The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-10-23

, men batting better thar $50. while sixty.
eight Were in the 800 set.
ST. LOUIS'S GREATEST HITTER
Tip O'Neifl of st. Louis led with the
enormous average Of .zsa.
Not one of last seasons Browns batted
! as well as 800. such q difference. In both
leagues the total OF 800 hitters was fss
the havoc wrought by the spit ball" and
the foul strike rule.
| Base running was even more notable.
o-er l4 bases were stolen by seven men
In the American Association.
! Latham and Nichol both had over rs.
Thirty men stole more than fifty bases.
The National had two mel Ward and
Fngarty. who stole over 100 sacks. Ten
men in the same body got away with the
trick fifty times or more. OF course. some
viii say the catching Is Of superior quail
these days. Bennett. Clements. CAMEL.
Ewing. Flint. Mcclure. O'Rourke. Mack.
Lave Cross. BUshong. Robinson. Snyder
and Greer were doing business olck Of the
together from among b catchers Of the
last five years?
The season Of 1sss saw a slump in bat
ting. only eight men % the National hit
ting better than so.
BECKLEY A STAR SINTEEN YEARS
1t is worthy of note that lake Beckley
OF the Cardinals was then second to An
SSA- Az "S sSNSA14 "a NAI dNANA4 AGSA
season.
The base running feats continue amazing
in comparison with what is done to-day
in the same department of the game
In that year the wonderful Harry Sto-
vey of the Athletics stole 15S bases. VIII oh
is truly the most wonderful record ever ef-
tablished in baseball. Five men stole more
than 100 bases, and twenty more than
fifty.
Nine National Leaguers exceeded nifty
stolen bases with Dummy" Hoy leading
with eishty-two-
There were thirty-nine go hitters in the
two leagues in 1893. The National fur
nished twenty-one. while the American
contributed eighteen Each had two above
of Baltimore and Brouthers of Boston.
Hamilton had a total OF III stolen bases
to his credit Stovey had LIS. One other
man passed the 100 mark and twenty were
successful at least fifty times.
In 1860 the P.ayeTs' League mad its ad-
vent. and the following year the American
Association became a thing of the past
Perhaps before Diminishing the subject II
Dan Brouthers. and Adrian c. Arson. I'M
doubtedly the leading batsmen Of their
day.
ANSoN's GREAT RECORD.
Anson's record for the fifteen years
from 1sis. the first Of the National League.
down to 1880. stands unparalleled HIS
averages were :s2 .ssS. rs .@I. .3a.
80. This was al average Of $50 In the
fifteen years the old man was first three
times. second three times and never went
below fifth. Larry and Wagner had Moth
ing on him as hitters. Brouthers did al
most as well.
Ever since baseball has been played un-
der present rules 1t has been a .ceaseiess
warfare between the batsman and pitcher
The gradual reduction of balls from
seven to four, the increase one season OF
the strikes to four. the shortening and
frightening CT the pitching distance and
the foul-strike rule have all been 1egis-
lation directed to increasing or decreasing
the batting.
The figures quoted above prove that the
pitcher has been given all the best OF It
The arguments against the foui-strike rule
are so well NOW that 1t is needless to re-
capitulate them there. Let 1t suffice to
say that 1t makes It harder for men TO
get hits. and keeps runners on the bases.
The latter condition means the death OF
base running.
The "spft" ball has added to the troubles
Of the batsman, and gives an additional
reason why the foul-strike rule should be
Iegislated out OF existence.
Some BASEBALL experts have been prone
to make Heht of the new pitching wrinkle.
but the players viii tell II Is q very real
trouble.
The "spit.' ball Is delivered By moisten-