The times., 1898-10-25
DECREASE IN BATTING
Season Just Closed Shows a
Marked Falling Off.
A REMEDY MAY BE NEEDED
The Reasons for the Slump in Site X
Work Is Shrouded With Mystery
Are the Balls Less Elastic or Are
Ffeiders ImprovinE. Is the Ques-
tiOn Asked by Many Close Follow
ers of the Game.

The remarkable decrease in batting in
the last season In all the baseball leagues,
and especially in the big one. has been
puzzle TO everybody interested in the
game. Ever since the pitching distance
was increased there have been one or
more batters above the 400 mark every
year. In 1890 Glasscock led the big league
batters with a percentage of 1886, in 1891
Hamilton led with 1888, and there were but
nine batters in the 300 class; in 1892
"Paca" Childs led with .335, and there
were only twelve 800 men. In 1893 Stencil
led with 409, in 1924 Duffy with .i3S, in 1895
and 1896 Burkett with .42S and 40 respec-
lively, and last year Keeler was champion
with .432, a percentage that has never been
beaten but once in the leagues history.
Last year there were two batters in the
400 class and sixty-nine in the 800 class,
twenty of whom had averages of above
$40. What a wonderful change this year
There are no 400 men at all, and Keeler
leads with .3s1, fifty-one points below his
percentage of last year. Instead of hav-
ing twenty batters above $40, there are
this year only five. and instead of sixty
nine 800 batters there are forty-four. Last
year there were fourteen men below 200;
this year there were thirty-four. Last
year Baltimore had five men who batted
above .35O-Keeler, Kelley, Jennings, Doyle
and StenZel-and their average standing
was $50. This year only one OF these men
hit above $50, while two of them fell be-
low 300.
What has been the cause of such an as
founding slump in batting all along the
line? asks Deacon Anderson, in the Balti-
more Sun. Doubtless. as some contend.
the fielding has improved somewhat, and
the pitching has also improved but it
cannot be conceived that the pitchers all
along the line, like Nichols, Rusie, Maui,
McJames, Griffith Hawley and Breiten-
stein. many of whom have been pitching
for years should all of them suddenly
improve so wonderfully as to make such
a difference in the batting. AS for the
fielding. some teams, notably Baltimore
did worse fielding than for five years, ii
being disgracefully poor al times. while
only few teams have shown any mark
ed Improvement in their work in the
field.
Manager Hanlon was disposed earlier ir
the season to blame the balls. but they
were examined and found all right, and
seemed to bound just as high when they
nit the earth and go just as fast and ia,
when hit ''in the nose as they ever did
The question is no nearer solution al
present than it was al the beginning OF
the season. The batters couldn't bat
and that was all about it.
This is a more serious matter to base.
ball interests than might be supposed
While the public does not like Slug.
| ging' game in which a dozen or more
| runs are made, and the time is taken uE
| by the fielders chasing the ball, neither
| do the spectators like to see every mar
| go up and be put out with monotonou!
| regularity. They like TO see one or tn,
| other team do n little timely hitting al
| some stage of the game, and get five oil
| six runs. If the battling slump continues
| the League must either put the pitchers
slab farther back or make the ball more
elastic, or adopt some other plan to hell
| out the batters.