Evening Star Newspaper, December 23, 1928, Page 63

'Foot Ball, Duckpins ! Ring, golf_{ Base Ball VETS ARE T0 DRILL FORS WEEKS ONLY First of Three Squads of Na- tionals to Report at Tampa on February 24. l tionals next year. Instead, old- timers and younger players, too, who annually have Kkicked against lengthy conditioning campaigns. ought to be quite pleased by the arrangements made for the training of the 1929 edi- tion of the Washington Base Ball Club. None of the squad will be asked to undergo more than seven weeks of training and the real veterans of the m]wm go through a“grind of five weeks only. On Sunday, February 24, a group of young pitchers and three catchers are to report to Manager Walter Johnson and Coaches Clyde Milan and Pat Gharrity at Tampa, the following Sun- | day- arch 3—the veteran pitchers | and two more catchers will crash the cemp and on March 10 the remainder of the club, old-timers add, will check in at the Florida training basc. The last group reporting will have five weeks in which to round into goo laying form before the American | Eflguc opens its championship cam- paign on April 16, | Shortening of the training season was | decided upon by President Clark Griffith | pnd Manager Johnson after they had carefully considered the plan proposed | by the latter. The pilot convinced the | president that the advantages of a pro- | Jonged season were far overbalanced by the disadvantages so the Nationals to have their shortest training grind years. Young Hurlers Start Early. In the squad due to report on Feb- ruary 24 and go to Plant Fleld the | following day for the initial workn\lt; of the year are: Lloyd Brown, Bob| Burke and Jim Weaver, pitchers with the club during the past season; Paul Hopkins, hurler, recalled from the Montreal club; Adolph Liska and Paul McCullough, slabmen, bought from Minneapolis; Guy Cantrell, boxman, rchased from Baltimore, and Archie ggmpbell, moundsman, drafted from the BY JOHN B. KELLER. | HERE should be no complaints about an unduly prolonged train- ing season coming from the Na- | | Kendall SPORTS SECTION he Swunday Star. Basket Ball, ;T 11}'f, chkey, Polo Soccer HINGTO. D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, CALIFORNIA IS UNABLE TO LIST NORTHWESTERN By the Associated Press. BERKELEY, Calif., December 22— An intersectional game with Pennsyl- vania at Philadelphia next October will prevent the University of California from entering into a home-and-home agreement with Northwestern Uhiver- sity during 1929. W. W. Monohan, graduate manager, said today that Dick Hanley, coach at Northwestern, had ap- proached him with such a proposal. Hanley is here with the Eastern team which will meet a Western eleven in the :lemu-l East-West charity game Decem- T 29. BALLAUDET QUINT WNS BY 3570 2 Scores Over Maryland State Normal Schoo! in First Home Contest. Gallaudet triumpled over Maryland Stete Normal Schcol tossers, 35 to 25, in an interesting match last night in the Kendall Green gymnasium. It was the opening game of the home | season for Gallaudet and its first vic- tory. American.University defeated the Greeners in _their opening game in the A. U. gym last week. Last night's battle was briskly con- tested all the way, with the Kendall Greeners gradually drawing away from the visitors. At the half Gallaudet was in the van, 13 to 9. It was the superjor passing of the home team that was largely responsibie for its victory. Galiaudet contrived to work the ball through the visitors' de- fense often to sink easy shots, but the Normal School outfit was seldom able to get in close to the Gallaudet goal, doing most of its shooting from long range. Numerous fouls were called, but did not slow the game appreciably. Cosgrove, left forward, was the ace of Gallaudet's offensive. He came through with nine floor goals for a total of 18 points, or more than half his team’s total. Aaronson, visiting guard, was high scorer for his quint, register- ing 11 points. In the last half Aaronson time and again zoomed the ball through the basket from way out. Drapiewski, forward, and Cain, cen- ter, were other Gallaudet stars. Gallaudet (35). 8t. Paul club. Cossrove, .. 976 18 Sipcrine 1o 374 Wita these eight, pitchers will be Bibime f.. 8 § & Ropvurs1.-1 28 Clifford Bolton, the 21-year-old catcher , €...... 