Evening star., 1922-02-17

Martin said today that it will be
necessary to plow, harrow. roll and
regrass the entire ground. infield and
outfield:. The playing field, he said
was full of holes and bad places that
would have to be made solid if play
ers were not to run the risk of Sc
riouS injury, twisted ankles and pos
sibly broken bones.
THE way the field has been abused
Is a shame" said Martin. when we
a. training field as could be found In
the country. Now it will have to be
remade, same as when the Washing
ton team came here the first time
and there is very little time to do the
work"
ground, but nOrther that arrived
during the night sent the tempera-
Iture down close to freezing, and it
was hard to get laborers to work to-
day. Martin has rounded up a gang
with plows. harrows, scrapers and a
heavy road roller, and says he will
Keep from six to ten men working
daily until the Griffmen arrive.
Early Birds Are Confident.
In a tanning bee at the Tampa Bay
Hotel the other day Martin, Stanley
Harris. Eugene Cochran and Fred
: Harveycutter took turns doing a lit
tie forecasting, the unanimous opin-
ion of the quartet being that the
'Griffmen have a better team this
for many years past. OF course. they
admitted that it was all training
camp stuff, which is on par with
the "stove league" brand of prophesy-
ing, but it shows that the old con-
fidence is on the job.
!, Stanley Harris has a lot of friends
and admirers in Tampa. His quiet,
gentlemanly demeanor and his clean
cut, snappy appearance make friends
for him wherever he goes, and Tampa
strong on the advance stuff, and
apparently he never had a horn OF
his own; at least, nobody in this part
of the world ever heard him blow It.
Without saying word about hinself:
except that he felt pretty sure of
holding down the keystone sack this
year, Stanley expressed the belief
that the Griffmen this season Will
present a better working combina-
tion than for many years past. He
when he said Joe. Judge. Peekin-
paugh, Shanks. "and myself. helping
out" looked to be an in1eld that
would take care of just about any
thing that came it's way.
J Gene Cochran. however, wasn't so
modest.
"Talk about your stonewall in
fields" he shouted. "Grifrs got it this
year. Look 'em over--Judge. Harris,
Peck and Shanks. Where are you
bunch. And they're there with the
punch. too; it's hitting as well as
defensive infield. AS for the out
field-well. Milan. Rice and Goslin
will look out for that end of the job:
Maybe I'm over optimistic. but !
don't think so; I really believe Griff
has the best team in the American @
League this year. With anything like
an even break-and that means bar
ring any streak of bad luck and keep
ing the. jinx off the team-weii, I'm
ready right now to make my reserva-
TONS for that old world series be-
tween the Griffs and the Giants"
Golf Is Not Neglected.
Between times. and to keep in
shape, Harris. Martin and the TWO
thirty-second degree fans here keep
ing them company are spending a 1eW
hours daily at the Rocky Point goif
links, the club being sort OF country
club annex to the Tampa Bay Hotel.
where the Griffmen will be quartered.
as usual. Harris and Martin are fair
performers, though Ouimet and the
rest of the first flight in Scotia's an
Worrying over the possibility OF
either Of them coping the laurels
that decorate the brows of the games 8
kings. But they have a lot of fun
chasing the little pill around the
course, driving into the sand and
scrub palmetto hazards and soaking
up a lot of HiIlsborough county's 8
Justly celebrated sunshine and ozone.
J In the first three or four days they
accumulated fine coats of sunburn.
which already has turned to tan. and
a few days more out Of doors under
the kind Of sun that shines in Tampa
at this time of year will make them
as brown as the regular run of south
Florida crackers and winter resi-
dents. They are as restless as colts,
though. Martin remarked today:
This next week is going to be a long
lime. I sure will be glad when the
bunch gets here and real practice
starts"