Evening star., 1924-02-22

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work. as he did last season. when
classieSt backstops in the circuit, not
itself. with its attendant requisite 10
thandling OF his pitchers and as a po
Ruel shares with Hank SEVERED
md Ray Schalk the distinction of he
ing virtually whole catching staff
IN himself, for like the Brownie and
White SoX he iF u horse for work. and
mas had marvellous luck in avoiding
INC accidents that players III his
hazardous calling are subject to. The
worth of diamond athletes on the
basis OF their freedom from mis-
hapS can be rated ;sllncst a accurate
~ as their batting percentages.
Ruel Can't Stand Can.
Some like Joe Judge. the nifty
first sacker of the Griftm:n. are far
Smore prone to incapacitation than
others and their rating OF efficiency
is decreased in consequence for 81
player. no matter how accomplish ed.
he Is able to be in the game and de-
liver. y 500 hitter cannot drive in
any runs whiiC laid upon the bench.
On the score of availability Ruel
and Rice, he is compelled to idle
little or not at all in the course of
a campaign. So far as effectiveness.
both on attack and defence is con-
teIHeQ. TIE 1870 TecOTNS snow tnat
Muddy was fir in hitting with an
average OF SIG and ranked fourth
among the regular American League
hackstops in fielding. with = mark
OF $50.
Discussing the catching situation
Of the Nationals before he hit the
trail for Hot Springs. Manager Har-
ris paid Il high commitment to Will
liam Waddington Hargrave, his sec
ond-string rnaskman with the as
Sertinn that 6a hSl
in the ability Of the chunky Hoosier
90 shoulder the burden behind the
hat all by himself in the event that
Ruel was put out of commission.
Harris Praises Hargrave.
'iargrave has not had the oppor-
tunity to demonstrate what a really
capable catcher he is" Harris said
because it was not necessary to call.
on him for much service last sea son
when Fat Charity was on the job to
lend helping hand to Muddy. With
Charity gone this year. Hargrave
Will be called on oftener, and ! feel
sure his work will clear up any doubts
that may exist in the minds of the
fans regarding his ability to fill the
bill. He is a bit slow on his feet. to
he sure. but all the speedy catchers
you can recall could be counted on
the fingers of one hand.
''Iargrave has fine arm and will
bat with the best Of them. AS a
most successful pinch hitter in the
Anne rican League last season. his
average for hitting in emergency
roles being mighty close to 500 per
cent. We all hope Ruels good luck
In avoiding injuries will continue. of
course. but if it becomes necessary
TO call on Hargrave for regular serv-
Ice i will have no fear of the result
Tate Is Good Prospect.
Good judges of players have as
Tafn iS-
most promising prospect as a catch
GER, too. He is a youngSter, it's true.
not yet out of his teens. and he is
by no means big fellow, being
about the height and weight of Ruel,
but he has fine throwing arm and,
according to our numerous recruits
from the Southern Associa alton.
proved last year with Memphis that
tthe best possible results from his
battery mates.
"Tate's record as a batsman is not
particularly impressive. but he has
plenty of time to improve in that re-
spect. We are sitting pretty so far
as the catching is concerned If
every other department proves as
strong we will make our presence
felt in the American League this
year"
The tail end of the severe weather
that has had the north and east in
its grip since early in the week
reached Tampa yesterday and caused
the Temperature to drop consider
ably, but by speeding up their work |
bit the rookie Nationals contrivcd
. TO put in most beneficial session. |
After the customary warm-up of the
Ringers a rapid-fire session with the
medicine balls had all the athletes
moist and putting when they were
shooed to the showers.
Lance Richbourp the nutfieldar
from Nashville. mad. his first appear
ance in uniform and betrayed no
trace of the injury that put him out
of the game last summer. He as
scrts that the leg he fractured has
caused him no trouble since it was
set and his movements in Scampering
around after bunts from the bat of
Nick Altrock formed corroborattve
evidence. He has no excess weight to
take off and told President Griffith he
never had been in better health.
Under the direction of Mike Mar
stin the last lap of the work that is
calculated to give the Nationals "the
finest diamond in the state of Flor |
ida to use the trainers words, now
is under way. With the infield COM
tion covered with a carload of fine |
Ahite clay imported from a point
in an adjoining county some seventy
miles distant, a monster steam roller
- DtillS uStu u oDldtil ii even
surface. After the ground has been
well packed top dressing of dark
soil is to be applied around the base !
lines to prevent glare in the eyes
of the athletes. and with little ad-
ditional manicurinG the playing field
will be ready. Mike feels real proud
OF this job, and deservedly so.
President GriMth has received word
from Doc Prothro that he probably
would be delayed in reporting for |
preliminary training at Hot Springs
owing to the fact that the colored
helper at the Prothro domicile at !
Dyersburg. Tenn, had become in
vo1ved in an alteration that resulted |
in the death of another negro |
Prothro is staying home to assure his
servant of proper legal representa-
tion at the trial
Griff has advised Manager Harris |
that the third baseman will be tardy |
in reaching Hot Springs. where he |
was due to check in with a, number !
Of veterans of the Nationals yester-
day.
TvrYO NADnYHT HTAYc cYrHY .. |