Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-01
PILOT ENCOURAGED
BY HITTING SPREE
Walter Believes New Batting
Order viii Produce
Many TaIIieS.
BY JOHN b. KELLER.

n YEW YORK, May Every cloud
has silver lining. You can't
make Walter Johnson, man
A ager of the Nationals, believe
otherwise. Even though his
floundering forces took another jolt on
their respective bearers yesterday IN the
opener of their 15-game set away from
home. he secs in the 10-to-9, 10-inning
defeat at the hands of the Yankees a
promise of something much better in
the remaining engagements of the tour
I'VE hit yesterday" says Johnson,
"and that's something We didn't do well
before. ! believe we are ready to swing
into a good batting stride and when we
do we'll win a lot of games. We have
everything else good ball club needs.
Watch out for lis when We hit that
ball"
At that, the Nationals accomplished
something in defeat they had not &C
complished before in the championship
campaign. They made more runs In an
inning than they had in any previous
inning and they made more runs in
game than they had in any previous
game since the flag race got under way.
And what's more, they showed a bet
ter fighting spirit than in any previous
championship game. Their work yes
terday smacked strongly of the per-
formances they staged so frequently
during the training season, the per-
formances that made them general
choice to wage great fight for the
American League laurels this year.
Hitters Placed Better.
johnson yesterday continued the ex-
perimental action he started somewhat
more than week ago when the lineup
that entered the American League sea-
son was disrupted. For the beginning
of this three-Game set with the Yankees
the Washington manager revised his
batting order. AS a club, the Nationals
had batted to a respectable average,
but the hitting they had done had not
brought a commensurate result in runs
Those doing the hitting were not so
placed in the batting order that their
hits would net tallies in proper pro-
portion. It seems, though, that the
order In effect yesterday and which
is to be continued during the remainder
Of the series here at least will get
the club somewhere in the race.
AS a second notch batter and as a
cleanup hitter Buddy Myer failed to
function. But as a lead-off man yes
terday he gave a good account of him.
self. It was not the first time Myer
has worked at the top of the. batting
order. He held that position for time
with the Red Sox and did well, too.
Buddy has rather keen eye and more
often than not will get on the runway.
That's something Sammy West found
difficult when he held the first place
In the Washington clubs batting list
Back of Myer. the club now has Sam
Rice, one of the best hit-and-run bat
tiers in the game: Goose Goslin, last
year champion batsman of the league,
and Joe Judge, for seasons a consistent
800 hitter and who in the past few
contests seems to have returned to the
batting form that made him so val
liable in attack to his club for years
That's four-time hitting lot that
johnson figures will get the Nationals
more runs than any other top conibi-
nation he has had in action since the
season started.
Five Runs In One Frame.
Lack Of concert in offense has hurt
the Nationals more than anything else
since the season started. Until yester-
day the club never had revealed much
power at bat In fact, the best it could
muster in single, inning was a brace
OF tallies. In the opener of the set here,
though, it banged its way to as many
CD ave &AtaA hCAo III q Sl14SlC oC6SIUIs AllQ
1t did so in precise manner, too. And
this achievement makes johnson rather
certain his charges will develop into
better run-makers In short time.
There's still much to be desired in
the Nationals offensive, however. They
had IS runners left on the bases yes
terday. That indicates a lamentable
weakness in attack still exists. But
when club swings as freely as did
Washington against the trio of hurlers
the Yankee management rushed to the
box much may be expected of it. 1t
may be that the Nationals at last have
cleared their batting eyes. If so, they'll
make the going more than interesting
for all opponents. Johnson's outfit has
proved to the satisfaction of its fol-
lowers it has good defense. Once its
offense functions properly the Washing
ton Club should make considerable
Roadway in the American League pen