Evening star., 1919-03-27
DAV|SSURE Of lob.
| MAY Be EAREGULAR
Gritf Says Shortsto2 Almost
| Certain to Be in First
Game of Season.
PITCHERS GET ATTENTION
BY DENMAN THOMPSON.

regarded as practically a certainty.
The brilliant manner in which the
former "gob' performed when he
landed here. nominated him at once
for the 'phenom' class. and he seems
TO improve daily. There is no longer
any vestige of question about his
natural ability and prowess afield.
and, while he has yet to demonstrate
his measure of strength as a bats
man. the manner in which he COM
ports himself at the plate and the
vicious drives he makes off the
yet admittedly weak pitching stamp
him as sufficiently promising as
hitter to warrant using him without
waiting to oD.aIn more definite line
On his sticking.
Clark Griffith. while bearing a gen
orally recognized reputation as an
optImist is not prone to wax en-
thusiastic about youngsters just
breaking into the big s..ow. He has
seen too many embryo CobDS and
Wagners blossom out in blaze OF
gerry in the spring. only to wilt and
fade away under the scorchiny rays
of a July sun. But the boss of The Ma
1ionals makes no attempt to conceal
his eiation over the showing of Da-
Wis. and admitted today that the coast
Juvenile has cinched a berth with
team anu Nouiu III All ilkelinOOu
appear in the first box score OF the
championship season with IS. S" after
his name.
The glowing accounts some of You
fellows wrote of Davis while was in
Washington made me fear they were
greatly overdrawn." Griffith said to.
day But after seeing him in ac-
ton twice day since my arrival
can frankly say the praise bestowed
on him was well merited. He has all
he fr,r.
including speed. a fine pair of hands
and a splendid arm. He is Just made
to order for shortstop. How we'll
he viii be able to hit against first
class pitching remains to be seen. but
he has fine form a the bat. and takes
wicked cut at the ball. Further
more. he is bright boy, who does
not have to be told a thing more than
once. and is as fast as a streak Oh
his feet. | was surprised Yesterday
at the speed he showed in running the
bases in batting practice. He gets
into his stride without any prelimi-
nar1es. and scurries around the bases
like a rabbit. No infielder will be
able to loaf on him and he will beat
out a lot of infield hits
There are a bunch of tricky base
runners he will have to contend with
VINO Will cross up with delayed steals
and such stunts at the outset, perhaps
but he VIII gain experience every day
he is in there playing, and unless ;.
miss my guess. he is going 10 make
a great shortstop. He is one of the
very few infielders i have ever seen
just coming into fast company that |
felt ! could unreservedly enthuse
over. If Davis pans out in the tests of
playing in regular games as well as
We have every reason to believe he
will. the Washington club will have,
to regard itself as being extremely
fortunate.
Manager Griffith is going to give
close attention to the newcomers who
aspire to positions on his pitching
staff from this time forward. With
johnson. Shaw, Harper and Ayers to
build around it is necessary to add
three to round out his finging corps.
The pilot said today he planned 10
carry no more than seven men for
mound duty. owing to the player limit
of twenty-one adopted by both ma jor
leagues this year. With Altrock and
Mcbride signed TO player contracts
and both slated to be retained, he
can carry three catchers. four infield-
ers. three outfelders and two utility
men He figures it would be unsafe
10 enter campaign with less than a
pair of athletes eligible for emergency
roles.
Which of these seven pitchers in
addition to the regular quartet in
camp here will be retained cannot be
settled until after the lid is taken off
and an opportunity is afforded of see
ing the recruits using everything they
possess IN the way of speed and
curves. Thus far, to avoid sore arms
and stif joints the sharpSnori.r& have
confined themselves to merely getting
the ball up to the plate with just
enough speed to harden their wings
and provide worth while whetting for
the hating of the nfh M
But starting Monday the word will
be given to put something on the ball.
No urging will be required for the
youngsters are working under re-
straint now. and in the practice games
where the rivalry between regulars
and Yannigans is great, there will be
enough at stake TO make the box
artists extend themselves.
Mattesonf Hov!ik and Thompson
look the best Of the lot of recent ad-
'ditions at the present writing. The
former. although a mediocre ball play
er in every respect except pitching.
demonstrated last season that the
manner in which he mikes 'em up is
sufficiently baff1ir to make him
man TO be reckoned with. He is
good type of moundsman to have
around for relief work and to finish
up, He can always find the plate.
Hovlik has as much stun as many
htgh-priced men in the big show. He
IS uervy chap with an iron Constitu-
ton and in addition TO having a lot of
speed boasts of a curve that ranks
with that possessed by the best in the
business With him il is question
of control-that and ability to prevent
the opposition from running wild on
the bases.
Thompson right now is better
pitcher than either of this pair for
with repertoire that includes fair
speed. d puzZlinG hook and excellent
control he is probably the best field
ing pitcher in the entire Washington
array and also is availab BILE for duty
IN the garden, being a sure catch of
fly ball and batsman of no mean
ability. The only question in regard
TO Thorn pson is whether his lack of
Size viii mitigate against his success
as hurler.
What Bill Harrington has in the
way of puZzlinG shoots viii rot be
known until after nc has been pitted
against The GrIffithian heavy ar
tillcry IN the practice games. To date
the cfthauder has kept his wing we'll
= wrapped. aside from experimenting
IA little with a shine ball. Adrian
Lynch is being coached to leDgthen
his stride and use "A quicker motion
in his windup, and 1t is hoped Molly
Craft will be able to develop a fast
ball if he can learn to utilize the
weight of his body in throwing the
ball. Craft is handicapped by the
I lack of speed.
Ed Flsherty. the big righthandcr
who is the only native Washingto-
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