Evening star., 1922-04-03

portant respect from that orlglnall
spring has been OF such a thoroug
than an eveu-money wager that his
to the umpire-in- Chief by Manager
Goslin has fallen far short OF eX
would not necessarily cause him to
stride overnight and demonstrate II
tential slugger Ii is on defense CHI
TO such an extent that 1t would be
championship game with him III the
Except on made-to- order chances
that schooiboy could handle Goslin
has reSembled the veriest dub i'll the
field all spring. He has staggered
around under even ordinary nies IN
such a manner as to make spectators
uneasy and has shown absolutely no
aptitude for felding ground balls. He
has claimed that the sun bothered INN,
that his glasses are too dark, that
the fields are rough. etc. ana tnat Wieh
he is playing under better conditions
he will be able to do wnat is expected
Of him.
Has F,ivvered in Field.
Perhaps, but the facts of the case
right now are that he has been a terri
BILE flivVer i'll the field and he will have
TO improve to a remarkable extent IN
very short period OF time to justify us
ing hIn at the start of the campaign.
He appears TO lack any of the intuition
inboIn in Z; natural oUttielder to break
in the right direction when a Dali is
hit. has faulty judgment on the height
and speed OF d drive and although he
possesses a tIe arm. he merely throws
the ball back TO the infield as hard as
he can. with seemingly no idea OF Where
il should 20, or what should be done
after he lets go OF it. In addition he mas
borne a striking resemblance to Old John
g1rt4a arriDc AiT ,Ssslf attpmDtlng
field grouuderS In not q single game
against either the YanniSanS or Braves
has he shown any OF the ease and nniSh
common to a real ball player. 1t may
be that Gosiin is capable OF piaH,iis
inmeaSura bly, better than he has thiS
spring as he seemed to be a fair per-
former afieid when with the ciub last
fan. but he would nave TO bat a 3oo
pace to offset his present deticiencleS on
defense and he has shown no indication
to date of travelling at more than half
that speed against good pitching
Smith and Goebei Ready.
The Nationals are fortunate in hav-
Ing AZ Least two men fully quailheu
to handle an outpost assignment IN a
satisfactory il not sensational man
ner Defensively Eddie Goebel can
hold his own with the best OF them
and if he demouSi rates he can main
tain a batting pace of M or Deller
a againSt American League hurlers the
club could seek farther and fare
worse than using the youngSter.
At presnt, however, Earl Smith is
the logical man for the right field
berth The former Brown is a good
fielder, a fair batSman and one of the
best throwers in the circuit, having
10 superior in the speed with which
he gets a hall away. Smith failed
to impress in his work with the Ma
ionals last season. but there were
good reasons for it. He was wor-
ried by illness in his family, got no
chance to play regularly and fell
into a hitting slump that affected his
work in all departments. rms
spring, with no mental or physical
trouble to handicap him. he has made
ed a fine spirit. working hard and
earnestly, and should he get the
chance for steady toll that now seems
proba Bile he can be depended upon to
give Il good account of himself.
Meet the Braves Today.
The second section of their fourteen
game series with the Braves will be
inaugurated by the Griffmen today.
when they enter the final lap of their
training period. In the first half they
won five of the seven games played
at Tampa and st. Petersburg, ana
looked as much stronger than their
National League rivals as this mar
Whether they can maintain such
pace i'll the ensuing week remains to
be seen. but regardless of mere
scores the series is serving Its prln-
cipal object admirably. for it is as
Sured that. barring accidents, the
regulars will be in the best physical
shape posSi Dle, giving them a big ad-
vantage over players of some of the
other clubs. who have had to wear
goggles because of SandStorms, work
J. h.,. nf
cessives rain and contend with cold
winds that played havoc with throw
ing arms.
Continued rain is the only con-
tingency aside from mishaps to be
feared as a possibility for giving the
team a setback. Cooler weather than
the performers have experienced Tor
several weeks Will not prove unWel-
come, for it must be encountered ul-
timateiy ard will serve to harden the
athletes.
Pitchers VIII Get Test.
With games scheduled for every
day now, the pitching staff will be
put to more of test than it has yet
experienced. 1t is expected that Milan
will call Ca Zachary and Phillips for
service against the Braves this aft
ernoon, with a possibility that Nc
Grew also will get into action. The
slim one is sure to get an opportunity
soon to face the BeaneaterS, and the
way he handles himself under fire will
be closely watched.
In addition to these three. the pitch
erS present and available for toll are
Courtney. Gleason. Brillheart. Erick-
SON. FranciS and MOgridge. The last
named probably will leave the barn
stornerS after the game at Greenville,
s c., Wednesday. and go on to New
York to transport his family to WASH
ington He expects to be there in
time to pitch Saturdays game against
the BraFes. and, with three days then
for rest, will be primed to oppose the
Yankees in the opening game. 1t
looks now as if he is sure to get this
assignment.
Woodward. Turk, Keifer. Digges.
Miller, Noone and Johnson comprise
the party of players who branched
off at Jack snnvil1e last night for the