The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-06-30
FAMOUS EATERS.
Tell Queer Incidents Of Occasions on
and of the Diamond,

and OIL the Diamond.
Lost-One pair of batting lamps.
General reward for return to-
The name doesn't matter, for REFER
ence is had to no particular ball play
er. They all lose 'em, one time or
another. The players who don't hit
lin streaks," but maintains a stead.
wallop of the pellet all the season
round, without slumping, can be count
ed on the fingers of the armless wond-
er. Even Willie Keller ''goes off" in
batting form. The hunched-up Stone
of the st. Louis Browns has weeks
when he can't make any of that rata
plan music with his chillaleh.
There are weeks" said Stone on
his last visit here, when the ball, as
it advances toward the plate, looks as
big to me as toy balloon, no matter
who's pitching. Then, right on top of
such period comes week when the
ball looks like grain of mustard seed
in a bowling gale, even when some
finger who hasn't got thing is lobbing
them along. Explain it? You might
as we'll ask me to explain an earth
quake"
Il couldn't hit bunk if was too
sleepy to stand up" disgustedly re-
marked the great Larry" Lajoie, one
of the greatest stickers the game has
ever produced, one day during the
Cleveland clubs last visit here, when
he was walking back to the bench
after whiting most ingloriously.
His fellow players laughed. They
knew that their boss was slandering
himself and that he was taking his
little batting slump too much to heart
That night, at the hotel, Lajoie was
asked how he was feeling.
Never felt better in my life," he re-
piled. IF felt any better I'd have to
go to a hospital and get the radium
treatment or try X-ray gag or start
something else. Feeling immense.
Then he was asked what he had
meant by making that crack about his
hitting. The writer wanted to get at
the point as to whether mems physi-
cal condition necessarily had anything
to do with his hitting.
Too Deep for Larry.
81 see what you mean," said Larry.
But I'll have to pass along that ques-
ton. It's been too deep for me for a
good many years. Speaking not only
for myself, but for the other fellows
who've picked up sort of a name for
hitting, can say that the way fell
low feels doesn't have much to do with
his walloping ability. OF course, if
a player is run down in health and
weak, he's not there with the clouts.
But there's a difference between being
actually sick and weak, and being just
dopey and sort of out of form. Now,
some of the best hitting l ever did in
my life was done when l felt dopey,
languid, and sick of the game; when l
didn't feel. any more like playing bali
than hitching up with chain gang.
When in that shape, especially along
toward the middle or end OF the sea-
son, when tired of travelling and sort
of harness-sOre from the whole bust
ness, I'd trudged up to the rack and
slapped the ball time and again, taking
everything the finger poked at me,
and mauling infallibly, no matter
where l caught it. Then, to show the
other way of this battling business,
there are times-like the present, for
example-when feel like pulling the
tusks out of catamounts with my
naked hands, appetite great, sleep
fine, wind bully, and all keyed up and
on edge like a fighting dog, when,
every time / nudge up to the plate,
they get me, can't hit persimmons
tree with a two pound pebble, standing
right under it. l was fed all kinds of
good ones today, right over, and just
the kind that I'd like to catch between
my teeth and spit 'em out II was
there with the ticks, and l couldn't
have pasted one of 'em with Japan
csc screen"
We'll, what's the dope on the
thing?" Larry was asked. There
must be an answer.
IF there's an answer it's one that's
got to be read in the stars, and I'm
not there at that kind of work." was
Lajoie's reply. 1--WE been trying to
get at the bottom meaning of batting
slumps ever since / broke into the
game, without ever getting any far
Their than the fact that such batting
slumps do snake along and that they
hit every batsman practically the same
way. l only wish l could find out the
meaning of the slump, and the cause
OF it. When fellow knows what's the
matter with him he can rig up some
thing in the way of cure. But when
he's in the dark as to what ails him
the only thing he can do is to wait till
he gets back to himself"
he gets back to himself. Pioneer
Press.