Evening star., 1914-02-22
GRIFFITH MUST DEVELOP
PITCHERS TO HAVE CHANCE

Coaches can produce out Of this corp,
of pitching material. Barring this youns
material, Griffith has but one seasoned
pitcher, Walter Johnson, and without re-
flecting on his prowess he. of course
needs help. and there is but one source
from which this can be obtained.
1t is therefore. of great importance thai
these youngsters be given every oppor'
tunity to develop. and for this reason
Grifith is making every effort in this
direction.
There are no veteran players better
qualified to instruct youngsters than the
two Griffith has assigned to this work
Jack Ryan and Nick Altrock. The one
has had some twenty-odd years expert
ence behind the bat. during which time
he has handled the deliveries Of some Of
the games greatest pitchers. There l.
not a trick Of the art that he Is not
familiar with. and he should be able tc
teach the young pitchers a few tricks
Of the trade. AS for Altrock, the game
never had a wiser pitcher, and he. too.
should be able to tmpart some beneficial
knowledge to his charges. Last, but not
the education Of his youngsters himself,
and it is not necessary to say that there
are a few things that he can remember
about pitching.
Getting the local team in playing shape
is not near as an Important matter
ItIlS year do ID lhS aSsSiVPAh6 Va
young pitchers, and everything possible
will be done to bring this about.
Griffith feels confident that he will get
a pitching staff out of the eleven or
twelve youngsters he will have in train
ing this spring. Several Of them are
sure to make good. in his judgment. He
naturally expects Joe Boehling to at
least repeat his performance Of last sea-
son, and he has the utmost regard for
the ability Of Engel and Shaw. while
Coaches Ryan and Altrock are loud IN
their praise of Jack Bentley, the south
paw youngster from Sandy Spring.
Then there is Doc Ayres, who has q
chance, and Carl Cashion and Harry
Harper must not be overlooked. These
are all youngsters who stand q chance
to improve. and they are sure to get
plenty of work ii they show enough to
warrant their getting into the game.
Griffith has given up all hope OF get
ting Groom to return to the fold. He Is
satisfied that the tall curver has joined
out with the Federal League. and that
ne has no intention Of reporting here
this spring.
Ray Prince, a young outfielder who has
made quite a reputation at Bluefeld, w.
Va. may be given trial with the Ma
mirer among the local fans who is spon-
sor for the young man. and Grimth may
send him a contract and look him over:
According to the announcement made
by the Federal League, the pooling OF
the players and their subsequent division
will take place in Chicago next Satur-
day. It is further explained that clubs
like St Louis, Chicago and Baltimore
will be allowed to retain the players they
signed from the majors early in the
fight. which means that some of these
Federal League teams are going to be
mighty weak, for there are not enough
major leaguers in the Federal League to
fill two teams, and If the clubs men
toned are to retain those they have
signed Just about six OF the eight clubs
will look like full-nedged minor league
aggregations. The Federals have made
some wonderful strides since they came
INTO the field. but their real troubles
have not yet come. That will be when
the season opens and some Of these much
touted major league teams the league
promised to put in the field get into ac-
ton.
The best kind OF advertising the Fed
eral League can now get Is to corral one
or more Of the world tourists. and 1t Is
needless to say that drastic measures Will
be resorted to to bring this about. But
the American and National League clubs
who have players among the tourists are
sure to put up a strong fight, and the
chances are that the trips will indirectly
prove most profitable to SOME OF the
players at least
Exactly fifty-four days remain be-
for the first game Of the 1914 season
will be played. It will be sometime after
April IA that the regular season opens
to Boston for the opening. after which a
four-day trip Is made to New York. and
not until April % is the local season in
augurated. Griffith looks upon this
arrangement with favor. He figures
that If his team is intact at the outset
it will not have a lot Of trouble dis
posing Of the Red Sox and Yankees and
therefore. stands good chance Of get
ting a flying start in the race. Further
more once the locals reach their owr
grounds they will have a long stay here,
and this should prove beneficial Early
in the season a team which is at home
gets the benefit Of much needed morning
practice which it does not indulge in on
the road. This usually helps the batting.
for before the players eyes are trained
but this can be overcome by constant
practice during the morning hours.
While the first regular games are yet
nearly two months off, it will not be long
before the first 1914 clash between two of
organized base balls big league teams.
This is scheduled for March II. when the
worlds champion Athletics meet the Chi
cago Cubs in Tampa, Fla, for the first
of a three-game series. The Mackmen
will train at Jacksonville. while the Cubs
are holding forth at Tampa. and it will be
ON the latter grounds that these con-
tests are to be played. It is, therefore.
certain that some interesting games will
be played this spring much earlier than
usual. They will. Of course. be the first
games that either Of these teams will
play this spring. so that the chances are
that there will not be very high stand
ard reached. artistically speaking but
they are apt to be good ball games for
all that
II will be Hank O'Day's debut on the
firing line for the Cubs. The new man
aeer, who has already claimed the pen
nant for his team, will be given an op-
portunity to see his charges in action
AGAINST the greatest ball team In the
country, and he should be able to get
some sort OF a line on how his players
feel as a result Of the dismissal OF
Johnny Evers. their former manager.
incidentally Mack will work only his
Young pitchers in these games, and II
may help him to get line on them. He
is pretty sure to have several OF them
ready by then. so that the Cubs are not
apt to have easy sailing in these games
Griffith has hopes Of making Carl Cash
| ion Of value to his pitching stan. He be
| lieves that by allowing the big Carol'niar
| to pitch in his natura! underhand manner
| he will prove an enigma If he get!
| control of the ball.
| "Cnderhand pitching is always hard t.
hit. To begin with. the batters do no
see, enough Of this delivery to get ac
customed to II. and when pitcher has {
! ,ot of an un1erhand hail he is Dretty