0 1 1 Dalin é. 371 ‘bought from High Point; Al Bool, big | 1o Qaronson, $ 111 ‘receiver who joined the Nationals late | g 12 1 Samdsrignad 103 in the past season, and the veteran|Monaghan, .0 0 0 Muddy Ruel. For Rucl it will be the| .. ‘&5 o0 —-o first time to report with the starting squad of the training season. Hereto- fore the little catcher always.has ar- rived at Tampa with the last lot of Nationals getting into line, but last Spring Ruel was soml‘:ong nmndlns llx‘:::) good playing trim that Manager John- son decided to hl;; l:}m attend the full oourse at camp this time. ‘The squad due to report March 3 will be reelly the main squad, for it will include 16 players. Four of them will be pitchers expected to shoulder the main mound burden for the Nationals mext year. The veteran slabmen assigned to this squad are Garland Braxton, Jeader of ,g\’;‘lengue hurlse‘n u; the pn;t, aeason; Hadley, S8am Jones an Pred . With these pitchers will be Benny Tate and Ed Kenna, remaind- er of the club’s receiving staff. With this lot at hand, the entire battery force {- of the Washington club will be at Plant Wield on March 4. Second Squad Capable Lot. A host of youngsters, several of them generally accounted regulars, will be with the March 3 squad. Harley Boss, first sacker; Jack Hayes, second base- man; Joe Cronin, shortstop, and Sam West, leader of the outfielders in the league, and Red Barnes, a capable gardener, all with the Nationals last year, are to report then. So are Pete Yoter, third baseman, and Spencer Harris, outfielder, bought from Minne- spolis; Jimmy Partridge, second base- Gooch, third baseman, drafted from Little Rock, and Mel Simons, outfielder, purchased from Birmingham, and who had a trial at the Nationals' camp last ar. Y€ st, but not least, of the Washington | roster to take up the conditioning grind | will be Ossle Bluege, third sacker, to be converted into a shortfielder: Joe | Judge, for years first baseman with the club; Sam Rice and Goose Goslin, vet- eran outfielders; Stuffy Stewart, bought | (0 for the second time from Birmingham, and Buddy Myer, third baseman, again to wear a Washington uniform as the result of a deal that sent five players from the National fold to the Red Sox. Manager Johnson is preparing a training program that will call upon a:l players for much work before the Amer- ican League season opens. With the as- | sistance of Trainer Mike Maytin, the pilot expects to have all his young pitchers ready for use when the Tamva team of the Southeastern League is en- countered in the first exhibition game of the year on Sunday, March 10. This game will call into action virtually all of the younger element of the club. ! Test for Youngsters. ' The veterans, due to report this same | day, may not get into action until the | B following Sunday, when the Braves will be the Nationals® delayed, it would mean that the young- sters will have to be sent against Na- {#lonal League clubs in four games dur- ing the first week of the exhibition game season. ‘The Braves are to be encoun- | tered in St. Petersburg on March 12, | the . Cardinals will be played at Avon | Park on March 14 and 15 and the| PBraves are to be met again in Tampa | on March 16. However. Manager Johnson believs he can put a strong line-up of youag players on the field for these ramos, | He banks upon his five catchers and | eight of his pitchers being in trim for play. He could make an infleld from Boss, Hayes, Cronin and Gooch or Yoter and put in the outfield a sturdy trio | drawn _from the lot, including Barnes, West, Harris and Simons. Some of the veterans may take a course at Hot Springs before reporting at Tampa. Presideni Griffith especial- 1y wants Judge, Rice and Goslin to get | some early training at the spa and also would like Bluege and Ruel to spend two weeks there before getting down o the grueling grind at training camp. ‘Whether these men will get the prelim- fnary workout at Hot Springs, thouga, will not be decided until next month. PHILS SIGN INFIELDER. procured from Atlanta; Charley | o guests at ‘Tampa. | Lobley Should the start of the old-timers be | i Referee—Nr. Mitchell. MARYLAND BEATEN BY PENN TOSSERS 0id Liners Lack Teamwork and Winners Display Strong Defense. PHILADELPHIA, Pa., December 22— Maryland University's basket ball team performed with little of the cohesion that usually marks its play and bowed to the University of Pennsylvania quin- tet here tonight, 30 to 18,* Thirty-five hundred saw the Red and Blue hold the Marylanders to' thres fleld goals. It was sald that the visiting quintet had had little practice during the holidays and they did not demon- strate the expected teamwork. Added to this the home five played beautiful defensive basket ball, even outdoing their previous efforts in the guarding e. ‘This might have been due to the fact that Schaaf, captain and star of the team, was sent to forward and the new guarding combination of Lobley and Lazar was in action. This duo per- formed capitally while Schaaf per- formed in his best style of the season at forward, negotiating four field goals and three out of four foul tries. Radice and Allen, who substituted at center, did the best work for the South- ers. Time after time Maryland with de- feat staring them in the face made desperate efforts to break through Penn’s close guarding, but in vain. How closely Penn guarded is shown by the fact that Maryland's trio of double deckers were tabbed in the second half, the visitors being unable to tally once from the field during the first 20 minutes. At the end of the opening half the Old Liners were on the short end of a 15-to-5 tally. Line-Up and Summary, Penn (30). G.F.P. Md. (18). G.F.P. Broadbeck, f.1 3 6 Evans. {.....0 3 3 Noble. 