Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-03-09

much better ball player this year than
he was last. His health Is SO much bet
ter than 1t was that he Is showing to
much better advantage. and the fact that
his shoulder is not giving him the slight
est concern also adds to his prowess
Now that his shoulder IL strong there also
seems to be a great change in Moeller's
hitting. In practice he is hitting the ball
as hard as any man on the team, and
Williams. Laporte and Gandil are some
practice wallpapers.
Morley gets ball away about as fast
as any OF the star shsrtstops. The ball
no sooner strikes his hands than IL is on
its way to some base. Morley lis a big
fellow. weighing It's stripped. but for all
that he is graceful and agile on his feet
He gave a splendid exhibition on the
field today and his three-base hit was a
low liner to center which travelled with
the speed of lightning.
The farther the training of the regu-
lars progresses the more certain does IL
lineup to open the coming season that
finished last. There Is going to be a lot
or Improvement In that team this year
Several OF the players are going to i'm
prove over last years showing and it's
dollars to doughnuts that Griffith will
have force OF utility players on the
bench second to none in the country.
There Is not a player in the Nationals
lineup who should not improve over
last season. Every one of the newcom-
ers into fast company last year learned
lot as a result of that one campaign,
and those who We're experienced were
benefited by the delightful experience of
being on winning team. Barring acct
dents, OF course. there Is no reason why
that pitching staff should not be ma
terfally stronger than 1t was last season.
johnson may go through the season
without having sick spell, Groom should
be at his very best and Cashion and
Engel should be OF materially more as
sistence even IL none Of the others Of
the recruits come up to the standard.
And don't overlook Tom Hughes. He
was the mainstay Of the team during the
period last season when Waiter johnson
was out Of the game and ne would have
won lot more games had he not been
forced by circumstances to work three
times In three days, strain which few
pitchers can stand.
1t may be that some of the prophets
who predict a decentralization berth for
the Nationals may have good reason for
making them, but they will find before
the season Is over that the Washington
team of 1913 Is even stronger than IL
was in 1912. and that 1t is going some
Walter johnson is one of the hardest
workers on the team. Twice a day he
practices pitching warm-up at moderate
speed for fifteen or twenty minutes but
ne Is not idle the rest Of the time. When
batting practice is on he Is chasing in
the ottfield. and when the fieIders want
practice he hits the fungoes. In the
meantime he does a lot of fielding OF
bunts or takes long runs, SO that 1t is
only question of time when he will be
in perfect physical condition. But he
takes great care of his arm. He does
not strain 1t and uses good judgment I'm
warming it up. After Walter goes along
at this pace for about ten days or two
weeks he Is ready to do some real pitch
ing from the rubber for the purpose of
putting himself on edge for. the seasons
opening.