Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-09
COLLEGE MINES TO
START THIS WEEK
Base Ball Squads Will Get in
Shape for Difficult
Schedules.
CALDWELL SHOWS HE is
A REMARKABLE RUNNER
Is Probably Greatest Quarter-Miler
in the Ceuntry-Rassmussen
Is Made Captain.
BY q. c. BYRD.

The local college and school base ball
teams will begin work this week At
least. plans have been made to get the
candidates outdoors for their first try
outs for the various teams, and the first
real work of 1914 will be done by the
squads representing the Washington
schools, provided rain or snow does not
interfere. OF course, it is rather cold
as yet to do much, but as the first games
are less than two weeks off it ia abso.
lutely necessary to do as much as pos
sible under adverse conditions to get the
men in shape. The majority of the pitch
ing and catching stats already have done
some practicing, but it has been indoors.
and that, at best, is not very valuable
Georgetown, Gallaudet, Catholic Uni
versity and the Maryland, Agricultural
College have had pitchers and catchers
working easily indoors in an effort to
get them ready for the real practice.
The short work which has been done
seems to have brought out the fact that
in at least three of the institutions, Cath
Ole University, Gallaudet and George
town, the ability Of the pitchers is going
TO exceed that of those who did the
work in 1913.
Georgetown has Fienle as its main de-
tendency, white there are several new
men who are reported to be much above
the average.
Besides having back Trayers, probably
the most brilliant performer of the 1913
stan, Catholic Z. has Croker. who made
a fine record for Colgate University last
spring, and johnson, a youngster who
did some good hurting in the local anna
teur leagues.
Gallaudet has its mainstays of last
season back and it is certain they will
OF the experience gained. Rasmussen
probably will be the main reliance. At
| the Maryland Agricultural College the
pitching stan is going to be quite prob
lem. The Farmers have jumped into a
much higher glass of base ball this sea-
son than they ever tried before, and
they have only one seasoned hurier to
| meet the tests. He is Hoffecker, the
captain of the team. The Farmers play
three or four games every week. though,
which will nedessitate the development of
some other good man if they are to at
tain any measure of success.
The high school pitchers have been
working out somewhat, but they have
not progressed to any considerable ex-
tent. faclitiesi for indoor pitching being
rather poor. This week will mark the
start of their real practice, aud the proc
ess of developing the nine which will be
depended upon to uphold the reputation
Of the schools IN the scholastic series will
begin. i
Ted Meredith. is either stale and running
below his usual form, or else he has retro
graded considerably In the last six o
seven months. 1t may be that too much
competition has thrown the former Mer-
cersburg star off his stride. but at any
rate he is not. or was not Saturday night
in the Georgetown meet, any more like
the Meredith of a year ago than a high
school runner resembles Il champion of
Il IL
than ordinary ability in his relay against
Princeton, and that is said with all due
accord to his unfortunate fall. He ran
as If he were completely stale, not show
ing anything pf the sprightliness in his
work that HIS formerly characterized
him In competition
The greatest. quarter-mile runner in the
United ates today is Caldwell or Cor
nell. The opinion is given with all due
respect for the member of Harvards
splendid four and the otter really great
40 men. The, action of the Cornell man
is as near perfect and machine ike as
possible, and II he does not win the in
tercollegiate quarter next spring it will
be because he is Off form. If Pennsyl-
vania is depending on Meredith to win
from Caldwell, then it had better look
up another man as soon as possible. II
Caldwell were placed in a race against
the best quarter-mile runners in the
world today he would be the pick Of
the field as the probab winner.
And in such a race as that which the
Cornell man ran in the Georgetown meet
Saturday night he was at distinct dis
advantage. A runner of his caliber is
competing under great handicap on a
track such as that in Convention Hall
A big man. with an exceptionally long
stride. Caldwell found it extremely diff
ficult to take the narrow turns. In fact,
the chances are that Caldwell, instead OF
running the quarter mile really covered
much greater distance. He only
hit the track at any time at two Of its
opposite corners. and the remainder Of the
time, instead of being on the pole. he
was on the outside. In other words. 1t
was as though he were running on
track five feet larger in every way than
that on which his opponent was.
That makes his performance all the
more remarkable So good a man is
Caldwell that it would not be big sur
prise to see him break the intercollegiate
record this spring. Give him the pole,
let some other man he fast enough to
shove him to ais limit, and the mark is
mighty apt to fail
Attention is called to the fact that i'll
the summaries of the GEORGETOWN meet
which appeared in this paper Sunday
morning it was stated that the Seniors