Evening star., 1927-03-19

Il, is understood generally to serve
a two-fold purpose; first, tt
condition the athletes properly
for the physical grind of the cham
pionship campaign; second, 10 cultl
Vate a base ball mentality that VIII
prevent technical errors creeping into
the clubs game when the flag race
is on.
So far, the physical aspect of train
ing apparently has not been overlook
ed by the Nationals. With one or two
exceptions, all of the veterans and am
bilious Youngsters on the clubs roster
seem to be in fine fettle. But the men
tai aspect evidently has been some
what neglected. Several times in eX'
hibition contests, the club has not
seemed to know just what 1t was about
and in defeating the Giants, 10 =
in a ten-inning battle here yesterday
It, was guilty of a mental lapse that
should make a big league organiZa'
ton blush with shame.
A batting substitution that every one
else except the Nationals apparently
knew was illegal was made and after
arguing out of it the club deliberately
made another Illegal batting suostl'
tuition an inning later. That no al
vantage of the situation was taken by
the Giants reflects no credit upon the
Nationals. The Giants knew 1t was all
wrong. but as friendly enemies let the
slfp pass. Nor was the initial illegal
substitution intended as ShreWd
move on the part of Manager Bucky
Harris club. The stunt was pure
Bone" that's all.
az Here's What Happened.
Here's what happened. With two out,
nd
daadlocked at all in the seventh in
ming. Stuffy Stewart was sent to the
plate in place of Pitcher Garland BraX-
ton. After tanning, Stuffy trotted
down to second base to assume the
position vacated by Boss Bucky, who
wanted to nurse his sore foot, and BOD
Burke was ordered to the pitching
box.
OF course, that placed Stewart in the
batting order in the ninth place that
Braxton had held and Burke in the
sixth notch that Harris had hlled.
When the first three batters up In the
Nationals eighth got on as result
of a couple of errors and a nifty bunt
by Nick Cullop it seemed certain the
deadlock would be broken. Goose Cos
lin, though, promptly dribbled the ball
TO Rogers Hornsby and a double play
that tagged a runner at the plate and
nipped the Goose at first base followed.
Not so good and still worse when
the Giant board of strategy, figuring
that Burke, a notoriously weak hitter,
would come along in sixth place as no
National pitcher was being warmed up.
ordered that Joe Judge, fifth man in
the hitting list, be passed. Harris
countered by sending up Ollie Tucker
TO bat presumably for Burke. But the
pilot must have thought at the time
that Tucker was assuming Stewart S
place, for he sent Bobbie Reeves to
the side line to warm up for the Sec
ond base job.
No Announcement Made.
There was no announcement from
the umpire as to what man Tucker
was substituting for. but the Giants
let the world know that Ollie was
taking Burke's turn. And they, as
we'll as the crowd in the stands, were
amazed when Burke again trotted to
the pitching hill, while Reeves took
up the second sacking business after
Tucker grounded out.
The New York crowd naturally let
out yelp, but Harris contended that
as he had sent Tucker in to bat for
Stewart, it was Tucker who was out
of order and not Burke. Neverthe
less, Harris admitted that he thought
the order. The Giants let the Ma
tionals get away with the mistake, sc
another was made in the very next
inning.
In the eighth when Reeves right
full batting turn came along, who was
sent up to the plate but Burke. This
time the Giants did not let out a
yell for they did not feel that Bobby's
presence in the batting box meant
anything. But 1t did prove that the
Nationals have got to keep more
awake in ball games. They may get
away with such technical errors In
exhibition contests, but once the
championship season is under way il
IL apt to be something else again.
System Used by Giants.
1t might not be amiss to borrow a
page from the Giants code. Nc
Graw's team has alongside it's bench
at every game a blackboard on which
is inscribed the batting order of both
teams. When lineup changes are
made by either club they are imme
diately noted on the board. Conse,
quently, the Giants know just which
one of them is to step to the plate and
which of the opposition is due to bat
AS far as possible, John McGraw
leaves nothing to guesswork.
This third game of the Giant series
that resulted in the Nationals first
win over the New Workers this Spring
was quite a regular ball game al
that. True. the Giants were very
sloppy in their fielding, hanging ur
five errors, but the pitching on both
sides was of almost midseason va
riety and the players of both clubs
took their work seriously.
Three hurlers were trotted out by
Manager Harris, and each gave gooC