Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-08-12
BIC STICKERS
AT The BAT
Dope for the Fans Who
Keep Tab on the
Leaders

troduced a plan of holding little talks
on batting every morning during the
practice of his athletes, with the idea
j., that he is going to MAXI a bunch OF
| sluggers out of them.
Putting aside such batsmen as Hans
! Wagner, ST Seymour Denny Hoffman
! Harry Lumley, Davis, Magee and half
dozen others, there are now three
pre- eminently famous stickers in the
big leagues whose styles of batting are
so absolutely opposite that it is hard
! to figure which one Cantillon is getting
his dope from. These men are George
Stone, Larry Lajoie and Willie Keeler.
1t would be hard to pick three men
in either league who handle themselves
so differently when facing a twirler and
at the same time can show the grand
average that this trio has in profess
sional baseball. Stone might be call
ed a natural slugger; Lajoie is nat
ural and well-trained hitter, and
Keller is the most scientific and re-
markable batsman that the game ever
saw.
When Stone was secured by the ST.
Louis club in the deal for Jesse Bur-
kett, one of the many remarkably
shreWd trades Manager McAleer has
pulled off in the past few seasons, he
had a disagreement with President
Hedges on the figure in his contract.
Stone thought that he was worth $500
more than he was offered.
The magnate wrote back to him to
the effect that you cannot expect the
same consideration that many other
new men would receive because, as
you know, your arm is so bad that
you can hardly throw to the infield"
(Which is still true)
My arm may be bad, but my eye
is all right" was the laconic answer
from the youngster. He got the $780,
And therein lies the great secret of
Stones hitting. He did not know any
of the peculiarties or tricks of the
American league pitchers when he
made his great record last year. But
he has the clear quick eye Of a young
man and the perfect and instantane-
Gus accord of eye and muscles that is
born of clean athletic living
When he first appeared in st. Louis
McAleer said of him after watching
him lam out a few early in the season:
He is the most remarkable wild
pitch hitter 1 ever saw"
Looks Them in the Eye.
Stone does not move up to catch
ball before the break. He crouches
way back and depends on his eye to
catch the break of the curve in time to
guide his bat. He is, on this account,
often fooled and probably strikes out
more than the other two combined and
frequently makes ridiculous swings at
the ball.
These misses of his look wider than
they are on account of the terrific
power behind the blow. When he
lunges forward to meet the ball he is
hitting from his toe spikes up He
hits the ball hard always when he
meets 1t and even his ordinary singles
to the ,outfield are vicious liners that
take the down sweep too soon.
Clark Griffith explains this driving
force in Stones hitting by the fact that
he hits "stiff." When he meets the
ball practically his whole body and
especially his arms and back and chest
muscles are set hard. There is nothing
of Lajoie's easy graceful sweep about
his movements.
The great Cleveland slugger is in his
battings as he is in his fie1ding-he
makes all Of them look easy. He sin
giles, doubles, triples or whales it over
the fence with the same careless grace
that he pops up foul or strikes out.
He is one of the most graceful ball
players that ever played the game.
Lajoie says that he has always had
big batting average because he is q
good guesser. He says that batting is
| simply a guessing contest between the
batter and the pitcher, and that he has
been fortunate enough to outguess
most pitchers more than third of the
time.
New York fans have heard so much
and know so much about Keeler and
his potato masher" bat that they have
about all the best dope lined up on him
now. Keller has made a more intelli-
gent and thorough study of hitting the
ball where the fielder "ain't" than any
batter that ever played the game. A
midget in stature and with none of the
qualifications that are supposed to be
necessary to a great hitter, Wee Will
lie" started out to make chronic 800
| batter Of himself as you would start
out to be civil engineer.
kesIsr's Potato Masher.
He uses a slight, slender short bat.
because he can handle 1t faster and
with more accuracy. That is to say, he
used about half OF 1t. With foot OF
it for use sticking out behind his hand
and his toes almost up to the plate he
stands sideways to the pitchers. and
no twirler that ever put his fingers
| around q ball can get many OF them