Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-05-21
Slated For Debut Today.

WHEN the Indians visited Wash
Nv ington recently, Manager Steve
ONeill proposed Willis Hudlin-for-
Jake Powell swap, which drew laugh
from Harris. But that guffaw didn't
help O'Neilly's outfielding corps
which is as weak as Washington S
is strong and so it now is believed
likely that Cleveland will breach an
other deal. With Travis drawing his
salary as an outfielder, Harris may
-be in a position to talk turkey, al
though Powell is not the f1y-chaser
who is likely to leave the Nationals
If deal Is made.
Travis today was to make his out
fielding debut for the season in right
field, supplanting Carl Reynolds. AL
though he has not worked out in
the garden this year Harris believes
Cecil will do all right in Cleveland's
league park, which has a right-field
fence only 200 feet from home plate.
Nick Altrock, or any sinilarly-gaited
human, can hold right field in Cleve-
land down in handy fashion
Thus, as the Nationals outfelders
now line up, Johnny Stone is the reg
ular left fielder, with Jesse Hill taking
his place when a southpaw pitcher is
working for the opposition. Powell,
OF course, holds down center under all
conditions, and now Travis is to play
right field. This leaves Reynolds and
Dee Miles, along with Hill, in reserve.
Tribe Needs Good Gardener.
or THE Washington outhe1ders,
Stone, Powell and Reynolds are
most wanted by rival clubs. There
is little demand for Hill and less for
the rookie, Miles, who may be farmed
out to the Chattanooga if a deal is
not made before the June Is deadline.
Cleveland, of course, needs an out
fielder now that. Bruce Campbell is
out of the lineup again. Jimmy
Gleeson, his understudy, is a promis-
ing rookie, but hardly ready to help
greatly club that is in the thick of
the flag fight. Three straight defeats
by the Yankees and Nationals also
may alarm ONeill enough to add
impetus to his talk Of making a
trade, and, if the Tribe does so, it
would not be surprising if Reynolds
was mentioned prominently Wash
ington, of course, isn't anxious to get
rid of Reynolds, but if the Tribe
makes an offer sound attractive
enough, Harris and Griffith may not
feel that they can turn it down.
After all, Washington's pitching Is
lacking both in quantity and quality
and Carl would look good in the Cleve-
land outfield.
The shifting of Travis was no out
and-out admission that Washington's
No. noble experiment was failure.
ut doesn't mean so much that I'm
giving up on Travis as a shortstop, "
Harris explained. THE way I want
to put it is that Travis is too good a
hitter to be handicapped by the diff
Guilty OF his job. BY that I mean the
shortstop position seems to have wor-
ried Travis to the extent of hurting
his batting and this is something
too valuable to be sacrificed"
New Duties May Have Hurt.
WHATEVER Harris explanation
Nv may lack in the way of clarity is
not important, but the fact remains
that something has affected Travis
batting and the shortstopping post
may have been it. Except for the first
week Of the season Travis has not re-
sembled the dangerous hitter he was
In 1884 and 1885. 1t may have been
the weight Of the shortstopping duties
or it may have been his shift to the