Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-07-24
THE ART OF BATTING =
Some Points by "Buck" Ewing Woli Worth
tho Attention of the Beginner.

tho Attention of the Beginner.
"Buck" Ewing, the manager Of tht
Cincinnati Club, has not been an ac-
tive player In several years, but his
duties as manager have obliged him
to keep in close touch with tie game,
and he knows as much about batting
as he ever did. When "Buck" was In
his prime he was one of the best bat
ters In the League and one Of the best
catchers who ever donned mask. He
has made a study of the science Of bat
ting and in the following article gives
much advice which young players
would do well to study carefully, and
many an old League player could bet
ter his stick work by following his
ideas. Here they are:
Footwork has as much to do with
successful batting as 1t has In puglism.
A player who steps away from the
plate as he swings at the ball can be
put down as an easy victim for an out
curve, and 1t is a pitcher with very
poor head who does not serve up out
curves in profusion to such batter.
Even good batters will get into the
habit of pulling away from the plate,
and at such times they become as easy
victims as one to whom the fault Is
chronic. The old-timer does not con-
tnue In that line for long, however,
but regalns his stride after short
lapse from grace. He will practice
continually until he 0vercOmes the
fault and gets back to his old style.
TO the beginner, however, the con-
quering of the habit is difficult. He
has got to be coached continually in
the forward straight steps. With col
lege players especially is this fault of
pulling away painfully evident, and it
is the prime reason that college play
ers are such notoriOusly weak batters
TO overcome this fault is the trainers
hardest duty, SO batting Is almost the
first thing professional trainers take
up when they take charge of q college
team.
A plan which should work effective
ly, and which | shall try whenever
get the chance to train lot of anna
teurs, is to have box built the size
Of the regular batter's box, with the
sides raised high enough to prevent
the player from stepping outside, even
If he tried. This would necessitate n
straight, forward step and. by con-
stant practice, the player would be-
come SO accustomed to that movement
that he could not do otherwise.
This Is an original plan of my own,
and l would like to see 1t tried by
some of the many college coachers.
A great mistake made by many play
ers, both professional and amateur, Is
to imagine that they are obliged to
swing fiercely ut the ball 70 make 1t
travel fast and far. There was never
a bigger mistake. The whole secret
of successful batting is In timing the
ball so as to meet 1t squarely with
force. Professionals call this Meet
ing the ball" "Just meet 1t, my boy"
Is often heard on the ball field. II you
are an instant late or an in5t,nt too
soon you will lose the driving power to
your blow. 1t all lies in the step a
batter takes In going forward to meet
the ball. IL you step in just at the
proper time you are reasonably sure to
meet the ball on the nose, and it goes
off the bat with ringing sound most
pleasing to the old-timer Blng, and
Its off, and woe betide the infielder
who may be in front of it. He will
wish he had on cricket pads.
A quick, snappy movement is often
better than swing. Zip" Pike, one
Of the best batters who ever lived. had
this quick wrist movement and al
though he apparently made little ef-
fort, he made some Of the longest hits
on record. BY just meeting the ball,
too, n player can master the art of
placing the ball with much greater
ease than by n terrific blind swing
The latter way Is bound to throw n
man off his balance and to get his eye
Off the ball.
Pitchers are always on to the free
swingers or ''swIpers," and will change
their pace on such batters, dishing up
slow "lobs" and swift ones in the most
perplexing confusion. If you are pre-
pared to swipe at swift one, and the
pitcher puts up slow one, you are off
your balance and cannot get good
smash at the sphere. II, on the other
hand. you are in a position to hit either
n fast or slow one, by being ready to
meet it, you can fool the pitcner nearly
every time and you will become a 300
per cent batter before you krow 1t.