The Daily Missoulian., 1917-03-16
Athletic Lineup Appears
Stronger Than That Of 1916
Question Is Whether Improvement Will BE Sufficient to
Lift the Mackmen Out of Cellar Postion-Hope-
less Tailenders Last Season.

any more, but keep right on going.
Roy Grover. who played: high grade
ball with Butte in 1916, is the leading
candidate for second base. Grover hit
S42 in the Northwestern league last
year, and did well in the short tryout
he had with the Connie Macks last
fall. Lawrey, the Maine 2co1legian is
also trying for the keystone job. Law
renee Witt, the only one of the Ath-
letic pickups that made good. will play
shortstop. Witt is a sensational.
though somewhat unreliable fielder,
and "A fair batter. who is bound to i'm
prove with experience. Ray Bates of
Vernon in the Pacific Coast league is
the sole candidate for the job of
guarding the hot corner. Bates played
in the Virginia league some five years
ago. was drafted by Portland. made
good and later had tryout with
Cleveland. then was sent back to Port
land. He is n big. husky chap. and
splendid batter and fielder, in the
coast league anyway. In 1916 he hit
.2s5 and fielded for an average of .939.
"A pair OF cOHeSlanS Will also get Try
outs in the infield
Amos Strunk. who has been with
the Athletics since 1909. will play left
field this year. Amos was the best all
around player that Mack had last year
He is Il heavy hitter. and an unusually
fleet and sure fielder. Strunk, who
played in center field last year. came
up from Milwaukee seven years ago.
Francis Ping" Bodie. also known as
The slugger from the coast" will
bring much joy to philadelphia and
| Chicago fans by catorting in the
Philadelphia outfield this year. Ping"
was with the White Sox for couple
seasons some three years ago, and
| though he couldn't get along with
Manager Jimmy Callahan. was one Of
| the most popular players that ever set
| foot in Comskey park. Bodie slugged
the ball hard enough to stay in the
| American league on his previous trial,
but one day while the race was hot
test, he was caught by Callahan in the
act of downing many copious "schoon-
| eIS. Hat WIS tIt emu oL IdHClSCO
Pizzola with the White Sox. and since
that time he has been busting fences
on the Pacific coast with great regu-
larity. Last year Ping played with
Frisco. and finished the season with
a batting average of .3O3 and field
| ing average of 1858, besides cracking
out a score of home runs. Thrasher
a husky outfielder from Atlanta in the
Southern association, is the leading
aspirant for the position of righ,
fielder Thrasher hit 1897 In the
southern last year. and is a fast
fielder Eddie Johnson, who hit 81:
with Butte last year. is another out
field candidate, and will give some.
body hard rub for the utility job
King, a collegian, Ley. from the Uni.
versity of Colorado and Horne, from
an eastern bush league are othe
candidates for outfield positions.
The probable lineup of the Athletics
when the bell rings on April II, cal
be pretty closely predicted as in
Guiding McInnis, Grover, Witt an,
Bates in the infield and Strunk, Bodi
and Thrasher in the gardens, witt
Wallie Schang doing IS per cent of tn
backstop work. .
The 1916 batting and fielding av
erages of the Athletics who return 70
the 1917 campaign, follow: