Evening star., 1938-03-11
TRAVIS SLAMM|NG
IN M|DYEAR FORM
Promise of Finest Season
With Mats Seen in Cece's
Batting Drills.
BY FRANCIS E. STAN,
Stan Correspondent of The Star.


ORLANDO, Fla, March 1.-THE
Washington pitchers knew it had to
come eventually. but the grim reality
still represented shock. That man
who whangs 'em through the box a
mile-and a half a minute is here
again.
He would be Cecil Travis, of course,
the gangling Georgian. Cecil has
been in uniform two days and already
he has knocked down more pitchers in
batting practice than the entire squad
has floored in nearly two weeks That's
the way he hits, Washington's best
batsman. and it's a great sight when
he levels off against enemy hurting.
But the Nat pitchers are yelling
uncle" Just as Ossie Bluege always
attracts the attention in the fielding
drills. no matter how often you've
seen them, so does Travis catch the
eye in batting practice. On his first
trip to the plate the other day Cecil
banged five straight on the nose.
Most of them screamed through the
pitchers box and were tagged hits
with capital HIS.
There is nobody close to him for
consistency in the drills now. not even
AL Simmons. 1t all adds up to prom
ise of another big year for Cecil at
bat. The American League hitting
title maybe.
Cecil Down to lis Pounds.
Travis is worth studying as he pre-
pares to open the 1888 season. He
won't be Is years old until next August
and yet this marks his sixth season
in a Nat uniform. For four years he
has been a regular.
Travis is one of the most natural
hitters in baseball. At 19 he batted
1902 in a brief trial. The next year,
as regular, he batted 3l9 for 100
games. Then he batted .318 and .3l7
in the following seasons and in the
last campaign the kid came into his
own. With a .344 average he led the
Washington club and gave all the
leagues sluggers a race.
The chances are that Cecil has yet
to reach his peak. That is the way he
impresses camp attaches A year ago
he reported weighing 1876 pounds. He
scales only ITS now and, take it from
President Clark Griffith, that is his
best weight.
THE only problem" chortles Mr..
Mike Martin, the trainer, ''is to keep
Travis from working too hard. He's
liable to get down. But ITS is good
weight for him because Cecils legs
aren't as strong as they might be. Re-
member how he used to pull muscles
in his thighs?"
Batting Order Stumps Bucky.
Manager Bucky Harris is visibly i'm
pressed as he watches Travis slam
blistering line drives into the outfield.
He only drove across 66 runs last
year." remarks Harris, but he GER
tainly figures to do better. The sea-
son before he batted across 81. If
he could duplicate that record, or
better it, he should bat third, fourth.
or fifth in the order. Darned If I
know where to place him.
Bucky has decided to lead off with
Melo Almada again. Buddy Lewis will
hit probably in the No. 2 spot and
either Buddy Myer or Travis will go
up third. If Myer is good, that is his
spot. That would leave Travis, AL
Simmons and Johnny Stone as logi-
cal candidates for the Nos. and S
spots. This is not to mention Joe
Kuhel or Jimmy Wasdell as posi-
bilities.
It would be difficult to improve on
Travis as he looks these days in train
ing. He has become stronger, while
whiting down in weight and his
wrists snap better when he connects.
Cece is a good bet to win that Ameri-
can League bat title. He's better
bet to lay lot of pitchers low with
those murderous line drives. No Won
der the Nat hurlers are unhappy when
he walks to the tee.
The workout yesterday marked Har-
ris' introduction Of separate squads.
He allowed the rockies to bat first
and then shooed them onto the field
to chase the drives of the regulars.
The first sustained rain of the camp
failed to cut short the workout, which
lasted an hour longer than any to date.