Evening star., 1915-03-19

between these they are caught nap
ping. Griffith is satisfied that Boehline
| is 10 nave good year and he Is ex-
ercislng every care gradually to get
the left-hander into good condition.
| Walter Johnson's present system Of
| training is sure to make a difference
in his form in the coming race. While
still doing lot of work, Walter has
| cut down the pitching end of it to
such an extent that he is only grad
! ually getting his arm in frst-rate
working order. Last spring, he fig
| ures, he used it too much, with the re-
| suit that the member went stale at a
time when it should have been at his
| best
Walter now spends much time in the
in and out field in practice, and Is a
! regular frequenter at the bat. but he
takes enough pitching workouts from
time to time to strengthen his arm.
As hitter Johnson looms up as of old
Whenever he connects there is some
thing doing in the way of a long,
hard drive.
Jim shaw's pitching has not been
very effective of late, though he ap
years to have world of speed. 1t is
learned that he is being hit freely be-
cause he is not allowed to use any
curves by order Of Manager Griffith,
who is anxious for Shaw to get into
his best form before resorting to any
thing but speed. Now speed is not
deceptive if the batters know that
nothing else is coming, and as result
Shaw has been hammered on two or
three recent occasions until some have
gotten the idea that the young Pitts
burgher has seen his best days. But
Griffith says that when the proper time
arrives Shaw will show up in his
true form, and that base hits will be
mighty scarce in the games which
Shaw will pitch.
son opens the Nationals can encounter
siege of real warm weather they will
be sure to toe the scratch opening day
in much better fettle than in some time.
There has been lot of work done
here, though much of it under condi-
tions which were not favorable; but
| the benefit of this work will show
more clearly if it Is followed by cou-
| pie of weeks of real warm weather,
which does much to take the stiffness
| and soreness out of an athletes mus
cles.
| still few pounds over weight, he ar
| CUES that he will take off what weight
he does not need when he gets back to
Washington. In former years" says
| Ray, Il have always been able to do all
| my reducing when we get home from
the training trip. There is something
about the atmosphere of Washington
| that makes 1t easy to perspire, and
| that is exactly what I need. 1 have
worn bundles of clothes since going
| into training here and. as every one
knows, have worked hard, yet it has
been no easy matter to get off weight,
because it has been too chilly to sweat
profusely.'
When Doc" Ayers first joined the
Nationals last spring there was but
| one fault to find with his pitching, and
that was that he lacked a real curve
ball. DOC" had some sort of little
twister that he substituted for it, but
| it did not add to his effectiveness.
| which seems to be entirely due to con-
| troll and good speed. Now Doc" has a
| hook" he has acquired this spring. and
| the catchers who handle his delivery
as well as the batters who face him
say that it is the real thing 1t was
noticeable yesterday that Doc" was
fooling the batters with his curve. as
result of which he was hit safely
only twice during the four innings he
officiated.
The fact must not be overlooked that
Clyde Milan is doing some mighty neat