Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-05
|P[AY|NG FIELDS
WHITE WITH SNOW
Griffith and His Regulars
Greeted on Arrival in Camp
With Wintry Conditions.
YOUNGSTERS AGAIN Do
THEIR WORK INDOORS:
Yesterday Was Almost Perfect
Spring Day, Though, and Long
Batting Practice Was Held.
BY J. ED GRILLo.

arrived here this afternoon. Thouel
yesterday was a perfect spring day
there has been another change, ant
things look rather wintry 1t was bacl
to indoor work for the recruits today
i but outdoor practice may be possible to
/ morrow.
1t is hoped that the field will be il
good shape by Saturday to play tn
opening game, which is to take plac
| against the nine of the University o
Virginia. The infield is well drained an,
dries up very rapidly. and it is hoped, b,
putting big force to work on it, tina
it will be all right for the whole squad t,
begin practice tomorrow.
Outdoor work was INDUCED in yester
DAY In the morning and afternoon. which
gave the players a chance to get theil
| first taste Of batting practice. The lower
playing field was used for this purpose
and proved very satisfactory. Musser
Mumford all took turns dishing their de.
liVer1es to the batters, and there was
some real lively practice for more than
an hour. as a result of which most OF
the batters are now suffering with bis
! tered hands.
which have been playing havoc were
! conspicuous by their absence. Old resi-.
dents give it as their opinion that, not.
W1thstanding the snowfall spring has
come to stay, and, if this prognostica.
ton proves correct, the Nationals should
not have the slightest trouble getting
themselves ready before they leave.
Holland. the young inaelder obtained
from the Atlanta club, reported this
morning. He Is a fellow built much after
the style Of Ray Morgan.
While no young pitcher has yet beer
allowed to let out his arm and display
his assortment Of deceptive deliveries, az
| whole the corps has shown enough
to warrant the prediction that Grif1tt
will not be short Of pitching material
| this summer. There are three or four Of
good and they will prove this before the
season opens.
Walter johnson is certain to have some
competent helpmates. and the impress
Boehling will show even better this veal
than he did last. There seems to be abb
solutely no doubt about Jack Bentley
being able to hold his own. Doc Ayres
is another one Of the twirlers. who has
only to do as well with the Nationals
as he did with Richmond to prove his
worth. Then. there is Shaw, who, in
the opinion OF the best judges. has the
| making Of star. not to speak Of VII
| lians and Musser. who. if they display
There are also reasons for believing
that the team as whole will be stronger
Foster, for instance, should have gooo
season. He has entirely recovered from
the attack of typhoid which kept him Out
Of the game for months last season. ant
| his presence. in condition, will make q
great difference Then there is Oar
Moeller. He played a sterling article Of
! ball last season, but fell off in hitting
He is apt to come back with the stick
Last. but not least Of the outfielders. is
Shanks. Injuries interfered with him ir
the last campaign. but he is sound agar
and sure to show marked improvement Ii
his hitting Clyde Milan did not have &
good year in 1913. He did not hit up t.
his usual standard until the season wa:
nearly over and better things are expect
| ed of him.
| In all, the teams prospects look particu
| larly bright, and if the good weather con
| tinues the fans are apt to see fast team
| in action long before the season opens.
| Nothing has had such good effect or
| organized base balls standing with tn,
| players as the announced roster of thu
| Chicago Federal League club. Judged b!
I the comments the members of the loca
| squad made when they read of the man.
| semi-prO players who are on Tinker.
| roster, the general opinion appears to b.
that the Feds won't last long. That Chi
| cago outfit is supposed to be one of thu
| classiest in the circuit. yet it has a de
! cidedly class B hue about it, and the pub
| lie is not apt to patronize that grade o
base ball when it can see better in thu
two big leagues.
Nick Altrock left for New York las
night to welcome Germany Schaefer upol
his arrival with the world tourists. Incl
dentally, Altrock is to induce Schaefer t,
sign a Washington contract, for it is be
lieved that the Federal League will max
an effort to secure his services. Altrocl
expects to attend the banquet which i
given N honor Of the homecoming of tn
athletes, and he has already made ar
rangeynents for dress suit for the occa
sion. Nick dolled up in evening dres
ought to be the feature of the occasion.
Cashion's prowess as a long hitter i
nothing short Of remarkable. In battin
practice yesterday. Carl made severa
local field The left center field fenc
on the lower field is more than 500 fee
from the spot where Cashion was hit
ting. yet three Of his drives cleared tn
proposes to give Cashion a lot of bat
ting practice this spring in the hop
that he will prove of value as a pincl
hitter during the regular season. Thi
must not by any means be taken to mea1
that Cash" does not stand a chance t,
be a regular member of the pitching staff
He is showing to much better advantag,
in his workouts this spring than eve
before and the most encouraging featur,
Of his work is that he appears at least t
have gained fairly good control OF tn,
ball. The reason that Cashion must b,
given credit for having chance to max,
a pitcher Is that he has plenty of nerve
He never becomes disconnected even wheI
he is going poorly. and that is a qualifica
ton which all successful pitchers mus
be able to boast of.
AS usual, Joe Gedeon was the life of tn
SQUAD on the playing field. The Cali
fornian is an incessant worker, and de
serves to develop into a real ballplaye
because he tries so hard to make good.
Just as soon as the field is hard enough
to allow bunting. all the pitchers will
ba Given an hour or more every da,
fielding bunts. This sort of work is tn
most beneficial a twir er can do, for i
| not only teaches them the art of fielding
their position, but 1t strengthens tn
back and makes them agile in their posi-
tion, Altrock, who was one of tn
, greatest fielding pitchers the game ha
ever developed. will have charge of tn
SQUAD in this work, and the younSster
, ought to develop rapidly under his tutor
ship 1t was this sort of practice whic
made Walter johnson a great fielder Q
his position. When Walter first reporte
in Washington he lost most of his game
because Of his inability to handle bunti