1 000 2 4 311 12 4 000 eligia i 00 i 011 liats 000 082 000 102 328 000 21108 000 .10 10 30 Totals ... 312 18 Referee—Mr. Emery. ALEXANDRIA TEAMS 70 PLAY FOR TITLE ALEXANDRIA, Va., December 22— Junior foot ball stars will occupy the { center of the local spotlight tomorrow afternoon with the Rosebud A. C. and the Virginia Juniors scheduled to strug- gle in Dreadnaught Park at 3 o'clock for the junior grid championship of H Alexandria. Construction of the 220-yard board track at Episcopal High School is being pushed and it is thought that the oval | will be ready for use by the indoor track | candidates when they return from the Christmas holidays. George Mason High School has booked | a game for January 4 with Charlotte Hall Academy at Charlotte Hall, Md. PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY. PHILADELPHIA, December 22 (#).— The Philadelphia Nationals today an- nounce the signing for 1929 of Joseph 1. O'Rourke, infielder. Last year O'Rourke played third base for Spring- field in the Central League, where he h'.l:}n. season's batting average of more Pittsburgh, 3; Toronto, 2. Providence Reds, 1; Boston Tigers, 0. Montreal Canadians, 1; Ottawa,’ 0. PRO BASKET BALL. Qlgveland, 35; Peterson, "u | 1 DECEMBER TeD CAPELLI- \WELLS- GARLAND BRAXTON- GRID DOUBLE BILL 1S LISTED TODAY 135-Pound Title Contest Is Part of Card Offered at Union Park. Two foot ball games that promise much interesting action, and which are expected to bring the District sand- lot season to a close, are carded today at Union Park. Northern Preps and Palace A. C. will meet at 1 o'clock in a game to deter- mine the 135-pound class champlon- ship of the Capital City League, and Mercury Preps and Southern A. C. will clash at 2:30 o'clock. Northern Preps and Palace will he meeting for the second consecutive Sun- day. A win for Northerns will give them the title, while a victory for Pal- ace will place it in a first-place tie with Northerns. If Palace triumphs a one- game play-off will be staged. Last Sunday’s game cnded in a dis- pute. Officials disagreed as to whether a drop-kick by Fullback Tonker of the Palace team in the dying moments of the game went through the uprights, and at a meeting Wednesday it was de- cided to replay the game today. Southerns, one of the leading elevens of the city, will be engaging one of the best teams in 150-pound ranks in Mer- cury Preps. Both elevens have been prepping hard for the game, and each will pre- sent its strongest line-up. COLLEGE BASKET BALL. Pennsylvania, 30; Maryland, 18. Gallaudet, 35; Maryland State Nor- mal, 25. North Dakota, 37; St. Louis Uni- vemity, 36. Minnesota, 33; Drake, 25. Al.;lb:ml. 27; Birmingham Boys’' Club, ll.r‘r‘hn ¥, 36; Mississippi Aggies, PLADNER WHIPS JARVIS IN RING TITLE DRIVE PARIS, December 22 (#).—Emile “Spider” Pladner, crack French fly- weight, overcame another obstacle in his drive toward recognition as a lead- ing contender for the world title to- night when he outpointed Ernie Jarvis of England in 12 rounds. The Frenchman, who recently con- quered Tzzy Schwartz, one of the lead- ing American contenders, had a hard fight with the English boxer, who made him go at top speed all the way to = CALIFORNIA’S BEARS SHARPEN GRID TEETH By the Associated Pre: PASADENA, Calif, December 22.— California’s Golden Bears, although muscle weary from the strenuous work- out of over two hours yesterday, were given little respite today from the gruel- | ing conditioning planned by Coach LAWRENCE. NUESSLEIN- FRANCES- KRUCOFF- WALBUR. STREETT- SCHOOLBOY TEAMS IN SIK CONTESTS Five Basket Ball Games and Swimming Meet Are on Card This Week. Despite that students will be on Christmas vacation this week five bas- ket ball games and a swimming meet in which District scholastic combinations will figure are scheduled. ‘There are no events carded tomorrow or Tuesday, but there will be something doing every other day. Leesburg, Va., Independents will come here Wednesday night to engage East- ern High basketers in a match in the Eastern gymnasium at 8 o’clock. Another interesting event Wednesday “Nibs” Price to prepare them for the night will be the annual Christmas East-West struggle here New Year day with Georgia Tech. The California mentor trotted his charges onto the grass-covered fleld at Tournament Park twice today, and on each occasion shot them through a lengthy practice. He sent them through a two-hour session this morning, carted them off to lunch, and then returned them to the park for another spell of grilling work. Feeling that his charges have put on too mucg weight, during their month’s absence from the gridiron, Price plans to work them strenuously, until next Wednesday, when he will start easing off. Some of the players, he