Evening star., 1915-02-16
BY ]. ED GR1LLo.

While there is little doubt Chick
Gandil will have one of his good years
in the coming campaign, should he fan
to come - GO expectations Alva Will
liams is to be shifted to first base.
Gandil had an off season in 1914 be-
cause of poor health, but looks to be
in better fettle right now than he has
been for some time. Chick himself be-
lieves he will display his best form
this season. There is little chance LOT
Williams to break into the lineup at
first if Gandil is himself, but the Dig
catcher is valuable man to nave
around, for he can play the position
fairly we'll and has been most con-
sistent performer with the STICK ever
since he joined the locals.
When Gandil is going at top speed
there is no better first baseman in the
league. Until last year Gandll was
Stuffv McInnis' superior because OF the
fact that he could without any ap-
parent effort handle poor throws which
would have required sensational play
;n,. for McInnis to have accepted.
Whether Manager Griffith will make
any changes in his batting order the COM
ing season depends upon What sort VI
bat. If the Frenchman proves the timely
hitter he is given credit for being he WIN
be well up in the list. Ihere Is little
likelihood of Griffith breaking up the
Moeller-FoSter combination at the heau
of the list, for there is no doubt that this
pair does much toward making the team
a dangerous scoring aggregation Noel
ler's ability to get on and Fosters science
as a batter has proved one OF the strong-
est features of the Nationals play. But
las
ters following this pair seldom came
through with the hits which would nave
meant runs. Moeller and Foster time and
time again set the stage for rally. only
to be left 1t would be Interesting to be
bile to show how many times Foster
drove Moelfcr around to third base at
stages of the game when there We're none
out and it would show where the real
weakness lies if the times were recorded
that neither advanced while the side was
retired.
1t is to be hoped that Rondeau will
be one of those hitters who can follow
the lead-off pair and come through
with fair percentage OF timeiy % Wa,-
deau, Gandil and Morgan show form
there is going to be decided increase
in the teams batting strength this
season.
1t would not be at all surprising to
find some improvement in the batting
of George Mcbride next season: The
teams captain practiced the roster
system of right field hitting during the
closing days of last season. and there
was a noticeable improvement in his
hitting Foster has assured MS cap
tain that he was never anything like a
how to place the ball into various
fields. He got Mcbride to try this art,
and the latter became very much IN
terested. as he saw himself hitting
better than ordinarily Mcbrlde m
tends to put In most of his time this
spring acquiring the knack OF hitting
to different fields without swinging
hard at the ball. and he hopes to make
himself a better hitter as result.
What a wonderful thing it would be
for the Nationals If two or the three
eft-handers should show sufhcfent i'm
provement in their work to warrant
their being worked regularly. Boehling
is pretty sure to come through. Griffith
believes he will be a better pitcher
than ever, because he believes Boehling
has learned a lot about pitching since
he came here.
II Bentley Or Harper should show the
Improvement expected, it would give
the team a splendidly balanced pitch
ing staff. with just enough left. handers
to Offset the right-handed twirlers.
combination which always has been
considered ideal by good judges of ball
teams.
The Chicago White Sox. headed by
Clarence Rowland. /the new manager,
left Chicago today for the coast. The
trip will require almost a week, but
the Sox will be actively training before
any of it's rival teams get started.
Eddie Collins is with the squad, and
so is Ed Walsh. who is expected to re-
turn to his best form. While the team
is on the coast Collins and Weaver will
learn to become accustomed to each
other around the keystone position, and
it is a fair prediction that this pair of
lightning infielders will make quite a
the season is very old. Had Weaver
had a high-class player playing beside
him at second he would have been more
than he was, for there are