The Washington times., 1928-03-02
P TCHERS'
CONDITION
STRESSED
By Louis A. Dougher

TAMPA, Fla, March with the
wa. hington Griffmen here prac'
ficallv en- masse for the first time
this wear certain things are worth
Jogging down for the benefit OF the
fans hack in the Capital and here
they are:
The pitching staff, as a whole,
fynnresses the onlooker with its gen.
.eral physical condition, even the
green Youngsters like Columbus
Sims. the Washington boy from the
Ouantfco Marines and the Mohawk
C,l1Ib: Charlie Lane, the kid south
nav from Clarksville, Tex, sand
lots. and Joe Domingo. former
ampa left handler, do not look their
greenness in action.
There are no real fat boys in
uniform. Hadley, Marberry. Roy
Shirley and Tate can take off few
hounds without injury to them
selves, yet they are far from being
fat boys.
Jack Hayes, who was rather
skinny when rushed into the lineup
last summer, is bit heavier and as
q result, stronger. He has all the
pepper he showed last season and
NAV hang on ate" the competition
gets rough.
Ralph Cooper, q mere school
Nov from Flat River, Mo-,
younger brother of the catcher,
looks to have q fine pair or
hands, and is nimble as cricket
around the shOrtfield. He also
knows how to feed 5 ball to the
second basemaII.
Mule Shirley is still the fine
Heller he always has been around
that initial sack.
Two speedsters are Emil Barnes,
4 barrel-chested gardener from
Birmingham, and Melbern Simons,
b garden antelope from Montgomery
in the southeastern circuit.
Babe Camel has started In 10 I'M
press everybody with his solid clont-
ing. He hammered the ball hard
est OF all in the first days workout
against the pitchers.
Hugh McMullen is an example OF
the tall backstop. who can reach a
mile for wild pitch.
Al Cooper doesn't show much
style behind the bat, but plenty OF
II at the plate. His left-handed
wallops tear through the infield
surprisingly fast.
Grant ellis Handles groundesr
with all the easy grace of vet
eran. and is certain to cause
CONSERVATION for all rivals IL
his hitting Is worth while.
Benny Tate is hitting the bali
harder than he did last year at this
time, and hopes to crowd his way
iFto many q game on this account,
Is for no other.
Midget Smith, Kansas City short.
stop a year ago, is cherishing his
throwing arm, knowing that it must
be- strong before he can hope to
make the long peg across the dia-
Ts1ond. He is pale from winter
spent mostly indoors and some
what resembles a. lad recovering
from siege of sickness.
Lizzie Lisenbee. without appar-
emily working hard. was ready 10
take his turn against the battera
IN the opening days drill and his
control was the delight of Presi-
dent Griffith, who was watching
the practice. Lisenbee is appar-
entity facing fine season.
Ralph Cooper plays either short
or third base with equal speed and
dash. He is without an expert
ence in organized baseball having
played only with his home town
team in Flat River, NO., wherever
that may be.
Class win always tell among
athletes. If one had never
seen him facing the pitcher.
Same Rice would have been
picked out as a major Lacquer
yesterday as he looked over the
deliveries Of the hurIers. chose
those looking good to him and
lined them into center or right
field. Rice is most serious
about his work and IL proceed
ing slowly In order to have his
legs strong when the necessity
comes to use them.
Hugh McMullen has been
switch batsnnan in Louisville. but
this year, following President Clark
Griffith's advice, will hit from the
right side of the plate altogether.
He says he does better on that
side and that switching has kept
him from hitting as well as ne
should. II he shows any batting
strength he stands an excellent
chance of remaining with the team.
His throwing and running are good.
The Washington squad is about
the largest ever in uniform here
and club house headquarters are
packed when the entire gang is on
the job. Each day some 200 fans
gather to watch the athletes cavort.
keeping the war correspondents
busy Identifying different players
and answering various odd ques-
tons. There is plenty of interes.
hare In he - 4.