sald, were as much_as 10 pounds overweight. Steve Bancroft, start tackle, and Bob Norton, subend, put in appearance at the morning workout, completing the squad. Both were held over a day in the North. Only a few privileged newx;cper scribes were permitted to attend the workouts today. They saw Price send his men through bitter doses of passing and kicki practice, and dummy A ! meetign of the C Club of Central High School, which will be held in connec- tion with the alumni meeting at the Columbia Heights School. A swimming meet between the Central team and a combination picked from the alumni will be staged at 7 o'clock as the open- ing feature of the meeting. Officers are to be elected by the C Club and other business given atten- on. Because of the influenza scare the an- nual foot ball banquet of Devitt School | scheduled Wednesday night has been | indefinitely postponed. In the only event Thursday Central High's basketers will travel to Alexan- dria to engage Hoffman Clothiers. Two basket ball matches are carded Friday. St. John's is to meet its alumni in the Saints’ gym, while Eastern High is at Reading, Pa. facing the Reading High quint. An attractive court battle is listed Saturday when Central is to entertain | is ttysburg, Pa, High tossers in the gy, NORTH CAROLINA BOOKS TEN 1929 GRID GAMES CHAPEL HILL, N. C., December 22 (&) —University of North Carolina to- night announced a 10-game foot ball card for 1929. The complete card fol- lows: September 28—Wake Forest. October 5—Maryland at Maryland. October 12—Georgia Tech at Atlanta. October 19—Georgia. October 26—V. P. I. November 2—North Carolina State. November ¢—South Carolina at Co- lumbia. * November 16—Davidson at Davidson. November 28—Virginia. December 7—Duke at Durham. MARDEN IS SELECTED AS LACROSSE COACH i ‘Western Maryland College will have its first lacrosse team next season, and the Green Terrors probably will have as their coach Tilghman B. Marden of Baltimore, former University of Mary- land star stick wielder. Marden's ap- pointment has been approved by both Richard C. Harlow, director of ath- letics at Western Maryland, and Bar- ney Speir, graduate manager. Marden, considered a particularly fine player on attack, received all-America recognition in 1925, his last year at|he Maryland. During his last two seasons at the Old Line school, Marden helped Coach R.V. Truitt, assisting to tutor the freshmen teams. Last season he took over Bal- timore City College’s lacrosse team after the season began. Marden’'s appointment at Western Maryland represents the second col- legiate coaching selection from Truitt's University of Maryland school of Ia- crosse within six months. The other was that of Chief Beatty, who was | signed last Summer to coach the new sport at Washington College. Following the past lacrosse season, which was unprecedentedly successful, there are six certain starters in the stick whirl in this State the coming Spring, counting the Terrors, and there a possibility that a seventh entry, &M iversity of Baltimore, may. WASHINGTON ITH its sons and daughters garnering international and national laurels, its play- fields well filled at all times and many branches of ath- letic endeavor pursued to a greater ex- tent than ever before, the District of Columbia may well be proud of its sports record in 1928. Interest in sports competition here has been high throughout the year and performers and performances notable. An international title was brought to the District during the year by Law- rence Nuesslein, who won the rifie shooting crown at the Olympiad at Amsterdam. Rifle shots of the Capital also earned national honors. David McDougal won a national shooting competition at Camp Perry and the University of Maryland, regarded in the local university group, has in Margaret Mitchell the ~winner of the college women'’s national rifle title. A District National Guard team captured a na- tional chgmi)lcnflshlp, George Washing- ton University riflemen bagged a na- tional college team title. The District also produced a national cycling champich in Robert Connor. This sport is little patronized here, but annually wheelmen of the National Capital have been among the foremost of the country. National bowling cham- plonships were earned by Al Fischer and Irene Mischou. Sectional champions also were provided by the District and in virtually every sport pursued here local championships were decided. Three sports flourished to a greater extent than ever during the year. Sandlot base ball enjoyed a remarkable season. Although it has been re| d that the youngsters of other cities are neglecting the national pastime, such is not the case in Washington. Last Summer, more nines than ever before were in the fleld and title races in the various leagues were noted for their sparkle. Golf and tennis, too, have had thousands of followers. Never before were the links in and about the Dis- trict so