will be able to get a pretty
fair line on the relative merits of the
Washington club, as compared to the
tail-end National League aggregations
as Boston brought up the rear last sea-
son. Next Monday and Tuesday the
Brooklyn Dodgers are billed. Brooklyn
finished in seventh place during the sea-
son of 1911.
Cornell's baseball team is said to be one
of the best the Ithaca collegians have
turned out in recent years, and as they
bre booked to play a Saturday engage
ment against the Nationals, doubtless
a big crowd will turn out. as Cornell
las several hundred Washingtonians en-
oiled upon its alumni lists.
With the exhibition games here this
week, the Nationals are pound to show
considerable improvement.
Capital fans must remember that Man.
ager Griffith's aggregation is still in the
training camp period, and not expect too
much Of them. This is the principal rea-
son why the club has not doomed up
formidable in the games played last
week A few days more will make a lot
of difference, providing, of course, pleas
snt weather is afforded.
Whether or not Grfff will carry Joe
Boehling this season depends a whole lot
on the showing the Richmond twirIer
makes during the present week. There
is no denying that Joe has the stuff, but
the southpaw is hardly in shape to do
himself justice, but should snow some
thing the next few days. If he does, he
has good chance to stick.
New York scribe travelling with the
Giants springs this one as an incident
of the arrival of the McGraw bunch in
Meridian, Miss, which bunch of houses
Is the home town of Josh Devore. Josh
was the little ever-ready information bu-
~eau.
lsked Mathewson.
We'll, I'll tell you, Matty," said Des
vore, its pretty well mixed. There are
lot of Catholics, but i think the people
are mostly Presbyterians.'
Says the Philadelphia Times: Mr.. Ira
Thomas turned his ingenious and inven-
tive mind toward producing a pair of
shin guards, and he has perfected a pair
that ought to be the general armament
for the neither limbs OF the backstoppers.
The back Of the guards are in skeleton,
and instead Of fooling around long time
tacing and unlacing the shin protectors,
these can be snapped on and can be ad-
justed in a jiffy. The guards, too, are
sort of dressy affair, aside from the
value as a footrest for the sabers of ths
base stealers of the big show.