Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-18

20 manage AT the tender age OIL Il. i /
the boss OF the BuN set record for
To prove IT was no luke, thai +
OF fate, Harris came back last seaso
OF his entry. repeated h, triumph i
This feat. coupled with the fact
that he has earned the reputation Of
being one of the best fieldlnG second
: hasemen in the game. and probably
- the greatest pivot ma. fnr duu,Ie
plays the sport ever produced, prob
ably would be sufficient glory for an
athlete who has boosted his earning
= capacity from the $4,000 he received
when fret obtained by Clark Grif-
18th from the Buffalo club il %
to the S50.uo0 mark he will approx
innate this year. But not so Harris.
Would Bolster Attack.
Bucky is fired with desire to be-
come as great factor in attack as
he already Is on defense, and to that
o. end has mapped a program of train
ing for himself which he hopes will
q place him among the elite of base
balls swatsmiths. II should not be
gathered from this that Harris con.
siders himself woefuliy weak hitter
or that he IS 50 regarded in the fra
ternuy. Far from it, for although
his averages never have been impress
Sive he always has been looked upon
as a hatsman of the dangerous type
one who commands the respect OF any
Mtcher when he comes up in pinch.
In 1920. his first full season as a
Griffman. Harris attained an even
~.3oo average for 49, games. followed
in successive years by marks Of .259
D. for 15i games, .269 for 154 games
and .2S2 for AS games. In 1924. his
first season at the helm. the weight
of his responsibilities caused a slump
= in his percentage to .26S, but last
season he came back and boosted his
figures TO .2S2. and he hopes to top
this mark by at least 40 points this
season.
Proof that Bucky is no weakling
with the fail may be found IN the
fact that his lifetime batting average,
which is exactly the same as last
year, .2S2, excels that of such well
known veteran performers as Harry
Hooper, Wally Pipp, Joe Dugan, jim
my Dykes, Willie kamm. Aaron
Ward, Chick Galloway and Walter
Gerber. to mention only few. All
these men have been fixtures with
their respective clubs for a term ri
years, good enough to be played recu
larry season after season.
Means Plenty Of Work.
Harris recipe for attaining his oh
jective is a simple one. namely. work
hard work. and lots of il. He has no
Illusions regarding his natural uualifi-
cations as hitter. Batsmen broadly
may be grouped in two classes. free
swineers and chop hitters Bucky
comes under the latter head.
Ing. and therefore is not kidding HIM
self into the belief that he NAV eX-
pecf To wrest Giro nit -sWatting honors
HON Babe Ruth or Rogers Hornsby
But he sees no reason why he
shouldn't increase his harvest OF sin
giles, with an appreciable boost in the
crop OF doubles, too. Stan does not
subscribe to the theory that good hit.
tiers must be born that way. He be.
HeVes they can be made and will
strive to demonstrate this fact with
himself as the example.
L don't expect to lead the league
IN Hitting or come anywhere near it,"
Bucky explained in voicing his aspira.
uon, but | do hope TO land we'll up
over that 300 mark. and il close an
plication To the task will produce re
suits ] expect to get them The most
important thing. in my estimation i.
10 get your eye on the ball. LAYING
EN- down in bunting practice. hitting
tunsos and taking swings in the reeu.
lar wand drills AL will prove helpful
INV iid' ~ WI II YOU 90 Is Inc DTlnCl-
pal consideration. and | am going tt
do plenty of it this season
BuCky went on to say that he had
no intention of neglecting the other
departments of play in his course of
training: that he would devote as
much time as ever to fielding. throw
ing and base running, but that he
would concentrate on the attacking
end. He has Set 800 as a mark to
shoot at, and If he reaches it and his
blows continue to prove as timely as
those ne has manufactured in the pa ST
ne VIII prove powerful offensive
factor for the Champions this year.
Squad Plays VoIIey Ball
Early morning indications today
We're that practice might be interfered
Win tor the first time since the boys
started work. low hanging clouds with
a threat of rain being III evidence as
the athletes trooped into the refectorv
Tor breakfast. If it should happen
that no drilling is possible 1t will be
only The second time in the seven
years that the Nationals have been
pitching their. Spring camp here that
they have been unable to get out and
exercise. however.
Rain is a rarity in southern Flor
ida. a. this time of the year. and. if
memory serves. there have been but
three or four storms worthy of the
name since the Washington club first
came to Tampa in 1920, and then prac-
tice was merely a bit curtaied or de-
layed a few hours.
AS means of diversifying the daily
calisthenics and In measure compen.
sating for the fact that the diamond
is not yet in readiness for use, Trainer
Martin has introduced new wrinkle
In the training program. 1t is Volley
ball, a game much in vogue in gym
nasiums. but. so far as | know. sell
dom played out of doors and, to the
hest of this writer's knowledge. never
before employed a conditioner for
diamond performers.
Mike purchased a regulation net,
spread 1t across the race track in
front of the grandstand, split the
squad up evenly and had the boys go
Ia 1t. ogden did the serving for his
team. which consisted of Harris. Tate,
Morrell. Humphreys and himself,
while their opponents. with Al Schacht
serving, included Marherry, Smith,
Altrock, Joyce and Thomas.
Game Helpful.
At the end of nearly half an hour
Of strenuous play the exact tally was
shrouded in mystery, owing to dis
agreement among the official scorers,
but the perspiration.dripp athletes
left no doubt as to the beneficial eff.
fects of the pastime, which Is to be
included as regular part Of the pre-
liminary work.
Bad weather alone will cause
change in the time set for practice
today. no cognizance being taken of
the fact tina, the first meeting Of the
West Coast Jockey Club is set for this
afternoon at the new track, Just out