Evening star., 1938-03-07
WASDELL, KUHEL
DUEL IN EARNEST
Case, Early Bid KeenIy for
Positions-Myer Reports
in Prime Condition.
BY FRANCIS Z. STAN,
Stan Correspondent Of The Star,

BY FRANCIS Z. STAN,
Stan Correspondent Of The Star.
~ RLANDO. Fla, March T.
I Spring training ceased to be
Y series Of lazy workouts for
the Senators today and be-
came -for-all job fight.
Anew battalion Of GrifYmen, headed
by Capt. Buddy Myer, invaded Tinker
Field this morning as the Washing-
ton club moved into the second week
Of training. With the opening Of the
Grapefruit League only slightly more
than a week of, the Mats are playing
for keeps now.
Joe Kuhel, the veteran, and Jimmy
Wasdell, the rookie, have quit their
slow, gradual schedule. and now are
elbowing for possession Of first base
in honest-to-goodness infield drills.
Rookie George Cases challenge to Al
Simmons Is more than newspaper
talk today. Recruit Jake Early Is
making dying bid to supplant Mickey
Livingston as the second-string re-
ceiver and regiment Of pitchers
are casting covetous eyes on the nine
so-called open" positions.
Wasdell, Joey Were Sparring.
Manager Bucky Harris welcomed
the arrival of Infielders Myer. Buddy
Lewis, Johnny Mihalic and, Cecil
Travis, and Outfielders Johnny Stone.
Melo Almada and Taft Wright. The
training program was dying for lack
Of action and variety. The Griffs
were fed up with pepper drills and
laps around the ball yard.
With all hands on deck, Harris re-
peated his declaration that few jobs
already were clinched. What Stanley
Raymond has in mind. Of course, is
that Kuhel and Wasdell are on even
terms and that he will give Case
a fair shake in his fight with Sim
mons for the right-field post. These
are the only positions about which
there Is any real doubt.
To date Kuhel and Wasdell have
reminded of couple boxers. They
spent the first week limbering up and
feeling each other out. Neither has
chosen to even take a position in the
infield during batting practice. Was.
dell, trpe. has planted himself on third
base. but that isn't his position. and
it was only gesture. Kuhel has done
nothing except take his cut in batting
practice and play in pepper games.
Simmons. as far as batting Il con-
cerned. is the most advanced player on
the club. AIS heavy clouting In the
stick drills has been = daily feature.
Case, on the other hand, has done
more modest work at bat, but has
divided his attention. George u no
great shakes as q defensive outnelder
yet and he knows 1t. So he has been
drilling in the fly-catching technique.
Mysr Reports in Good Shape.
The arrival Of Myer brought smiles
Of satisfaction to the faces Of Harris
and Owner Clark Grimth. Buddy
checked into the hotel last night and
looked ready to play ball Immediately
He is lighter than he has been at any
time since 1885.
Il ought to be in good shape" ex-
planned Myer, i've walked about lo,-
600 miles this winter. At least it seems
so. They elected me vice chairman of
the Mississippi Wildlife Federation.
and, boy, what lot of duties had!
Hardly had time to hunt myself"
Another arrival last night was
Wright, the stocky outfielder who
received trial year ago. TAFT, who
weighed over 200 this time IN 1897,
also reported himself considerably
lighter. I'm about 100 now" he
announced. land ought to be weighing
185 in week or So
Travis, Stone, Almada and Lewis
are taken for granted. They have
their positions sewed up. Almada
is the only member who was not In
camp last year, but he showed enough
after coming from the Red Sox in
trade to cause Harris no worries. All
the feet-footed Mexican must do Is
to play back to that late 81 form.
Nine Hurlers Almost Chosen.
The fight for the nine pitching jobs
easily can be overrated. In fact,
there is little doubt as to which
hurlers will stick. Yves Ferrell, Jimmy
De Shong. Monte Weaver and Ken
Chase probably will open the season
as the four starters, although Joe
Krakauskas may have something to
say about this rating.
Elon Hogsett and Dutch Leonard, q
pair Of new veterans, also are sure
bets to win Jobs. That makes . total
Of seven. leaving only two more places
to be contested: Ray Phebus and
Pete Appleton are red-hot favorites
to grab these. The others are nice
fellows and are good to their mothers,
but they are not ready to fool major
league batsmen.