Evening star., 1919-03-19

to his left or right with equal facility.
He comes up with the ball and gets
it away in a flash, but with such ease
and apparent lack of effort that it is
impossible to discern just where the
catch ends and the throw begins. The
| with no stop. get set. haul off and
throw" in evidence. Obeying Altrock' s
edict to take it easy. Davis merely
lobbed the ball to first. but showed
on a couple of occasions, when he for
got the injunction against risking in
| wing by hurting the ball to Charity
on line.
How Davis. who is a right-handed
hitter, will show up as a batsman
against major league pitching remains
to be seen. The mark of .23S he es-
tablished with the Wichita club in the
Western League in 1917 is not i'm
pressive. but he is a youngster and
can be taught lot about the art of
hitting. Some of the best known
shortstops in the majors couldn't hit
a lick when they first came up-Ban-
croft, Scott and Maranville are nota-
BILE examples-and Charley Hollocher,
the ensatlonal young sticksmith of
the Cubs. never was able to hit in
the minors. He did not start until
after he Joined Chicago.
Slugging shortstops have been the
exception rather than the rule any
how. There never was but one Hans
Wagner, and in the American League
the lifetime average of the leader
of the field now in the game, Ray
Chapman. is .271. The batting marks
for the entire length of their careers
of some other notable performers in
the junior circuit are far from high.
Buck Weaver of the White Sox
n
rating of .25S. while Donie Bush fol-
lows with PAS. Peckinpaugh, .239;
Lavan. .237, despite the mark of .27S
last year; Janvrin, .230; Scott, .229,
and Mcbride, .21S.
Failure to hit up near the 800 mark
will not keep Davis from earning
the Nationals this season. Shanks,
prospective occupant of the berth. at
the start, at least. has a mark of
only .239 during the stretch of his
seven years of service in fast COM
pany. all of them spent with Wash
ington, and it is no reflection on the
ability of the earnest and hardwork-
ing Hank, who belongs in the gar
den. to say that as an infielder he
falls far short of having Davis nat
ural ability. One of Shanks' most
glaring faults is a tendency to fight
do
1t would be fallacious to estimate
the qualifications of q player for any
position on a brief showing. Nothing
of this sort is attempted in regard to
Davis. Action under conditions ap-
plying in a regular game may un-
cover deficiencies impossible of dis
cernment now. But there is no deny
ing the fact that the coast youngster
is a mighty sweet fielder to the ex-
tent of the tests he has been given
thus far. and If he shows ability to
work in keeping with the standard
reasonable to expect of him. Lavan's
retirement may not prove nearly so
great a blow as has been anticipated.
wait till Griff sees him." is Mike
Martins happy chirp. While Altrock's
refrain is: Wonderful pair of hands!
Wonderful pair of hands,"
Val Picinich, slated to boone the
youngest first spring backstop in the
majors this season. and Adrian Lynch,
the equally youthful pitching pros
pect, reached the hotel shortly after
the supper hour last evening. They
met by accident in Atlanta and came
over on the train together, with no
excuses for their tardiness. Picinich
has been sojourning at Miami Fla.
where he has been employed as life
guard at the beach. He is rs brown
as the prevailing shade in tan shoes.
He says he is in great shape. and
looks it.
Lynch has filled out considerably,
and will be one of the biggest men in
the squad this year. He stands six
feet two inches and weighs 100
pounds. He tipped the beam at about
165 when he first joined the Griffmen.
Lynch was but recently released from
the Army, after six months service in
the Motor Transport Corps at Camp |
Dodge, Des Moines. Iowa. He joined
the Jersey City club near the close of
last season and won nine out of four |
teen games for the International !
League outfit. Seven of his victories