Evening star., 1926-04-08

I
The Nationals. therefore. prior td
today's scrap here. had an oppoi+
tunitv to cIinch the set before get
ting 10 WASHINGTON saturday. Vie
tory in Atlanta this afternoon and IL
Norfolk tomorrow would increa sc
their string of wins over the Giants
To Ave. enough To earn the Spring
series laurels.
But Harris. although eager to get
q decision over the famous senior
league aggregation in the training
season tilts. wanted his pitchers to
get deal Of work on the barnstorm
Ing tour and days of idlenesS are not
pleasing to him. lie is particularly
anxious to have his veterans exercise
frequently and his young hurlers. too
for that matter. but In so far as the
latter group is concerned indications
sre that he has at last decided which
men To farm to the minors.
Thomas and Lyle to Go.
Two OF the five juveniles are to be
sent away for more seasoning, al
though they viii not go until after
The American League campaign gets
under way. In all likelihood the pair
10 leave the big show. probably tenn
rcrarily only. will he Clarence Thoma $
tpN Jun 1--WE. nat Lyle SilouIu DE
slated for reduction to a lower grade
is not surprising. but until the last
week Thomas was thought to have
had A splendid chance 8f remaining
with the club
Lyle. while he possesses vast
amount of mocha niCal pitching ability.
seems to have developed as far as
he car in that line And he has
made little progress in learning the
Nne points of the pitching art. He
has not acquired the knowledge that
added Ia mechan nical ability makes a
real hic league moundsman. He may
get more of this knowledge IN the
minors. hut he will have to he more
oheervant in them than he has been
with the Nationals.
Thomas Case Is Odd One.
Thomas case is an odd one. When
he came 10 the Nationals from Nash
vile last year. he had world of
speed but. like many young t-hand-
ers. lacked control. He worked faith
fully At the Tampa camp. though. and
after couple of weeks of practice
appeared TO have eradicated that fault.
He added a good curve to his splendid
fast ball and coupling intelligence
with his pitching in his early game
-
IN the .Tohnsonian circuit this year
But recently he has been as wild
as the prdverhial hawk. In his last
three games he has been unable to
get the bah across whenever he was
pressed in his pitching. To get con
troll he has had virtually to lob the
sphere. nd opposing hatsmen have
fattened their records considerably at
his expense.
Manager Harris has devoted much
time to Thomas. hoping to overcome
this defect. hut the Young fellow so
far has heen unable to regain the
slahhinc stride that once made him
s,,ch fine prospect.
Morrell and Hadley to stay.
So. very likely. the pair to remain
in tho big leac with Harry Kelley
will he the New Englanders. Bill
Icrrell and Irving Hadley. Morrell
hiss had but little professional expert.
ence and Hadley none. But each has
plenty Of natural pitching ability and
Morrell knows a great deal of the
theory of the art also.
Hadley has been none too good with
men on the bases. but Manager Har-
ris opines that the former Brown Uni
versity hoy will be a moundsman OF
high order within short while.
Should Thomas so as expected the
Nationals will he left With only one
@outhpaw, Dutch Ruether In past
seasons. the club has made much use
of portside pumpmen. hut is apt to
have the most unba lanced corps in
either league this year in this re-
spect.
Harris experiment with staff
overwhelmingly devoted to orthodox
a L..
with interest by all rival ma ma gers In
the ma iors.