The Washington herald., 1921-04-10
Nv JACK NYE.

Less than 1000 fans will have seen
the Griffmen in action this year
when they hook up with the Red
Sox in the seasons opener on
Georgia avenue next Wednesday
afternoon. Those, who did inspect
the team in its clash with the
Giants Friday saw more bum pitch
ing than anything else-hat, heavy
hitting and good and bad fielding.
They are still very much in the
dark.
There is still a lot OF specula-
tion floating around. How do they
look?" has become a common ques-
tion since the men debarked from
the good ship Southland last week.
Tho answer. in the words of
| George Mcbride. is pretty fair"
Efaborating on the boss' conserva-
tive remarks, IL can be stated here
that the Griffs are a much i'm
proved team over the one that
wound up the 1920 season. They
| will present more strength in
nearly every department. The
general view around the circuit is
that they will not finish lower than
fourth and they may go higher.
IrONlueu tHey S'I ueSSHt TUE VI
luck.
Sizing the Team Up.
without going into higher
mathematics to dope out their
strength: a survey of the various
departments justifies the following
conclusions:
OUTFIELD-Increa effec-
tiveness due to the substitution
Of Duffy Lewis for Bobby Roth.
Also more reserve strength
with Miller. Brewer and Goebel
to choose from.
! INFIELD-Little change,
though O'Rourke's experience
makes him a steadier man than
Shannon or O'Neill. of last
year. The new shortstop can
also hit. Shanks again looks
like the choice for third. Foss.
Ellerbe and La Motto give the
infield adequate protection in
case of injuries to the reg
ulars.
CATCHING STAFF-More all
round strength with Val Pi-
cinich's Increased pep and the
addition of Tony Brottem. No
NhhhAChe oh - htSNSN'
PITCHING STAFF-Betterr re-
suits expected, chiefly because
of Walter Johnson's, good con-
dition. Most of the other vet
Grams should improve on their
1920 work, especially Erickson
and Zachary.
There will be plenty Of hitting
strength in the lineup from top to
bottom. Judge, Rice, Milan and
Harris look good for averages of
better than 800 again, and one or
two of>the others may bust into Sc
lect circles.
DefensiVely the team should show
plenty of class in every department.
which will be big change over last
season when they were Aotably poor
aheld.
johnson BoI.ters Mound staR.
When Walter johnson announced.
after his tryout Friday, that his
whip was apparently as good as
ever, there was cause for optimism.
When in condition, Barney Is usu-
ally good for twenty or twenty
five games, which means a lot in the
final standing Of a team. And the
rest Of the slabbing department can
not be rated exceptional, althoukh h
there are several boxmen who
should be consistent winners.
Erickson and Zachary now appear
to be the best bets next to John
son. This view is based on their
early form. They have shown much
fpromise during the training trip
and appear ready to give their best
with the opening Of the season
Erickson especially has a world OF
STUN and should be a. hard man to
beat II he continues his fancy side
arm fiinging. He has . tendency to
Igrow wild. however, which will have
Ito be overcome.
| Courtney won six and lost seven
last year and should better this
mark this season. He has plenty oi
rs 4 i.