Evening star., 1927-02-16
BY DENMAN THOMPSON,
Sports Editor. The Star.


4 4 i: :':: $ ' {: s i: |: 81: $
tionals. Each year on their
resumption of exercise after a Winter
period of comparative idleness the
boys have to go through tortuous
term of discomfort occasioned by de
mands on sectors of their anatomy
that have been on vacation for
months. It's something that is un
avoidable, like ants at a picnic.
1t isn't the veterans alone who suf.
fer, however, as the more juvenile of
the athletes who are prepping for the
base ball season ahead also have their
share of twinges and tweaks to bear.
If age were the sole gauge for con.
tracing the Spring training blues
there would be little evidences of sore.
ness in the bunch Bucky Harris is
drilling here with the assistance of
Trainer Mike Martin and Coaches
Jack Onslow. Nick Altrock and Al
Schacht, for the average age of the
gang now in action is less than "a
years.
Dick Coffman, who is 10, is the baby
Of the bunch, while Bob Burke is
just one year older. In the 22-year
class are Irving Hadley, Decatur Jones
and Clarence Thomas, while the %.
year-old division includes Benny Tate.
Horace Lisenbee, Lou McEvoy and
Ralph Stewart. Garland BraXton,
who arrived only yesterday, will be
the only player claiming "a years until
John Berger gets On the Job.
az Ogden Oldest of Lot.
. Oddly enough the figures, 25, ap-
pear opposite the name only of Fred
Marberry, who is tubing at Hot
Springs with Goslin, Rice and Covey.
but Alvin Crowder. Frank LOTUS,
Leo Mangum, Willard Morrell and
Clayton Van Alstyne comprise the
26.year-old brigade with George Muir
ray listed at %. and Warren ogden,
: the most ancient of the squad. 2S.
's' Touchy tendons being no more un-
usual to training camp than TASKS
to a pocket there is nothing note
worthy about the condition prevalent
here except the earliness with which
it arrived. AS a rule the better part
of week passes before the boys
reach that stage in ordinary locomo-
tion where every picture tells story,
but here they are on only their third
day and yet moving about with a care
and caution bespeaking an ardent
tyearnlnS Tor CrutCheS.
,aIt has come to be an axiom of the
sport that nothing will so quickly
galvanize a ball player into action as
the prospect Of a good feed. Even
the most sluggish. and slow Of the
clan can be depended upon to show
q lot of pep with the aroma of food
in the air, but today II was notice.
able that none of the boys displayed
any undue aiacrity when the tocsin
summoned them to the dining room.
The apparent, reluctance with which
they dragged themselves out of the
soft, easy chairs in the hotel lobby
and their slowly measured gait on
the. long trek to the refectory were
significant to the practiced eye.
Squad Hard Driven.
There's a reason and a god one, too,
tor the far advanced prevalence OF
tender torSos. however, never before
has the Washington club footed the
bills in this balmy climate for such O.
large squad of battery candidates and
never before has any aggregation
been pushed at such high speed.
Despite the absence of a diamond
on which to cavort, the Athletes Mon.
day were given an unusually long Ses-
sion of calisthenics in the afternoon,
and yesterday volley ball was added
to the program of exercise that start
ed shortly after 10 O'Clock in the
morning and lasted until well beyond
the noon hour.
Starting with the customary warm
ing up obtained by playing catch,
they veered over to the back breaking
business Of fielding bunts, slid into a
period Of perspiration-inducin heav-
ing Of the heavy medicine ball. fol-
lowed by a lengthy stretch of volley
balling with wind-consuming turn
or two around the half mile track to
top it all off. Harris and Onlsow kept
pace with the boys throughout the