Evening star., 1928-10-15
PLUGGING ID BASE
HOLE BIG PROBLEM
Development of a Capable
Box Corps Also Due to
Worry Walter.
BY JOHN b. KELLER.

the Nationals a winning club
next season. Management ir
base ball is one thing, but developing a
team Is something else, and Walter i:
apt to find he has a real job on his
hands when the players are rounded
up at Tampa after the Winter lay-off.
10 begin with, there is no certainty
tnat Clark Griffith, president of the
Natlonals, has accumulated sufficient
material of quality to help in the re.
building of ball club that surely need.
much rebuilding. While numerical,
the list of additions to the Nationals
Is imposing, there is nothing impressive
ABOUT 1t. Outside of brace of pitchers
Aoolph LiSka and Paul Mccullough
bought from Minneapolis-and Elliot
blgelow, hard-hitter who NAV become
a valuable pinch-hitter for the club
the remainder of the lot cannot be
rated highly.
Yet right off the reel johnson will
nave several problems to wrestle with
IN MS endeavor to make the Nationals
q Dig league outfit. First and foremost
ne must find player to fill the gap
left by the departure of Bucky Harris
Ihe second base position was we'll
handled by Bucky for seven years. In
TACT. Harris was just about the best
neIolng middle Sacker in base ball and
up 10 TINS year was a mighty capable
man at bat, even though he did not
SOCK the ball for a high average. He
Grove In number of runs though. and
was a good hit-and-run man.
Must Find Second Sacker.
With Harris gone, Johnson will have
to find a second sacker in the small
group of not such high-class infielders
that Griffith has at hand. He will be
compelled to pick his man from LOT
that includes Bob Reeves. Jack Haves
Study Stewart and Jimmy Partridge
Not such brilliant bunch. Reeves has
E 'oeen tried for two seasons at various
posltlons IN the inner Gordon and found
wanting. Hayes has some ability. but
1t Is feared he never will be more than
a class AA performer. He's a trif1e
slow for the big time. Stewart is an
oid-tlmer, who can burn up a minor
league, but is shy of being a major
player. Partridge had a couple Springs
with the Dodgers, yet was unable to
make the grade with the Brooklyn club.
that has failed to make much headwav
IN the National League the past several
years.
After filling the second-base gap.
Jonnson must bolster his pitching staff.
AT present, 1t seems that all he may
look forward to is a CORPS inch,dino
Sam Jones, Garland Braxton. Irving
Hadley and Fred Marberry. Other than
these four, the pitchers the Nationals
nave carried over from the season re-
Gently ended do not amount to much
and probably the club would be lust as
wen on without them. There are several
pitcners other than those employed dur
ing the late campaign due to report at
Tampa in the Spring, but it does not
appear that any other than Liska and
Mccullough is apt to produce much in
big league pitching way.
Well Fortified Otherwise.
AS to the other positions, the new man
ager may not have to do much worrying.
He has good lot of outf1eld talent at
hand. The great improvement in the
playing of Sammy West and the restora-
ton of Goose Goslin's arm in the latter
part of the recent season made the out
field prospects bright.
Ossie Bluege's remarkable year and
the fine work done by Joe Cronin after
he was brought from Kansas City as
sures reasonably strong left side of the
infield. And at first base, therell be
Mule Shirley to back up Joe Judge, and
Mule ought to show something worth
while in his third time up in the big
show.
Back of the bat there'll have to be
some experimenting with new material,
but in all likelihood johnson will have
the veteran Muddy Ruel to rely upon
even though Muddy'S throwing arm may
not become unkinked before the middle
of the campaign. It's that kind of an
arm nowadays.
But, all told, johnson isn't picking up
a very high-class lot of players here
as major league clubs go. He will as
sumo the management of some men who
for years have been regarded as stars
in their profession, but mainly he will
inherit crew of young fellows who still
have much to learn of base ball.
Harris considerably helped these
youngsters to acquire some knowledge
of their profession, but they still need
much polishing and it'll be up to John
son to do the polishing. After he finds
a second Sacker and some pitchers, he
can begin tutoring the younger element
of the Nationals.
johnson, of course, will assume the
managerial task here with the ardent
support an dgood wishes of Washington
fandom, but it'll be nothing easy for
him TO handle. AS player with the
Nationals, Johnson had every one with
him. AS a manager of the same club,
he'll have many ready to criticize his
every move. A ball player may make
mistakes and get away with them. A
manager must make no mistakes If he
would hold the liking Of the fans.
Sounds tough, it's true, but there's little
sentiment about base ball management.
Out-Of- Town Press Comment.
It is interesting to note that the press
outside of Washington views the ap-
pointment of johnson to the Washing
ton management as a shrewd political
move by President Griffith. Some see
in the appointment an effort by Griffith
to Offset the ill-feeling supposed to
have been aroused when he permitted
johnson to leave the club at the end of
the 1927 campaign, following a continu-
Gus service with the Nationals since
1907, while others assume that he hopes
to win back to the support of his club
the number of fans that were supposed
TO have lost interest in the Nationals
fortunes during the last year of the
Harris regime.
The Baltimore Sun says it looks a.
though Griffith lis trying to appeast
the Washington fans by bringing John.
son back. They were none too pleased
when the Big Train was allowed Il
go to Newark" The paper quotes
base ball follower as saying here's the
situation as I see it. The Washington
fans once were satisfied with a clul
that managed to get in the first divi
sion. Then the club won two American
League pennants and one world series
That gave the Washington fans a tast,
of base ball red meat and they ar
not satisfied with the bread-and- mill
base ball diet they have been getting
the last two years. I hope that John
son =. has all the success in tn
world, but the Washington team is no
going to finish among the leaders unit
Grifdth spends more money for rein
forcements."
Here's what the ledger of Philadel
phia had to say: The choice of John