Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-16
MATS ARE TODR|LL
|NF|NE BALL PARK
Will Also Have Excellent Ho-
tel Accommodations-No
Kick on Climate.
Special Dispatch to The star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NnOXI, Miss, February 49,
K That the Washington base
ball club is going to be very
well satisfied with this city
as a training base and the ath-
letes are to have offered them the
same opportunity for condition
ing that was presented in the
years that Tampa, Fla, was their
Spring quarters is the firm con-
viction of the club vanguard after
thorough inspection of BiloXi's
facilities for the conditioning of q
big league ball club. Indeed, were
it not fer the proven value of tl.S
city the Washington club has iusT
forSaken, one could easily wax
highly enthusiastic over Biloxi
which has every earmark of being
an ideal training spot.
Three cardinal points suggest
themselves as the test of the
SoundneSS of this Statement-the
climatic conditions here, the play
ing field and the hotel accommo-
dationS offered the players.
Balmy Summertime conditions we're
prevalent on the day that President
Clark Griffith and his party checked in
here. Those who should be in position
to know state that similar weather can
be looked for in the 30-day period be-
ginning February IS, when the first
squad of Nationals reaches here, and
statistics available as to the number Of
times that training was interrupted by
| poor weather when the Toledo team
of the American Association trained
here bear out this statement. The Mud
Hens were here in 1928 and 1929, and
there we're only three days when rain
| curtailed practice. On one Of these
but half day was lost.
Praises Playing Field.
AS to the playing field, it is doubtful
If there is another such plant in any
training camp in the country. In fact,
there is no ball park anywhere-and
the majors are not excepted-quite so
commodious There is a fine outfield
should be excellent. A conception of
the size Of the field can quickly be OBJ
tanned by statement of the dimen-
Sions. From home plate to center field
the distance Is $50 feet. From the plate
to the right-field fence, on the foul
line, the distance is ATS feet, while
the left-field wall is AIS feet distant
from the plate. 1t will take a mighty
wallop to reach these fences-and Maj.
! John Kennedy has standing offer OF
| 500 to the ball player who can hit
fair ball on the fly to any one of them.
Underfoot the outfield is great-just
that. The fairway of many a first
class golf course is not much better.
There should be no case of charley
horse blamable upon either the outfield
or infield OF this ball park. Add to
these praiseworthy features two good
club houses. each capable of housing
showers, and you have a plant capable
Of pleasing even the meticulous Mike
Martin, trainer of the Nationals.
Outside Of the park, skirting the
fences on all sides except the entrance.
are solid woods Of pine and other trees.
Making a background for the players
! to hit against which is sure to please
them. The park Is two miles from
the MOTEL, and the city is to provide
buses to transport the players to
and fro.
Will Have New Hotel.
The hotsl where the team is to be
chartered Is new hosiery facing the
Mississippi Sound, a body of water
which is separated from the Gulf of
Mexico by a chain of small islands.
The hotel Is modern in every detail
with baths in every room, a feature
which was lacking at Tampa. The
drinking water is excellent-arld here
again 1t is different from Tampa, where
bottled water was used entirely nv the
players. The outlook from the hotel
Is quite beautiful.
While there are many recreational
features which also were lacking in
Florida, the management of the hotel
mas equipped the basement with fea-
lures usually found only in clubs-bil-
lard and pool tables, shufde boards
and spacious card room, and the
entire squad could easily be accommo-
periods.
Cool nights are part of the boast of
Biloxis boosters, 1t being their claim
That blankets are acceptable most of
the year after sunset. The hotel is one
mile and half from the city proper,
reached by buses and street cars, which
pass the door. The ball players should
find this city, in so far as their hotel
accommodations are concerned, much
nicer than their previous Spring head
quarters. Training periods at the best
are arduouS, irritating times for the
ball players, and the more pleasant the
motel facilities the easier 1t Is for them
to go through the tedium of the condi-
tAonInB grind. Biloxi as a training
camp should. in the ball players YER
nacular, be easy to take.''
Climate Held o. X.
But, and most important of all from
the standpoint of the Washington base
pail fans, Manager johnson should
have no difficulty getting his PLAYERS
into good playing condition here, and
johnson will have the added expecta-
ton that the absence of radical differ
ence In the climate of Mississippi and
washington should not work against
the teams physical condition in the
manner 1t frequently has after its So
journ in Semi-tropical Florida.
.Johnson's experience last Spring,
when an apparently dead-fit bali club
IN the South became almost over
night impotent after it reached WASH
| ton, will not soon be forgotten either
by the ball fans or the team manage
ment.