Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-05-19
GAME GAMES
TEACHING BOYS HOW TO PLAY
 BASEBALL.
Roy A. Thomas Says That the Young Lad Must Have His Mind on
 the Game.

| tlOnalS' clever outf1elder discusses me timely and interesting question of "Teaching Baseball' in the Illustrat- l ed News, as follows:
 I've done a lot of coaching in schools and colleges in my time and have almost given up the idea of try
 ing to improve any of the students in batting. Last spring l had charge of the baseball talent in the High school, in Pottstown, Pa. which is near my home i'll NOrristown. Mike Sweeney, the ex-cAampion high jumper had charge of the boys i'll athletics. The boys range in age from 16 to 19, and there are about 300 in the institution. Of this number I had about thirty to i fit for the baseball team of the insti- tution, I ought to have half at least. The reason do not is that most of them do not go in for baseball as a pastime. They are sons of wealthy parents. and they turn naturally to other sports. This year have coach- ed the University of Pennsylvania candidates. I'd rather take lot of school boys to work on. Take the boys of people in poor or moderate circum- stances and all they think of in their play hours is baseball They are at it all the time-that is the reason that they make better ball players They incline to just one sport. They study it, look at it from all of it's phases, and they naturally become adapted to it.
 The first thing endeavor to do Is to change their style of hitting from right to left handed. A left-handed batsman will pull less away from the home plate than the right-handed man. The pitcher cannot throw the ball at left-handed batsman so that it will make for his body and then go over the rubber. It is bound to come the other way. You can see what such an advantage means to a left-handed batsman over righthanded one. The natural instinct to a batsman when he sees a "ball coming at his is to dodge to get Out-of the way. If a curve comes toward man rather than at him after leaving the hand of the pitcher there is better chance to gauge it accurately. and batsman' will drive. at the ball with far more confidence as a consequence. Now this, is the most difficult thing that con fronts me in coaching school or col lege boys-to get them to stand up at the rubber and not pull away from the ball. It Is most difficult task and very slow process. It takes weeks and weeks and no end of talk to break them in. Now when a bats man tries 10 get out of the way of the ball he exposes the vulnerable part of his body and is deal more dangerous than to step in to the ball exposing only the line of the body. Of half of the youngsters took that were right-handed batsmen succeed cd iargeftine fully one Ithird to stick by the change of batting left-handed. and one of the instructors of the school. whom I met recently. told me there had been a decided improvement in the batting of the team. It takes more than one season. however. to succeed in thIs line of work.
 College students are even more diff ficult to handle than the boys of preparatory school. for they are more set in their habits. They have their own style of batting. It is like teach ing an old dog new tricks or anything with them. What applies to batting also applies to fielding. The boys think that the fielding they do In .he regular practice is sufficient: but 1t is not. It Is necessary to work every spare moment at fielding in order to perfect player in this department. These chaps think they can do jus tice to their work by giving just 30 much time and no more. Still they do more practice in fielding than batting for you can do a whole lot of prar- tice with one ball. hut precious little batting.
 Yale made a signal success last year in having professional coach who was with the team the entire season. and has been fortunate to command the services of such an ex- cellent coach as William Lush of the Cleveland team. who is with them again this year. Lush is an excellent batsman and baserunner and did wonders for Yale in baseball last. It would not he at all surprising if oth- CT teams followed suit in another season. Holy Cross had an excellent man year before last in Thomas Me- Carthy, formerly a crack outfielder. batsman and base-runner. Bates had a veteran ball tosser the whole sea- son of 1905 in John ]. O'Brien: the University of Maine had Frank Rud- derham. formerly a we'll known pitcher. and Bowdoin had John IT, win, another trained veteran. So it can he seen that the Maine colleges have recognized the need of an adept to guide the team from the time 1t begins the spring training to the close of the playing season in June. IL is far better to intrust the team to a crack professional than io a num- Der of graduates. each of whom has but a modicum of time. and whose ideas doubtless differ in various re- spects.
 certainly think that it pays any professional player who Is a weak batsman to bat left-handed IL may be slow work for him to acquire the knaek. but he will speedily find what an advantage it is. This Is especially true of a pitcher. Pitchers are gen. orally weak hitters. Pitteneer was a riEht-handed batsman. but we got
 him 10 change. and since he has done so he has been far more successful { than he ever vss before. George ! Winter of the Boston American league champions Is another example of the success that can be achieved ! by a change In the style of batting.