Evening star., 1940-03-04
Veteran 10 Start
Against Giants
Next Sunday
Myer Still in Picture;
PofuhI Bots Second:
Hudson on Mound

by q StdII SplIcSpOllueIt VI lHe SihT
ORLANDO, Fla. March 4.-Sec-
ond Baseman Eddie Leip may be
one of Teacher Bucky Harris base
ball pets, but when the Nationals
take the field next Sunday against
the New York Giants in the first
exhibition game of the year the
Washington second sacker will be
Jimmy BloodWorth.
Harris made this announcement
today in tentatively listing the team
which will open the Grapefruit
League, campaign here against the
same team which, in 1888, won the
| World Series from Washington's last
pennant winner.
Il intend to give Bloodworth first
crack at the job" Harris said, be
cause Jimmy hit the ball hard for
us last year and he is a pretty good
fielder. That doesn't mean, how
ever, the others are out of it. Leip
will get his chance and SO will
Buddy Myer, But Bloodworth is
coming first"
Pofahl TO Bat Second.
Bucky likes everything about
Bloodworth except his lack of speed
afoot. Jimmy is no George Case
on the base paths, but Leip, who
came up from Greenville and i'm
pressed late last year, has yet to
prove that he can hit big-league
pitching consistently. Myers chief
handicaps are his age-he's 36-and
his left-handed stance at the plate.
Harris is trying to get away from
left-handed hitters, if possible, and
at the same time he is trying to
build young club.
The lineup which Harris will send
| against the Giants is fundamentally
the same he disclosed to this OBJ
server last December, after the Mats
had traded Taft Wright and Pete
Appleton to Chicago for Outfelder
Gerry Walker.
Case, who will play center field,
| will lead off, and Jimmy Pofahl,
the $4,000 rookie shortstop, will
bat second. Pofahls presence in
this spot will mark the first time
since 1886 that any Nat other than
Buddy Lewis has batted No. 2.
Early Will Start Catching.
Hitting third will be Walker, max
ing three straight right handlers
stepping to the plate. In the clean
up spot will be the left-handed
Lewis, who next Sunday will make
his debut as right fielder, and
No. 5 will be the equally left-handed
Cecil Travis, who has been moved
back to his old post at third base.
Thus, among the other three play
ers are left First Baseman Jimmy
Wasdell, Bloodworth and the CATCH
er. Harris has not decided def
| nltely whether Wasdell, a southpaW.
will swing ahead of the right-handed
hitting Bloodworth, but one will be
the sixth hitter, while the catcher,
as usual, will bat eighth.
Jake Early will start the back
stopping, Harris indicated, and will
share the game with AL Evans. The
other two catchers, Rick Ferrell
and Tony Giuliani,' will see little
action this month.
Il already know they can CATCH"
Harris explained, land there's no
use sticking them back of the plate
and running risks of injuries.
Rookie Hudson to Pitch.
Outside of the catchers this is the
lineup which Harris decided upon
last December, although Bucky is
known to be partial toward Leip, a
stocky little infielder who was dis
covered few years ago in a pottery
factory in Trenton by Scout Joe
Cambria. The extra speed and fight
OF Leip, in some ways, seems to make
Eddie preferable to Bloodworth, al
though the latter is recognized as a
big league batsman while Leip still
must prove his ability to clout.
The pitchers against the Giants,
according to present plans, will be
three and as follows: Sidney Hudson,
rookie righthander; Joe Krakauskas,
the Lithuanian southpaw, and Paul
Gehrman, who was drafted from
Albany.
Hudson, who won "a and lost 4 in
the Florida League, is another of
Teacher Harris pets. Gehrman, a
burly righthander, who belonged to
the Cincinnati Reds but who fell
into the draft and thus was procured
from Albany last fall, has exhibited
a good fast ball in drills. His actual
ability is unknown. Krakauskas, the
perennial rookie who lost II games
last year but still is rated as promis-
ing, has been down here since camp
opened and, with Hudson and Gehr-
man, is among the more advanced
hurlers.
The main topic, though, has to do
with second base and who is going
to play it. At the moment 1t looks
as if Bloodworth has the job-if he
can hold it.
/ D@L