The Washington times., 1928-03-22
BY Louis A. Dougher


SON will hang largely upon
what Sam West and Grant
ellis, two green youngsters,
do in center field and short
stop, respectively. No one can
tell much about it, either.
Baseball men all agree that
the main strength of a team
hes In a line drawn from the
plate to center field. That
means that the backbone of a
team consists of the catcher,
pitcher, second basema1, short
stop and center fielder. Weak
places along this line affect
4 team more than in any other
position.
Behind the bat there is plenty OF
strength. Muddy Ruel will do the
bulk Of the catching of course, being
an iron man OF considerable aggres-
siveness. Tate and McMullen are
well able to fill in on occasion. me
pitching staff looks to be quite noDpy
in all details.
Bucky Harris. while he Is not hit
ting. is playing up to his standard IN
the field. thus putting 1t up to tIiIlis
to take care of the other side. GINS
VIII start in the shortfield because OF
his better hitting and smoother HELD
ing than anything Bobby Reeves OF
Jack Hayes has shown in the prac.
tfce down here.
CiIlfs Is one OF those lads who rise
ia an emergency. AS a tootbaA
pTayer At the University of Alabama,
IA stamped himself as absolutely
d.bIooded. He plays around the
midway cushion with all the careless
Gang frOid OF a veteran, but 1t STANDS
IA reason that his. inexperience
means that much is yet to be learned
before he can rank with the stars
!, Of the big show.
Compared with Bobby Reeves.
s.fhe rambling wreck of Georgia
Tech" ellis works better with
Hucky Harris ON plays around
the bag, covers as much ground,
and throws q bit more accur- 4
ately. This last doesn't mean
ne much as it might because
George SisIer is fielding like a
demon. Little gets by him.
At bat ellis is hitting the ball
harder than Reeves. 1t is possible
that the Georgia Tech lad may
some day find himself and outclass
ellis as a batsman, but right now
the Alabama boy has wide edge
; over his rival.
Sammy West, therefore, is the
last OF the line from the plate to
the outfield. In the last two days
he has demonstrated that his in
iiured leg is in apple-pie order and,
better than that, he is not afraid
OF 1eft-handed pitching. 1t was
known before that he could cover
plenty of ground in the outfield
and possessed fine pegging whip.
What is said of ellis goes also
for West. Both players are green
kids. IL they hold their own they
will be doing well and making the
Washington club a contender, at
least for a time. II they fail. they
will be yanked out OF there and
Manager Harris may find his team
sliding back into the second division.
Washington fans would do we'll
not to feel too optimistic about
conditions. III these kids make
good. there Will be plenty Of time
to get the cheers ready. But they
haven't been tried i'm the fire vet.
Until they have and have made
good the cheers are out OF order.
It il possible that Washington
fans may have been receiving a lot
of taffy about this team down here.
~ de- he xxyf1.a
every day from several sources and
n number of Washingtonians have
seen the squad In action. 1t is so
easy to let the heart crowd the
brain aside.
IL West can continue the style of
play he has started here, be is GER
tain TO open the season in the regu-
lar lineup. II he maintains his
present standard, the line will be
strong enough on his end.
Big league baseball differs con-
siderably from these early exhibit
lions and it is possible that neither
ellis nor West will remain long in
the lineup. Some years back Ike
Davis. a shortstop. had McBride's job.
cinched in Augusta. Then he blew
up entirely in the opening game of
the year and inside of 10 days he was
same sliortstop who was with the
White Sox two years ago, breaking
knee cap in a post-season game
with the Cubs and dropping out OF
sight after apparently making good.
ellis may look good in these
exhibitions and not stand the
gaff by the time May rolls
around. TemperamentaIIy, he
should stick. But major league
pitching Is tough stuff, once the
warm days come along and the
infieIds get sun-baked.
However, this writer declines to
hecon1es enthusiastic over a team
that bases its claims upon the weak.
negses of It's rivals rather than
upon its own strength. Too much
Il said OF the crumbling Yankee
nitching staff and the aged limbs of
nv Cobb and iris Speaker. Net
enough Ii said. of the superiority Of
he Washington players.