Evening star., 1914-03-16

ing the players at work. and a good per-
centage of them were ladies' Some Of
the plays made were applauded as II a
game was going on. There was also one
for the popularity of Walter johnson.
1t came when, during the batting prac-
tice. he walked out to take the place Of
one of the pitchers who preceded him.
He was given an ovation by the crowd
in the stands.
Clyde Milan is working hard to get his
sprinting legs in shape. Every chance
he got yesterday he circled the bases at
a fast clip. Milan also feels that he has
several pounds to get of and Is working
hard to accomplish this. He will not
have any trouble doing this, either, II
weather such as prevailed today con-
tinues
Chick Gandil is suffering with a stiff
throwing arm. The member cannot pc
Strengthened out. and is crooked at the
elbow. 1t does not interfere much with
his throwing but handicaps him In his
batting. 1t seems that Gandil has been
bothered in this way before. and he
says 1t will work out in time.
Though Mcbride and Foster both have
something wrcng with their underpin-
ming, they gave no evidence OF this
fact in their workout Both are
fielding brilliantly. while their arms ap-
pear to be in midsummer form, judging
from their fast and accurate throwing.
It has been predicted that the Nationals
infieid this year will be q sensation. ana
Not only is Foster sure to be in his
best form, but Ray Morgan is q much
improved ball player. The Baltimore
SGy 5 on s at is as, not 70 only hssf edns
ter than ever before. but he is even a
more dangerous hitter than he used to
| be- There is. Of course. no improve,
Gandil. both Of whom set a high stand
ard in former years.
Jack Ryan did most Of the catching
that a player who has seen so many
years Of service as he should still be
able to hold his own on the playing
field. Ryan is still capable backstop
and his throwing is Of the best He was
behind the bat yesterday for over an
hour handling all the pitchers. and was
none the worse for his experience when
it was all over.
The playing Of the exhibition games
at Charlottesville should give a fair line
on the ability of the young players
yet none Of these players has really
been seen in action on the field. What
little practice they have done has been
under conditions which did not give
which will be for blood. will tell the
story, for they will be played against
a team which was prominent in the
past two pennant races in the American
League
These games WILL furnish a real test,
and by the time the team gets home
Griffith should have some idea as to
which Of his recruits it will be policy to
retain.
So far as the pitchers are concerned, it
is not likely that Griffith will do any cut
ting for some time to come He realizes
that his pitching staff is largely expert
mental, and not until he is assured that
certain youngsters are made up Of the
right stuff will cut loose any Of them.
He is particularly anxious to be well for
titled on the rubber, and no expense will
be spared to make this possible.
Joe BoehNng, the sensation Of last sea-
son, is rapidly rounding into condition.
Joe has been taking things comparative
ly easy since coming here, but he let out
a link or two in practice yesterday and
showed a lot OF stun.
The fact that Boehling is much lighter
now than he was at any time last sea-
son makes his work all the easier. and he
is confident that he will at least dupl-
cate his performance OF last year. when.
next to johnson, he was the teams pitch
ing mainstay.