Evening star., 1939-02-02
Griffith School
Has II Hur|ers,
7 Catchers
Half Are Southpows;
Invasion Resented
By Prof. Strip
BY FRANCIS E. STAN,
Star Staff CORRESPONDENT,

Star Stad Correspondent.
ORLANDO, Fla, Feb. 2.-Dear old
Griffith institute opened its doors
to higher baseball education for 10
assorted and beardless young men
today to get the second 100 years Of
baseball off to an epoch-making
start
Pulling on the old and well-worn
gray travelling uniforms, President
Clark Griffith's combination school"
and No. l recruit squad romped
through its initial workout on Ex-
position Field to mark the earliest
spring training session In baseball
history.
From nearby Prof. Joe Strip,
veteran National League inf1elder
and perennial hold-out champion,
glared viciously at the Griffith activ-
tiles. Prof. Strip is the dean ST
dear old Strip Tech, baseball
school" which strips ambitious boys
of $50 tuition money, to say nothing
of expenses. for full course on how
to be major Lacquer. Prof. Strip
lldS SOllll dSlCu W uSC AlhCl l. 1ClA,
regular training quarters of the Sem
ators, until February 20. Prof. Strip,
furthermore, resents Mr.. Griff1th's
invasion at this time. In other
words, Washington's spring training
got off to a good start in vendetta.
Harris Defends Griff's Idea.
Manager Bucky Harris, arriving
yesterday at the head of a party of
seven rockies, counted 10 salaried
employees of the Mats and the farm"
teams today sent them through a
brisk two-hour workout which con-
sisted chiefly of running around the
ball yard, throwing medicine ball
into each others stomachs, and en-
gaging in a bitterly contested volley
ball duel.
Manager Harris eagerly took up
the verbal battle with Strip. serv-
ing as the spearhead in the absence
of Griffith. Were not running a
school in competition to Strips"
explained Harris. I'm a sense, it's
true we are promoting school, We
aim to teach young pitchers and
catchers a few tricks, but Strip
should remember that every boy in
our camp is signed to a Washington
contract or to a contract binding
him to a farm team. Strips kids
aren't bound to contracts and he'd
never get the same boys that we
have, so what's all the squawking
about?"
Regardless of Harris arguments,
or Strips, there seems to be bad
blood between the two schools of
thought and baseball. 1t develops
that Strip is crying aloud that he
will not sign a contract with the
Dodgers but will spend the entire
time building up his school" This
year Prof. Joe had 162 pupils, to
hear tell, and they paid Josephus so
smackers apiece. That is s8,1OO in
good American dough and despite
the $500 he is supposed to have
given Ducky Medwick and the $500
he was alleged to have handed Van
Mungo for serving as faculty advis-
ers, Strip stands to clear a neat
profit.
Many Southpaws Greet Buck.
AS Harris led his squad onto the
Exposition Grounds today he had II
pitchers and two catchers, with the
promise of couple of local back
stops to help catch some of the early
slants of his hurlers.
1t may be significant that nearly
so per cent of his rookie slab talent
throws left-handed. Ken Chase and
Joe Krakauskas, pair of southpaws
who are getting to be perennial
rockies, head the list. In addition.
there is a recruit named Walter
StockWell, a southpaw from Eastern
High School in Washington, another
Is Bill Hollard, who pitched for the
Orlando team of the Florida State
League last year. Forrest Brewer,
VINO won Is and lost II games for
st. Augustine of the same league in
1888, is another rookie southpaw.
and so is Kirby Hayes, who won
SIX and dropped one game for Char
lotte last season. The seventh
southpaw is Bob Gross, a pitcher
VINO, to quote Trainer Mike Martin,
comes from either the Army or
Navy, don't know which"
The best of the first squad is
composed of Joe Lewis, Bob Over
street, Bob Garner, Hal Brumsbaugh,
Bucky Jacobs, Walter Masterson
Louis Truman, Early Wynn, Joe
haynes and Arnold Anderson, pitch
ers, and Jake Early and AL Evans
catchers. '''