The Washington herald., 1913-02-22
BY WILLIAM PEET.

Joe Boehling the Richmond youngster,
| Grifrs only other southpaw twirler.
reached Washington yesterday noon. too
late for practice in the Y. NJ. c. A.
gym.
I'm feeling pretty good. loafed all
| winter and managed to get in plenty of
| outdoor work, so that / am in condition.
| / expect to be one Of your regular
pitchers this season." chirped Boehling
| to the Old Fox.
1t seems that the young southpaw had
forgotten the exact date Manager Grif-
| fifth ordered him TO report or he would
have been on the job with the others.
With the valuable experience gained
last year under Griff and with the Chat
| tanooga club, of the Southern League.
where he pastimed three weeks added to
| the time served under Jesse Burkett in
Worchester, Mass. Roehling stands a
fine chance to butt into the hall of fame
| this coming season. His one glaring
fault is control, and he says that he
feels confident his wild days are over.
Roehling and Austin, the collegian. are
| the only southpaws enrolled at present.
With the preliminary work here they
should be in fair shape to give the
regulars a battle when the boys reach
Charlottesville.
Asked if he had seen or talked with
Doc Ayres. the big pitcher obtained from
the Richmond club of the Virginia
League, Boehling said he had not. but
understood that Ayres would not report in
Charlottesville. as he intended to finish
his course at college.
The practice in the big gym yesterday
was a little sitter than the work ordered
the opening day. None Of the pitchers
complained of lame arms, and were al
lou
Martin gave them plenty of exercise with
the medicine ball, and several of them
were badly winded before the taps were
sounded.
Manager Griffith announced last night
that If the present spell Of warm weather
continued he would have the pitchers and
catchers out on the ball yard Monday
morning The turf is in good condition
and outdoor work will do the boys much
more good than the inside.
Groundkeeper Fitzgerald will have the
dressing room warm and the showed bath
ready when the men show up. Just as
long as the weather holds fine, the re-
cruits will do their training at National
Park.
AL Williams took a jaunt out to Ma
tional Park yesterday afternoon to see
if his pet bat was where he had safely
tucked it away last fall. Al found the
stick all right and quickly got busy
out on the field batting fungo flies to
a crowd of kids.
So pleased was Williams with the way
his right arm felt after the first day
of preliminary practice that he was as
lively as a two-year-old yesterday, and
stated that he felt better than at any
time in two years at the start of q
season.
An interesting incident happened late
yesterday afternoon. Williams was in
troduced> to Hume Battiste, the crack
Indian twirler and captain of Gallaudet
Cniversity's nine. Imagine Battistes sur
prise when Williams started to talk with
him in the sign language.
Il caught Dummy Taylor while was
with the Buffalo team" vouchsafed Will
Jams, which explained everything.
Southpaw Bob Austin. the Wesleyan
College boy who has created such a
favorable impression with his easy
sweeping delivery. was asked if he
haG intended going out for the Wes-
leyan varsity team this spring had he
not been signed by Griff. He replied:
Sure thing / don't know why I
should not have been allowed to pitch
had l been good enough to make the
team. l know a lot Of college men
who played semipro ball last sum-
mer."
Austin says he has a spitball in his
repertoire, but admits that he cannot
control it very well. He intends to
devote a lot of time to cultivating the
splitter" this season. and will consult
Sir Robert Groom. who baffled more