The Washington times., 1938-03-19
Harris May Ship
|. Him 10 Minors
For a Year
B0NURA TO BAT 4TH
G ood Hitters Make
Batting Order
A Problem
BY FRANK BUCK" O'NEnL

BY FRANK BUCK" O'NEHL
ORLANDO, Fla, March 10.
Jimmy Dykes, q little round man
of the Chicago White Sox, tele'
graphed Zeke Bonura to report to
the Washington baseball club. and
the big italian will be here on
Monday or Tuesday at the very
latest . Joe Kuhel, already
speeding across country, will ar
rive in California about the same
time that his successor arrives in
Orlando.
The acquisition of Bonurs has
completely changed the status Of
Jimmy Wasdell, who prior to St.
Patrick'S Day, definitely was slated
for the first haseman's position.
At the moment, Bucky Harris has
not decided whether to change
Wasdell into an outfielder. one
of the noble experiments Of 1887,
or ship him off to q good minor
league club for a year to improve
his game.
"I really don't know what to
do about Wasdell," Harris said.
1T would be to his advantage
to play every day with some
good team. I shall try to place
him with a double A team, sub.
ject to "a hours recall. 1t Is
very difficult to make such an
arrangement with minor league
clubs Of higher classification.
Nothing will be done in his
case until the last day allowed
by rules, If we can arrange that
successfully" Harris continued.
IT want him to work under my
direction, and learn my ways Of
~. -: = things"
ADDS I INCH
With Bonura ready to xNdng
into action, Harris is giving no
little thought to his batting order
for the coming season. Bounra
gives the team a punch that was
lacking last year, and Harris in.
tends to make the fullest possible
use Of the newly acquired power.
Bonura will bat fourth. That is
a set certainty-but grouping the
new men around Bonura to make
the best use of their talents gives
the raven-haired manager pause.
Melo Almada will hold the lead.
off position, and Buddy Lewis will
bat second. So far so good, and
now we begin to juggle and think
a bit. Buddy Myer is a good hitter,
and this year looks as good as
ever he did in his life. He would
be good man for the third slot.
But Stone is good run producer.
and other clubs bat their run pro-
ducers in third position. Maybe
Harris will put Stone in the slot
once held down by Ruth, now
held by Di Maggie and other
sluggers on other teams.
We come now to fifth place,
with still another problem beSet-
ting us. If Simmons trains on
and has the sort Of year his early
form indicates he will have, he
could bat fifth, concentrating the
right-handed hitting power Of the
team in two all-important spots.
BATTING ORDER
Bonura drove in 440 runs in
four major league years. Sim.
mons drove in 1854 runs in IA
years. Only twice in all those sea-
sons did Simmons fall shy Of the
century mark. There also is q
strong possibility that Harris
might decide to bat Stone fifth.
In the event that stone is placed
after Bonura in the lineup, we
have a fine scramble. Will Sim
mons hit sixth, or will Cecil Travis
get the call. Travis is a prolific
hitter, but he has had little luck
producing runs. It seems almost
impossible to bat him lower than
sixth, and maybe he would be of
greater aid to the team batting
fifth.
We still have to consider Buddy
Myer, in the event that Stone bats
third. Myer might be wasted in
seventh position, and yet. with
Bonura, Simmons, and Travis hit.
ting before him, he would have
ample chance to win rating as a
run producer.
All of these possibilities. and
others, too, plague the waking
hours of Bucky Harris, who now
finds new possibilities developing
before his wondering eyes. We
will know more about the men and
their eligibility for favored posi-
tions as the training season pro-
crosses. Harris will shift them
around until he gets the right
combination.