Evening star., 1914-04-16
TWO PLAYERS ARE
NOT YET IN FORM
Nationals Handicapped by
Failure of GandiI and Nor
gan to Hit Well.
AYERS WOULD HAVE WON
UNDER USUAL CONDITIONS
Pitched Well Against Boston De-
spite Unfavorable Weather.
Rain Bars Game Today.
BY J. ED GRILLo.

II,
the team is still carrying a rather heavy
handicap. 1t was the failure of this pair
to come through in the game of yester-
day which caused the Nationals defeat
When the two strongest offensive players
IN the lineup are off their stride the pro-
ductive portion of the team is decidedly
weak. Its effect is just about as harmful
as it would be for the Athletics to have
Collins and Baker slump. Fortunately,
this inability to hit on the part of Morgan
and Gandil is sure to be only temporary
In due time they are certain to get into
their stride, but until then the pitching
OF GrlfHth's twirlers will have to be Of
the highest order if many games are won
A pitcher who can hold a team to two
runs stands good chance to win a lot
OF games If he gets the right sort of Of
fensive support, but just now this seems
out OF the question because of the slump
IN which both GandiI and Morgan are
foundering. For some unaccountable
reason. neither seems to be going into
the ball as is customary when they are
hitting up to their standard. but, of
course. there is no doubt that in due time
they will find their stride and perhaps
make up for lost time.
1t is doubtful if the annals of base
ball record game being played on
a day so cold as yesterday It was
far below the freezing point and a fifty
miles n-hour east wind made the ball
park almost 'untenantable. Naturally
there was only handful of people in the
Enclosure. The players. of course. suf-
ers appeared on the lines in their over
coats. Both Griffith and Schaefer were
thus protected. while several members of
the Boston team played in their sweat
ers. Manager Carrigan wanted to call
the game of as early at 2 O'Clock, but
he called up Owner Lannin over the
phone and was instructed to play the
game regardless of whether there was
anybody out to see it or not. Carrigan
followed instructions and for the next
two hours or so he and his players and
the Nationals were almost frozen stiff.
Doc Ayers performance in yesterdays 8
game was rather encouraging. The for
mer Richmond star had perfect control
and was effective enough to win almost
any ordinary contest. With any kind of
batting behind him he would have landed
a victory with comparative ease. Griffith
had picked Boehling to do the twirling,
but when he realized that he would be
forced to play in the extreme cold he
figured that Doc Ayers was better fitted
for the task than any of the other pitch
ers, and in this he probably made no
mistake. Ayers is pretty sure to be a
winning pitcher for the team this sea-
son. The very fact that he has perfect
control makes him competent pitcher,
for anything an opposing team gets of
him it will have to earn, which is quite
an advantage.
Had it been possible to play today, Joe
Boehling would have made his debut. Joe
contends that he is ready to go the
route at top speed.
George Foster who pitched against the
Nationals yesterday. is undoubtedly a
young pitcher of much ability. He seems
l., \ 4
ball. He Joined the Sox last fall, and
one of his achievements was a shutout
victory over the Athletics. He is. there
fore, not believed to be flash in the
pan. The Nationals hit him freely enough
in the early innings, but as the game
progressed he frightened up. and few. in
deed. were the hard-hit balls off his de-
livery during the last four or five in
nings.
About the only batter among the Griff-
men who was not fooled by Foster was
Mcbride. He hit safely the first two
times up and there was nothing scratchy
about his drives, either The other Fos-
by his namesakes delivery and had the
distinction of tanning on three different
occasions.
That Walter Johnson is in exceptionally
good condition this spring is indicated by
his announcement yesterday morning that
his arm did not feel in the least bit lame
or sore as a result of the game he pitched
opening day, when he went the entire
route at full speed He insisted that he
could 20 out and pitch another game in
the afternoon. Griffith, of course. has no
intention OF pilng lot Of work on john
son. He wants to keep him on edge all
season. and only in the event that there
is chance to land the pennant will he
be pushed to the limit in the closing
weeks of the campaign. johnson already
Is the best drawing card in base ball.
Whenever he is announced to pitch the
attendance increases anywhere from 2i
to so per cent regardless of what city he
appears in. Should Johnson succeed in
starting another long string of score1ess
innings as he did last spring he will pack
every ball park at which the Nationals
appear.
Griffith and schaefer. who did all the
coaching during the game. wore their
and the two Boston coachers did the
same. Even the umpires jumped around
and forgot their usual dignity in an ef-
fort to keep their blood in circulation
Players who failed to hit the ball square
" indicated that their cold hands were
being stung by the bat. and there was
some delay caused by the time they re-
quired rubbing their hands.
The system of having a meeting of all
the players every morning at which Grif-
fith presides. and at which the faults OF
the previous day are pointed out. and
plans laid for the next game. is still in
vogue. That these meetings are of great
value to the team goes without saying
The players are very much interested ir
these sessions, and the youngsters are
| learning a lot about the game which is
new to them.
Jim Shaw pitched the final inning yes
| terday and retired the side in rapid order
on three easy plays. Shaw displayed
splendid control in that one inning. and
| he seems at last to have rounded into his
| best form.
Nothing is going to help put the Ma.
tionals in their best form SO much as g
| spell Of hot weather. That Is all the
| team needs to show fast gait. Weather
| such as they have encountered most o1
! this spring is not intended for base ball.
| Milan played a great game in center
Yesterday. He had four chances. an6
every one of them was dificuit On two
| different occasions he robbed Speaker oi
long drives by splendid sprints and catch
| es, and on another occasion Hooper seem
1 Ii