Evening star., 1914-04-23
BY j. ED GRILLO.

Walter johnson and probably Ray Col
Inns will be the pitchers in the first game
of the season to be played here today.
In the past this pair of pitching stars
have had many an interesting struggle
and today's clash promises to be up to
the usual standard.
The Nationals arrived in the city early
this morning. Griffith called off the Gus
tomary morning practice. but ordered all
hands to be at the ball park at II o clock.
The game will be called at o'clock.
Boston has not shown the form expected
as yet this spring, but, of course, it has
been playing against Washington and
Philadelphia, its strongest rivals. But
Carrigan has a strong team and is sure
to be heard from in the present pennant
race
Joe Engel looked SO much better yes
terday than he did at this time last sea-
son that good things may be expected
from him. 1t is true that he was hit
safely six times in the five innings he
worked. but several of these hits were
scratchy. and Joe had good control In
cidentally he was at his best when his
opponents threatened, and to this can be
attributed the fact that the Yankees
failed to beat the short lead of their
rivals.
Chick Gandil looked more like himself
at the bat yesterday than he has al any
! time since the season opened. He hit
the ball in genuine Gandil style, and a
double and triple were his share of the
batting. The double was into left field,
while the triple was into right, showing
! that Gandil is batting in form. for under
such conditions there is little use of
playing any particular field for him.
| 1t was perhaps decidedly fortunate for
Doc Ayers that he managed to get his
hands in front of the liner which Holden
hit at him. in the fourth. But for this
fact Ayers might have been dangerously
injured. The ball was hit like a rife
shot. and what was most remarkable
His hand was badly bruised as a result
and he was forced to retire from the
game. The injury. it is believed, will not
keep him out of the game very long, how
ever. Ayers has shown every indication
in the two games he has worked that he
| is a pitcher who will always be hard to
1 beat. The fact that he has perfect con-
+, troll makes him an ideal twirler to work
regularly. for any time any runs are
obtained off of him the opposing team
! will have to earn them.
| If Frank Chances team can make a
| good showing this season, the New York
| club will have one of the most success
l
that it has ever enjoyed. New York
| fans have taken kindly to the Yankees
| because they seem to have some likely
looking youngsters and also because they
| won couple of games from the Ath-
letics. All that they now have to do is to
| hold their own from now on and the
team will prove a real rival for the
| Giants in the matter of drawing crowds.
i There is going to be a lot of difference
i'll the showing of some of the new in
! felders who have broken into the league
when the weather gets hot and the vari-
Gus infelds become hard. Just now all
the infields are more less soggy and
hard hit balls are not going through al
their usual speed, and the result being
that even inferior tielders are covering
a lot of ground and making sensational
plays. But it is going to be different
when the ground gets hard and the bal
begins to travel through the irltield al
almost lightning speed. Some of the
youngsters who are now shining may fine
ii no easy matter to hold their own
while the seasoned players will be al
their best.
Jack Warhop had but little in yester-
days game. yet he pitched effectively
In fact there is never much hitting on
the Polo Grounds under weather coudi-
tions such as prevailed there during the
| Nationals series. 1t was dark every
day and it is hard for the batters tc
gauge the ball after it leaves the pitch.
ers hands, because of the great stance
the background in center field is from
the plate. The chances are that the
Nationals will do much better hitting
on their own grounds than they have or
the road.
Dan Moeller is not hitting anywhere
near his form, and he thinks he has dis
covered the reason for his slump. HI
says he has changed his style Of hold