Evening star., 1935-04-16
CATCHING CORPS
FULL OF NOV|CES
Ageing Arms Make Mound
Staff Uncertain as Club
Starts Flag Fight.
BY JOHN B. KELLER.

II 44tS4NO oAASAA3 WA 60AVN0 nv SA v,
the Nationals are to embark
upon their championship quest
tomorrow, the opener sched-
uled for today having been postponed
on account Of cold weather, still un-
certain Of their quality in an essen
tial of base ball-the battery.
Whether the Washington ball club
Is equipped with the pitching and
the catching necessary to make it a
forceful contender in the chase for
the American League championship
is a question to be answered only by
its performance in its first month of
play mainly on foreign fields.
1t is in the catching staff, perhaps.
that the Nationals may be regarded
an unknown quantity. Manager Har-
ris is compelled to gamble with a
trio of receivers of little experience
not alone in major league base ball
but in professional ranks. Cliff Boil
ton, Jack Redmond and Sam Hol-
brook do not constitute an impressive
catching staff.
Bolton, the only one of the corps
behind the bat with any length OF
service in the paid game back Of him
Is no polished performer by any means
despite his nine years in base ball
Brought up to the Washington club
from High Point of the Piedmont
League in 1928, Cliff had to be farrned
to minor clubs for five years before
he even was considered capable OF
taking his place behind the bat in a
big league engagement.
Big Order for Bolton.
TIE has served with no less than
five teams in the smaller loops
and still has no other recon-
fnendation as q catcher than that OF
being good hitter in the minors
Bolton for a time looked good last
year when he reported late after de-
Gliding playing base ball might be
more profitable than running a cross
road grocery store in North Carolina,
yet he was far from being a high
grade catcher
Never in his big-league career has
Cliff caught as many as rs games in
a season. Yet he has been nominated
No catcher of the Nationals this
year and is expected to be behind the
bat in more than two-thirds of the
154 games the ball club is scheduled
to play.
That's big order Not even Man
ager Harris has any idea of whether
Bolton can fill it. The club has so
many veteran pitchers that the EN-
ployment of such an inexperienced
catcher may not prove a great handi-
cap, but it looks a risky experiment.
Extra Receivers Novices.
- ACKrNG Bolton are two unknowns
ID comparatively. Holbrook, who
started his professional career
as an outfelder and was converted to
catching only because the club he was
with at the time happened to be shy
OF a receiver, was fairly impressive in
the training tussles this Spring, but
only mechanically. Whether he is a
base ball tactician is something to be
learned. Redmond, undoubtedly the
best of the receivers with the Ma
tionals, came up from Birmingham
with a batting record of only .212 for
last season. He has yet to prove him.
sell nltter.
Hurting to these novice catchers is
q staff Of pitchers that Harris consid-
ers quite capable of carrying his club
to the heights, but staff in the main
beyond what is regarded as base balls
peak in age. Close followers of base
ball have expressed doubt as to the
ability Of these elderly pitchers to
carry on.
Earl Whitehill, portsider, deemed
the mainstay of the curving corps, is
B5. Walter Stewart, another lefty, is
the same age. Bump Hadley, brought
from the Browns to give the club a
fight-hand pitching balance, is 81. AL
Thomas, right-hand reserve, is 36.
Jack Russell. looked to for most of
the relief work this year, is 80. Monte
Weaver, who has not starred on the
hill since his remarkable debut season
Of 1882, is just shy of 80.