crowded, while the many ten- nis courts here have been in use almost all the year. College Sports Flourish. It has been a fine year for sports in the colleges of the Washington area. Excellent foot ball teams were devel- oped by Georgetown and the University of Maryland; these institutions and Catholic University were represented brilliant basket ball teams. Georgetown had its usual sturdy track and field squad and at College Park one of the best lacrosse teams of the country held by | and performance PRODUCES QUOTA OF CHAMPIONS International and National Titles Earned by Capital Luminaries—Many Ath- letic Pastimes Flourish Here. indulged in by some of the colleges. Only base ball failed to prove a success- ful sport in the varsity frou . The school boys and girls have found 1928 a good year in athletics. Capable foot ball teams represented the public high schools and the prep schools, the same institutions were strong in base ball, there was much interest taken in track and field athletics and good squads were turned out in these, while golf, tennis, basket ball and rifle shoot- ing were well ized by the scho- lastics. Swimming was not neglected, but interest in this sport was not so high among_the students as before. Bowling has grown by leaps and hounds .during the year. With many new alleys built in the city and nu- merous establishments erected in sub- urban towns, the little maples are being punished to a greater extent than ever in the District and vicinity. The num- ber of leagues fostering this sport has increased considerably and tournament play has been of higher order. The municipal playgrounds have af- forded pleasure to a record number of children and youths. A total of 39,722 has participated in organized games on these fields. Water sports devotees have had much pleasure during 1928. Again canoeing proved the most popular of the aquatic pastimes, but there has been much interest manifested in swimming, yachting aad motor boating by clubs here. Women Star in Contests. ‘Women of the District have taken a keener interest in sports during the year and have had remarkable success in several branches of athletics. cer, polo, squash racquets and wrestling have had performers and followers in generous numbers. Several good bil- Hard tournaments have been held. Trapshots of the District have been rather successful in competition with gunners of other places. The only sport that really slumped during the year here was professional base ball. With the Nationals unablc to make any headway in the American League race after a poor start, interes. in the game waned and but few time: during the season were there large gath- crings in Griffith Stadium. The higher general standard of sportsmanship in effect during the year certainly deserves mention. Bette: sportsmanship between teams and be- tween players, a higher standard of play and a closer adher- a ence to the ideals of athletics were noted and actually constitute perhaps the general outstanding factor in the competition of 1928 in the District of forth. Swimming and boxing also were Columbia. CHANGE in management, the earning of indi al league championships by two of their members, a rather fortunate fourth-place finish in the Amer- ican League race after a poor start and a_startling post-season trade marked 1928 an unusual year for the Nationals, W:lshlngton'! big-time base ball aggre- gation. Back in Washington only overnight after finishing the campaign with his club in St. Louis on September 30, Stanley Harris, who had assumed the management of the Nationals in 1924, was on October 2 informed by President Clark Griffith the job of pilot no longer was_his. The demotion was not unexpected by the base ball public nor by Harris, for since midseason rumors that the man who had piloted the Nationals to Wash- ington’s first American League pennant and a world championship in 1924 and another league flag in 1925 was not in especially good standing-with the club executive were in circulation. The Washington ownership intimated that Harris' demotion was the result of his neglect of the club outside of actual playing time more than anything else. A week after Harris was relieved of the managerial position club headquar- ters announced the appointment to the post of Walter Johnson, once premier pitcher of the Nationals and the major leagues and this year pilot of the New- ark club of the International League. Harris' demotion still left him in re- serve as a player with the Nationals, but the former manager, with his club’s permission, soon arranged a trade with the Tigers that carried him to Detroit as manager and brought to Washing- ton Jack Warner, an infielder. Warner later was released outright to the Toledo club of the American Association. Goslin, Braxton Star. | League championships were earned ]by Leon Allen Goslin and Edgar Gar- land Braxton of the Nationals. Goslin, after a stirring fight with Heine