Evening star., 1922-01-22

Inc prOpOSltlOn assumes a dlHelent
Their rivals being faced with the
necessity of jealously guarding all
hurting assets. it is apparent that
the Griffmen will have to be con-
tented with the fingers held over
from last year. reinforced only by
those obtained from the sticks. How
ever. getting Peck to plug the hole
long existing at short. the worries
Of Manager Milan will be confined
almost exclusively to boXmen. and
in this respect he has distinct edge
on a great majority of his Fellow
pilots.
In addition to pitching deficiencies
generally mutual. the Browns. with
an outfield averaging $50 at bat ana
ereid. still have a gaping void at
the keystone and a doubtful quantity
in Ellerbe at third. Cleveland's prop
lens center around the isported DIS
Gardner's legs and doubt whether the
hitting of the awkward stephenson
entities him to precedence over 1he
more polished Wamby at second. De
and second baseman. and with Col
lins Schalk and Faber gone tnere
would be little left of the White SoN.
The plight of the Mackmen Is TOO
well known to merit discussion ana
the main item in a long list OF Bos-
ton requirements is new owner.
Outlook "Not SO Bad
Granting. then. that pitching VIII viii
decide the fate of the Nationals TINS
year. what is the outlook:
Not so bad il the way Clark
Griffith summarizes the situation: and
he gives reasons. In his opinion
johnson will prove more enectite
than for several seasons. OWING 70
the fact that he has recovered from
the mental stress Of worrying over
his arm as we'll as complete use OF
1t. Having irjured his wing in 1870.
Walter was ti1norous about II al the
outset last sea son and afraid TO let
out. After It became apparent that
ali traces of his trouble had disap-
peared. he began to bear down win
q vengeance the result being that N
the latter half of the campaisn ne
resembied the Johnson OF old ana
the matter Of strike -Outs for the sea-
son, even with the handicap OF late
start.
Moeridge. Washineton's leading
hurler in 1921. reasonab'y may be eH-
nected to improve in the same ratio
that tie tear, has been strengthened.
notwithstanding he is Older oy one
year. The santhraw takes eSrei!eht
care of himself. and the fact that ne
never attained to greater heights DUR
ing his career is attributable to inn
proper handling.
Bolstering Of the teams defense:
especially the infield. is expected
greatly to iinprove the effectiveness
Of Zachary. and there is no mere 1Or-
midable finger in the business ran
Electromagnetic some clubs. He
has as much stuff as any of them: 1t
Is merely a question Of dropping MIN
into the right hole or viii nave
this year He proba big ill be given
vacations when the Hrowns and
Tigers are opposed.
Banking Heavily ON Phillips.
OF the newcomers he h2S seen in
action, Griff is banking most heaVll>
on Tom Phillins. With New ORIG ms
last year the big Highlander topped
the Southern Association fingers with
Is games won and lost. for an aver
age OF 781. and in the 2S8 innings he
pitched in As contests allowed oppo.
nentS an earned run average OF 2.b5
per game Phillips is no kid in years.
being twentv-seven or twenty-eight.
but it is the fact that he Is thorough
ly seasoned. in addition to possessing
a fine assortment of wares and excel
lent control that causes him to be
rated SO highly.
Ralph Miller is another HEAVIER
from whom much is expected. Bing
brother. who was obtained from
Bloomington of the Three-Eye
League. should develop into one OF
the most capable lefthanders IN the
out the usual lapse of two or three
wears for experience. Frank Wood
ward from New Haven is regarded as
a fair prospect. and hope is held out
for Joe Gleason. who was given an
inspection a year ago last fall.
No first-hand information is obtain
able of the capabilities of Dan Nc
Grew. the tall boy from Galveston.
or Ray Francis, Seattle southpaw, al
though both come highly touted. and
Inthor.
South Carolina collegian. and Jere-
miah Brilliant. another forkhander. Z
Turk May Not Be Here.
Nathaniel Turk, teammate OF
Goslin's at Columbia, is another
finger who rates very high in the
estimation of the local boss. but it is
doubtful whether he will be among
those present This youngster. who
has a baff1ing side-arm delivery. is a
student at Johns Hopkins University.
and to date has declined to report
until his classes end. 1t has been
suggested to him that he take an ex-
ira year to finish his studies. asI
Zachary is doing. and report at Tam
pa with the other juveniles next
month. If he insists upon staying in
I'VE don't want any of those June
birds on our club" is the way Griff
puts it.
Harry Courtney cannot be over
looked. either. He Is taking daily
hand ball and pitching. according to
Griff. who is impressed by the lanky
southpaw's determination to make
good. Plans for a campaign of condi-
tioning to enable him to come back
have been outlined by the boss. who
has stipulated that Courtney must be
ready to pitch by the time the reg
.ulars reach camp. Harry never be-
fore has done this. but he appears to
be in earnest this time.
Charity Signs Contract.
Receipt yesterday of the signed
contract Of Ed Charity brought
smiles of satisfaction at local base
ball headquarters and will be well
come news to the fans with whom
the catcher is very popular. No
team has a player who takes the
than Charity and he has few supe-
riors back Of the bat. Until mid. July
Of last year, when he was stricken
with blood poisoning, Pat was go
ing like a house afire. Thereafter his
work naturally .ell of. his batting
until it finally settled at the $40
mark, but with his health fully re-
stored he is looking forward to g
big year-something very essential
to the Nationals II they are going to
prove real factors in the race.
President Griffith is planning to go
to Tampa little in advance Of his
hike southwark about February Is
"if business permits" said business
consisting mainly of talking contracts
With his players.
it Is probable washington's dele
CATION at Hot Springs this season will
k~