Evening star., 1916-04-24
Nationals HOPEFUL
Of AN EVEN BREAK
Johnson or GaIIia to Oppose
New Y0rks in Last Game
of Series.
GANDIL NOT HITTING
IN FORM FOR INDIANS
Merito Acosta Being Developed for
the Nationals at Minneapolis
This Year.
BY J. ED GRILLO.

appearance the SGTieS mere toudS'
and it is more than likely that Ray Caid-
we'll will be sent to the rubber i'll an
effort to win three out of four from
| the Grffmen.
Either Walter johnson or Bert CAL
lila will be Griff1th's selection. Both
, VIII be warmed up before the game
and if Johnson shows good form in his.
preliminary work he will be sent
against the Yankees and try to get
an even break with the New Workers.
To date the series stands three to
two in favor of the Donovanites. and
every effort will be made to get il back
on an even basis.
After today's game here the Yam
KEGS return to their own grounds.
where they are scheduled to play four
games with the Red SoX. This series
should prove most Interesting, as it
will he their first meeting of the year.
Last season the Yankees always found
games out of the twenty-five they
played. Whether this percentage will
prevail this season remains to be seen.
but one or the other is apt to be showed
| back in the race as result OF this
/ series.
| Chic Gandil is far from being in his
| batting stride, and while he was hitting
| at .260 rate up to last Wednesday, hits
have been decidedly scarce for the former
! National since then and his average has
| fallen down below the 200 mark.
| Gandil made most of his batting records
| in Cleveland when a member of the local
team, but a change seems to have taken
| place and this spring he has not been
nearly as formidable on his home grounds
! as he used to be.
/ But, OF course. it is still early in the
| campaign and the good hitters will soon
| there will be a general shake-up in the
averages which now show lot of players
hitting away above their normal speed.
Jack Graney is displaying a lot OF hit
F; ting ability this spring. and he is proving
himself one of the best stickers on the
! Cleveland team. His performance against
st. Louis yesterday. when he made two
home runs and single on the Browns
grounds and scored four runs himself is
quite a record. The Indians left fielder
has been showing lot of class ever since
| the season opened Fielder Jones used
five OF his pitchers and they were all hit
| hard
| Umpire Bill KLEIN of the National
| League staff has been working with
| his physical condition far below the
mark. He has not been well since he
| T
went to umpire series of games for
| the Brooklyn team. KLEIN has what he
| calls stagnation of blood, and Satur-
day placed himself under a physicians
| care. and hopes to be able to take up
his duties again today.
William Hanna of the New York Sun
hands this to Hughey Fullerton, base
ball dopist:
My system writes Hughey Fuller
| ton in the current number Of the Amer
| lean Magazine, is to get among play
ers who have played with and against
! rate them and amplify them by the Of
| ficial averages, figure their values in
their positions and try to place the
| clubs in their positions.
| Some people might arrive at a salts
factory conclusion trying the same
method and some might go crazy
Even this early in the season the
punched. 1t is possible for any one OF
the first seven clubs to go into first
place within few days, and If the
Mackmen can keep up the pace they
two games they, too, may be in the
| running ere long.
Connie Mack's team will make its
morrow. coming for four-game
series. Though the team has corralled
but two games to date, it seems to be
going better than it was, and it is apt
to be troublesome during it's stay here.
Witt, who is playing short for the
team. is said to be one of the best
looking young players who have broken
into the American League. Umpire
Tom Connolly says he is very fast
fielder, and is about the size of Topsy
| Hartsel, whom he resembles more than
, a little. He is said to have a perfect
position at the plate. and it is pre-
dicted that in due time he will develop
into hitter of much more than ordi-
nary ability.
Merito Acosta, the Cuban outfelder
whom Manager Griffith farmed out to
I Minneapolis. is playing excellent ball
for Joe Cantillon. and Is looking Up as
a hitter Of ability. All that ever allied
Acosta while with the local club was
that he did not play regularly often
enough to develop into major league
class. and when he was not playing he
worked much too hard, thus losing the
stamina which he required when he
| broke into the game.
season at Minneapolis will do
Iplayed regularly and will develop
more rapidly than if he had been re-
ttained here and spent most of his time
on the bench.
George Mcconnell, who really led the
Federal League pitchers last season,
seems not to have been bafied by the
lchange to the National League, for he
is doing great pitching for the Cubs,
and yesterday worked game against
the Pirates and allowed them only one
hit. one Of the best performances of
the spring In either major league.
There is a story printed in several
of the Philadelphia papers that the
Phillies may get rid of Cravath, but
such statements should be taken with
la grain Of salt.
1t is perhaps true that the PhilIies'
slugger is not hitting up to his usual
} standard. but the Philly management
knows that it Is only a question of
time when the big fellow will begin
to crack out a series Of homo runs
1t is reported that Pat Moran In
tends to use Cooper. an outfielder, who
was with the Brooklyn Fed club last
season in Gavvy's place on the team. But
this. II done. may only be a temporary
shift for the purpose of letting Crayath
take a rest until he regains his bat
ting stride.
Fielder Jones is boasting again. He
says the White Sox were lucky to
break even with the Browns in the re-
cent series and that If the Sox figured
as pennant winning possibilities, he is
sure that the Browns will finish in
front of them. Jones believes his team
} VIII land on top by October. He says
he Is certain of this and that he will
tshow the other clubs that he is en-
titled to the flag, when they see his
LIteam At its best.