Manush of the Browns through the last game of the season, became the first champion | batter ever produced by a Washington American League club. A two-base hit made by the Goose in the ninth inning of the game against the Browns in St. Louis on September 30 enabled him to finish with a batting average of .379, while Manush finished with .378. The pitchers in point of effectiveness by al- mfl: only 2,52 earned runs per nine gs. ‘The Nationals led the league in club flelding, finishing with a rating of .972 for defense, and they had in Joe Judge, first baseman; Ossie Bluege, third base- man; Muddy Ruel, catcher, and Sam West, outfielder, players rated highly as defensive factors. West, playing in his first season as a regular, led the league's { gardeners with an average of .996. The Nationals won only 75 games ofl 154 played to a decision. However, they left-handed Braxton led the league's | GRIFFS GET NEW PILOT * AFTER SHOWING POORLY had promised to be of considerab worth to the club to perform effective: and of some others to round into goo pitching trim until late in the too much enforced experiment witl green players around the middle sack and an injury to Goose Goslin’s throw- ing arm during the training season tha greatly reduced the defensive value o this :mer;n capable outfielder were re spon: for poor showing mad: by the Nationals during this year. In December the Washington clu' was a party to the most sensations trade of the year. It sent to the Rac Sox Horace Lisenbee and Milton Gas ton, pitchers; Bob Reeves and Gran Gillis, infielders, and Elliot Bigelow outfielder, in exchange for Buddy Myer third baseman, formerly a member o the Nationals. Boston had procurec gie{nlbu::dther middle o(,'ilu 1927 sea- a trade for Topper . Rig- ney later passed out of the , but Myer this year develo) into one o the best hitting and fie! third base- men in the game, and his services werr sought to bolster the Nationals’ attack as much as for any other reason. EAST, WEST GRIDMEN TOIL HARD FOR GAME By the Associated Press. SAN FRANCISCO, December 22.— Long practice grinds were chalked up today by the Eastern and Western play- ers who will compete for honors here December 29 in the annual East-West charity foot ball game. Their personnels complete, both squads raced through workouts that in- cluded signal, drill, kicking, a scrim- mage on the part of the Eastern delega- tion and all the other necessary details coaches can think of. One of the best bets of the East, Wal- ter Holmer, reached Stanford. where his teammates are sojourning until game ime. ‘The big Northwestern University full- back is one of the threats Head Coach Andy Kerr is banking on. Holmer prob- nbl;'l will share the burden of attack with Howard Harpster, Carnegie Tech quarterback. That Coaches Kerr and Dick Hanley tle the issue is evident. out much time is devoted to long from Harpster to Haycraft, Minnesota end, and the other backfield men. The Westerners; two days behind their rivals in the matter of practice, func- tioned more like a foot ball team today. Coach Orin E. Hollingbery has found himself hard put for a safety man and signal caller. When the complete squad {of 22 men lined up it was found that none was experienced in these vital de- partmenis. As it is, Hollingbery is breaking in Bob Sims, Stanford half- back, for the safety position, while Dan continued to finish in the first division of the league for the sixth consecu- tive season. Their fourth-place berth came mainly from a spurt that started re on August 14 and brought 26 wins in their last 41 engagements. For the first time in several saasons, though, the Washington club finished with a winning percentage below .500. Not once after April 26, when it fell below the 50-50 mark, did it get as high again. The club’s final standing was During the training finan in Flor- ida the Washington gu t promised to become a factor in the chase for the flag in the Barnard circuit, but from the outset of the champlonship jousting it never figured as a title contender. Only three annual series were won by the Nationals—those with the Tigers, the White Sox and the Indians, and none of these was won until the last month of the cam . The Browns overcame the Ni with ease, but g”:u mmmmnnu who did the Allen, former Yale star and this year with the Olympic Club, is being used at calling plays. The West has won all three previous contests and the 1928 team is favored over its Eastern foe, but practice ses- sions to date have impressed observers that the visif squad should be rated’ on even terms, if not stronger than the’ ‘Westerners. BIGELOW, BATTING .395, TOPS HIS ASSOCIATION MEMPHIS, Tenn., December 22 (P). —Elliott Bigelow of Birmingham led the Southern Association in batting aver- age during the past season, official fig- ures compiled today showed, while Tay- lor and Frederick of Memphis shared the major portion of other individual o 12 i had & 5