Evening star., 1921-02-28

communication with President JacoE
the-long-distance telephone last nig
He talked over the wire with Sec
retary Eddie Eynon, and was told
telegram was being forwarded to
him from Rupert, in which the latter
said he would advise Griffith, in
Tampa, as to whether his offer would
be accepted. but at an early hour
today nothing further had been forth
coming from the president OF the
Yankees. Griffith is somewhat mysti-
fed as to the present status OF the
deal In view or Higgins announce
meHt in Cincinnati and the dispatch
sent out from New York quoting
Business Manager Barrow of the
Yankees as saying there was no basis
for the HugElnS statement
s Facts in the case.
The facts in the case are that last
Friday, the day before his departure
from Washington, Griffith, having
failed to interest the New York own
ers9n an offer of two players and a
SUM of cash. in exchange for Baker:
phoned to Huggins. in CINCINNATI. and
Rupert. in New York. and made
Baker. Both told him at the time
that they wanted to confer with the
other before reaching any decision,
and took the offer under Amusement.
The $4,000 bait was Griff's last
shot" in his attempt to land the third
baseman. and. regardless of the state-
n,ent made last evening by Barrow.
the Nationals chieftain still enter
taips some hope that the deal will
geEthrough. If it does. il Will be on
a strictly cash basis. and will be con-
tingent upon Baker agreeing to play
with Washington.
Information from the capital last
night was to the effect that Baker.
WHO was communicated with in Bal
tlmore. had no knowledge of his re-
ported sale. There is little doubt
Baker would welcome the opportunity
TO play with the Nationals. provided
hix-salary terms were met and it is
assured he would be satisfied in this
respect.
Good Day for start.
Practically ideal conditions pre-
vailed today of the initial practice of
the. comparatively small squad of
Nationals on deck here. In addition
tosthe half dozen athletes who ar
rived yesterday evening under the
wings of President Griffith and Man
ager McBride-namely. Catcher Pici-
Mich, Pitchers Schacht. Zachary and
Brewer. Infielder Marhafka and Out
fe1ders McHugh and Tucker the
delegation has been augmented by
the litter arrival of Olaf Erickson.
Outfelder Goebel. Eschnann. a short
stop. and Infielder Deeby Foss. who
spent the winter here.
New shortxtop Obtained
Goebel former Springfield Eastern
League. player. who wanted more money
TO sign than Griff thought an untried re-
cruit was worth. suffered a change of
heart With him came Andrew Esch
mann. another youngster Griff at
feffpted to sign during the winter. and
whe4accepted the Nationals offer for
trial at the last minute.
ESchmann in 1919 was varsity short
stop, of the Holy Cross nine, a college
which has produced many base ball
stars. including Jack Barry and Joe
Dugan- Eschmann is a clean-cut look
ing chap. twenty years old. and is
right-hand hitter. He has had no
previous professional experience.
F4tcher Jose Acosta and his bat
terry mate, Ricardo Torres. are en-
route from Cuba. and expected at any
hour. while other early arrivals will
! be Eouthpaw Harry Courtney. who
has been sojourning at Clearwater,
near here. and 1nfielder Bob Lamotte
who is due from his home in Savan-
nah. Ga.
Equfpment Is High-CIass.
Plant Field. the bail park where
the Nationals do their conditioning,
10 only Babe Ruth wallop from the
Tampa Bay Hotel, the s3.0000O0
municipality owned tourist hotel.
where the boys sleep and park their
broRans under the table three times
a day. The diamond is in the center
of half-mile race track. in front of
q Erandstand seating $500 people.
The clubhouse. the big league affair,
equipped with all conveniences. in
cluding half a dozen showers, lock-
ers. rubbing tables. etc, is adjacent
to the diamond, and even nearer the
hotel.
In the event of rainy day the
Nationals can use the fair buildings,
two of which are 500 feet long and
have high roofs Here tossing and
bunting could be INDUCED in, but it
is not expected these conveniences
the memory of man runneth Tampa
has never had more than three rainy
days in any one February. nor more
than I'VE in any one March. and ii is
not unusual to have none al all. for
this is not the rainy season down
here.
Pats Nikr on Back.
The splendid appearance presented
by the diamond. when Mcbride led mis-
. charges on to il for the first practice
this morning. consisting in the main
of simple limbering up exercises.
earned Mike Martin a pa, on the
back, and considering the difficulties
Nike overcame it would appear he
was entitled to couple of pats. 1t
seems that when Miguel arrived a
week ago he found the field in terrible
shape. the state fair having been
held there just a week before. The
field was full of ruts. There was q
bandstand erected over where the
pitchers box should be and the grass
he took such pride in last spring
had been completely obiiterated by
the trampling of thousands of feet. II
was a hopeless task for one man to
attempt to repair the damage done
even under the direction of SO ca
pabie a supervisor as Fred Harvey
cutter, So the energetic Miguel got
busy with the officials of the city
which owns the fair grounds and the
acres surrounding it. He was sent
from one dignitary to the other un-
Til. exasperated. he appealed to the