The Washington times., 1935-03-29

CQe GrlI1S may fESM
come to the ~
opening game G AEA ssssSs's'''''
ready to go. IfFrank Buck" O'NeilI
bad weather retards the develop
ment of the team then the re-
verse may be true.
AS we look back to the stay in
Biloxi we check four outstanding
developments, these we're:
/. The spectacular comeback Of
Red Kress.
2. The sensational rise of Jack
Redmond, rookie catcher.
3. The hitting and fielding Of
Jake Powell.
4. The advance of Bob Burke to
rating as starting pitcher.
OF scarcely lesser note is the ad.
vance Of Henry Cappola, the
Massachusetts, Italian boy who ad.
Vanced from iowly station among
the rockies to the sole survivor Of
the host of youngsters taken South
by the ball club. Right now Cap
pola ranks as a threat to some Of
the older pitchers whose status
Is decidedly uncertain.
Hadley's Arm Disturbs
A disturbing note was sounded
when Clark Griffith sent Bump
Hadley away to Chattanooga to
have his right arm treated by DR..
Lee Jensen. The efforts to retire
Hadley to the Southern League i'm.
press this writer as being prema-
ture. Maybe Hadley is finished.
Other pitchers have gone out
through injury, but it might be
wiser to give the medical profes.
sion a chance to diagnose his case
and announce the correct findings.
Joe Kuhel came up this morn
ing, smiling like a basket of chips.
IT'S all right" said the first
sacker. 1T feels like a million
dollars. I guess I've broken up
those adhesions and now I'm run
ming on the balls of my feet. Boy,
it's great, I tell you; it's great"
Kuhel, Of course, referred to his
left ankle. It has been quite ap-
parent to experienced eyes for the
past couple of days that Kuhel
was improving. If the cold and
dampness of the Northern trip
doesn't set him back he will be
in fine fettle for opening day.
Kress' work has been outstand-
ing in the last two weeks, and
right now he is given preference
to Lyn Larry, who 10 days ago
seemed a Cinch to open the season
at shortstop. Kress has been a
sensation at the bat. On Satur-
day at Mobile he drove in five
runs with timely, hard-hit wallops.
Plays in Early Form
Kress is playing back to his
early form with the White Sox.
When he came up from the Pa
cific Coast League he hit like wild
and fielded in fine style. He was
dead left-field hitter. however,
and well-meaning manager at
tempted to change his batting
style.
Hit to right field" this man:
ager dinned into the ears OF
Kress. Well, like the Light Bri-
gade, it was not his to reason
why. He shifted and fiddled
around until he couldn't have
hit Lake Erie with handful Of
bird shot.
From the boast of the league
he became almost a mediocre ball
/ layer. But now he seems to
have caught the old spark again.
He is doing everything the way
you'd expect a major league ball
player to do those things. In
fact, Clark Griffith told me this
morning that whenever he talks
trade to any club the other fel-
low always talks Kress and
Whitehill.
Cleveland was the last team
to ask questions about Whitehill
and was turned down flat.
Redmond's status will be de-
termined by his ability. If Re
can hit .27O in the major leagues
no power in baseball can prevent
him being a ranking receiver.
Right now he is a cow-tail swinger
you know, the kind that takes
the bat at the end and 'flails
away. Harris has ordered Red
mond to shorten his grip and
chop at the ball with a strong
wrist snap at the finish OF the
swing. Redmond hit the ball
hard in Mobile. and Harris Is
optimistic.
May Hit To All Fields
With this new batting style,
Redmond may develop the knack
Of hitting to all fields, which OF
course, will enhance his value
greatly.
jake Powell is all ball player.
It may be that major league COM
petition will bring out results IN
Powell's style that these minor en-
gagements have failed to uncover.
But he is a ball hawk in the field,
and a flash on the bases. 1 don't
know how many bases he will
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