The Washington times., 1914-05-14

For the first time since they were
laced IN charge of the ambulance
orps, Joe Boehling and Cube Acosta
mis- morning practiced with the other
Nationals.
In his movements Boehling showed
tile effects from the leg which was
Injured in sliding into the plate against
he Athletics, and he win be ready as
>oon as his commander gives word to
harge TO the mound.
Acosta however. is not so fortunate.
Wearing a heavy silk bandage the
'ubsn hobbled about. during the work
out, and while he was able to take
mis- turn at bat and handle some
grounders around third base, he is far
rom ready to crash his way back into
ne batting order should misfortune
overcome any of the regular trio OF
Gardeners.
There is an epidemic of weakened
-rms among the younger pitchers. with
ne result that il was necessary TO
shorten the morning practice.
One pit Of news that will be source
Of qualification to patrons of the grand
-tand IS that awnings are being placed
n the rear of the structure to ward off
ne suns rays. when il came time 10
spread these stretches of canvas ii was
so a whole new set has been purchased,
and II will be more Of a pleasure to
occupy seats in the main stand in the
future.
Just when they had q sublime orpor-
unity TO draw up on the leaders, VINO
we're idle because of rain, those "a
'ionals jammed, crammed, forced, and
drove into yesterdays game with Chi
ago about all the bad baseball they
l. q y Oh,
SHOWS the relative merits of-the teams
N the days performance.
For some time il has appeared as
tnough it is a physical and athletic i'm
possibility for the Griffmen to win two
ssmes in row, and yesterday they put
another chapter in the book Of disap-
continent. Talk of jinxes. hoodoos,
oodoos and alibis is sophistry TIE game
tself md the box score show that the
ScX eXcelled in every department, and
II every stage. The Nationals locke d.
uont az much yesterday as they did
ne day before as a row boat does like a
Narship.
While some OF the incoming pitchers
have not been particularly weil received
rs the fanatics have wanted to be
shown before going into ecstasies III
he case of Jim Shaw. however, Il was
different. From the day he came here
shaw commenced TO gain friends, and
ne now STANDS well up IN the popularity
eague among those who patronize Ma
tional Park. Even when he was re
allied Yesterday. after having been sub
Iected TO one Of the worst lombard
ments of his young life, the crowd
seened to hold nothing against him and
ne was actually appiauded in a manner
nehttnSa victor rather than q van
qushed former hero
The Sox ran bases like a iot OF Mexl-
cans before a nAmeriCan cha rge As
usually the case the catcher was
fOrced TO bear practically all the blame
or the Interrified exhibition on the
paths AS a matter OF fact poor throw
.ng al times by Henry was only con-
tTibutory cause. Nine times the vls-
'ors swiped sacks, but most OF the
-ime the failure OF the pitcher to hold
ne men to the bases or poor handling
ne runners safety when thev should
nave been out
For weeks and weeks Griffith and
pitchers trying 10 impress upcS them
me absolute necessity OF driving the
runnsrs back to the bases. More time
as been spent in this particular de
partment than in any other feature Of
coaching OF the pitchers Still II has
not been mastered, botn Shaw and
Gsllia being repeated violators OF this
pitching precept
T-niess the pitchers hold the men close
70 catcher on land or sea can hope
to successfully cope with runners who
nave even fair degree of success.