Evening star., 1915-03-12
GANDIL AND NOR GAN EXPECTED
TO SHOW MUCH BETTER FORM
Both Players Evidence Improvement Even
Now Over Their Work of Last Fall
Pick and Neff Good Utility Men.
BY j. ED GRILLo.

BY j. ED GRILLo.
CHARLOTTESVILLE Va. March H.
That both Gandil and Morgan will play
in improved form this year Is indicated
by their showing i'll the exhibition games
here. While both players still need lot
of conditioning and are far from being
at their best, their work is SO much better
even now than it was last fall that they
are hard to recognize. Morgan Is mol
only fielding his position splcndidly and
using Judgment in making plays, nut
he is full of dash In the two games
| yesterday he made five clean hits, one OIL
/ which was double, and several Oh Which
were productive of runs
! tiandil too, is hitting hard and timely,
| and lie is playing his position as OF yofe'
| III fact, the big first baseinan looks pe'tef
! than he has for some time, ana give"
| promise OF being i'll perfect heath 'hls
| summer GandiIs throwing arm "hleh
I always gives him trouble i'll the sprh's' -
crooked right now, but it will gradually
straighten out, as it does every spring
W hen the weather gets warm
With Gaudil and Morgan hach W. soou
! form. the Nationals VIII aPltat - TO-.
! Formidable than they did at any time '"s'
| year.
! In I,icj, and Ncm Manager Grlthth mas
| a couple of most pronl's'is uti'l,1 ~;
/ lust where Pick belongs IS a queslioii
/ He is not Il stroni; fielder IN either the out
| or intcd, but Griffith believes mat ne
| can be taught to pla! the outneia. ,
is not only one of the best hitters on tlle
TENN but ais, QUO of the fastest runners,
! and uses good Judgment Oh til. bases. IN
/ fact, Pick is at his best right now, Tor inc
/ reason that he is in good health Wnie
when he joined the Nationals iast id'i
| he WAS far from feeling we'll l'lck Is
apt not to be out of the S;llnc very nuch
! the coming season. He is too valuable Il
| man to have on the bench and Griffith is
/ figuring how he can make room for nm
| Neff who. of course. needs experience,
| can play amy one OF the inficld positions
| and also is n cracking good hitter. He
will b. used to ill the places Of the rcSu-
lars when ever occasion demands, for
there is no doubt that hc has the making
/, of high-ciass infielder and all-around
! ball player.
i 1t would not be at all surprising if
Griffith stood pat on his outfield, which
| he has kept intact for three seasons
Shanks. Milan and Moellcr will very like
| ly start the season i'll these positions
Shanks is hitting well this spring, and
lie did last spring also, SO is apt to start
| the season III left and remain there as
! long us he holds his own with the bat
remains to be seen. Rondeau. no doubt,
| is natural, hard hitter, but the French
! man is not the aggressive player that
! Griffith would like to have him and this
| may handicap him when the selection is
made. Rondeau, in the two games he
| played Yesterday. proved himself {, much
better fielder than was supposed, two of
/ his captures of difficult flies being of the
circus variety. He hits well. too, though.
| OF course, he does not always get the ball
safe and probably will show to better
| advantage when the weather gets warm
er. But Griffith has his own ideas about
outfielders- He is not apt to carry a
| fielder just for the sake of his hitting IL
1 he has nothing else to recommend him :.
asgresslreness is one qualification that he
insists upon and Rondeau has shown none
OF this to date
seons of the ne -, Other ou,felders Massey
! ciass: lie IS Il most promising young
! ster IN more ways than one, and what
recommends him most is that he is
/ very fast on his feet.
| There is TO doubt that the ,ean,
needs more hitting strength in the
[ outfeld, but until Griffith finds that
sort OF 4 player. who is also intelli-
| gent and a good fielder and throWer
| outfeld. for he does not believe in sac
rihcing general playing for hitting
alone.
The two games yesterday We're played
under none too favorable conditions While
! the sun the job all morning, it
was decidedly chilly on the field, and the
! players suffered from the cold. In the
afternoon it was even colder. and after
| six innings had been played, Griffith
called a halt.
AS result of the weather, Eddie Foster
and Clyde Milan did not don their uni
! forms in the afternoon Both are suf-
| fering with severe colds, and may not be
able to resume training for a day or so.
/ The pity of it is that both of these stars
were showing excellent form for SO early
! i'll the training sea son. Milan was hit
| ting and fielding well. while Fosters work
around third base and his timely hitting
| have been the subject of much comment
among the other players.
George Mcbride is picked to have a
much better year with the bat this
! season than he had last, and if his
showing to date here can be taken as
! a criterion there is no doubt Of it.
George hit the bal! hard Yesterday on
| both occasions. He is practicing the
art of hitting into right field and is
| showing progress which Is astounding
With Mcbride working his batting av-
| craGe up to ever $50 he would do more
/ than his share to keep the Nationals
rontendsrS in the race. for as {. fielder
and handler of thrown balls Mcbride
| has no superior.
| Young ThorInali1en is picked to make
d great eft-hander in due time. He is
| SO natural about every thing he does
| that IL is only question Of time when
| he viii lie Developed into real star.
! Though lie is but eighteen years old
| and has never had profeSS Soual expert
eucc. he has smooth delivery, a lot
| Of stuff, and, Furthermore, has a motion
| toward first base which keeps the
| bsserunncrs guessing. Griffith is partic-
ularIy impressed with Thornahlen )
| nj nd ha 10 nf hn llf