Evening star., 1921-03-21

teams.
Today and tomorrow the drill
schedule heretofore in effect will pre-
vail, but. beginning Wednesday, when
the Arst Of the YanniSan- Regular
ga1les IL to be played. the athletes
viii not be required to do any morn :
ing work, their activities being con-
Aned to the game itself. with the
customary hour of preliminary exer-
else.
Third Base Only Uncertain.
With the exception of third base,
the lineup for the Nationals of 1921
already has been selected. being
identical with that which defeated
the Phillies here Saturday. The hsht
for the far-corner assignment mas
developed into a two-man affair. with
Frank Ellerbe tentatively picked and
Howard Shanks offering the conten-
tion and standing about an even
chance of getting the call.
Right now Hank is far better an
round player than the governor. He
Is a better fielder. taking into con-
sideration his ability to handle bunts
an important part of thlrd pase.
mans work; is one of the cra1tleS'
base runners in the game. which is
the department of play in which
Ellerbe is most deficient. and knows
more base ball than his less expert
enced rival In hitting alone does
Ellerbe outshine the Monocan, but II
Is a fact. generally overlooked. that
proyement with the fail. his average
Of around .270. the best he ever com
piled, being recorded. despite the
handicap Of being shifted around
from one position to the other
Another aspect of Shanks batting
which must be taken into considera-
tfon is that the runs-batted-ln rec
ord shows a large percentage or MS
blows to be of the timely variety.
In addition. Howards reputation as
a spring hitter is well ELL estaoilsnea. sonsissrs
tion, it may be said that Hank has a
ffty-fifty chance with the South
Carolinian of starting the campaign
1T third.
Foss Likely to Be Kept.
The fact that it now seems assured
that either Ellerbe or Shanks VIII
land the berth does not necessarily
mean that Deeby Foss will get the
gate. Mcbride has until the first OF
the month to make up his MIND
whether this youngster indicates
enough promise to- warrant Deing car
ffed, and probablyiwin reserve his de-
cision until the last moment in order
to see as much of him as possible To
date the Tampan's showing has been
encouraging. but instances are ire
Quent where recruits looked great IN
practice contests. where there was
little at stake, And then blew up In
championship games. Remember Ike
Davis? This youngster from the
coast appeared Ito be real find at
the training camp in Augusta two
years ago. only to~tDrove a complete
Oponsibilities so preyed on his mind
that he could not cover yard OF
ground or hit q basket ball with
Foss seems to be a fair enough
fielder and undoubtedly possesses
what he will be able to accomplish
under IRE is problematical. He is not
very feet of foot. nor is he literally
endowed with the dash and spirit.
without which few ball players rise
above the mediocre
GriR to Let Up ON COLI
Starting today President Griffith
lowance Of hours he has been devot-
ing to golf and take UP in earnest the
task OF assisting Mcbride in the di-
rection of the players training. in ad-
dition to giving Goebel and Lamotte
suggestions designed to improve them
in batting and coaching Lamotte and
Foss in the fine points of Unfolding.
GriR aims to drill the pitchers in the
art Of bunting and further develop
them in requirement of change OF
QSCc, DeilS 81 0C "
Aogridge and Erickson.
Both of these fingers have about
everything needed in the way of
speed and curves to make them really
great moundsmen except an ability to
mix 'em up. This applies especially
TO Erick. who boasts of barrel OF
opeed and one of the widest-breaking &
hooks ever developed. but has failed
to acquire the knack of catching
batsmen OF balance by using varying
degrees of speed.
Grif's attention also will be devoted
to instructing the moundsmen in the
very necessary business Of holding
runners on the bases. and is using Joe
Acosta as an example. the Cuban hav-
ing motion to first" which does not
permit of big lead being obtained
on him. Johnson. for al his wonder
full accomplishments in the box. never
has become skilled at discoura gi n g
base running by the opposition. and
the same is true of Shaw. Frank
Brewer is to receive q lot of tutor
ing in this angle of the pitching art
He needs IT more than any of the
Others
Great Game on Links.
Church. the movies, fishing and goli
occupied the attention of the athletes
between meals on the Sabbath, while
the nearby alligator farm attracted a
number of the idle players. The most
notable golfing event was a match