The Washington herald., 1908-08-02
Wagner Advises Beginners
to Watch the Ball.
NEVER STUDY THE PITCHERS
Worlds Greatest ExPOnent of the
Art of Hitting En- where They
Ain't- says Most Important Fac
tor Is to Meet the Ball SquareIy.
Then 1t VIII Take Care OF Itself.

IeTday th4n To-Day. SAID hans " agneI.
the best batter in the world. whose
real name happens 10 be John Pc
ter Wagner. Of Carnegie. Pa The name
Hans was created by the fans Of Louis
VILE some twelve years ago.
Wagner meant by that remark that he
had hung UP a record Of seven straight
hits on the day before, while he went
up seven times yesterday without so
much as a sennblance Of a hit or even a
base on balls. says Bozeman Bulger IN
the New York World
Hans spread his huge frame out over
an empty soap box and made a wry face
when asked to explain his system Of HIT
ting the ball He rebeiIed outright when
pushed for an answer TO the question:
How did you come 10 be the greatest
hitter in the world?''
BIames the Scorers.
The main reason. suppose he final
" replied. is because the scorers gave
me the most hits There was no getting
around that answer Il was straight on
the nose Finding a Decentralization
useless. the biz fellow was steered into
general conversation, and that Is where
he got down 20 cases
1t IS no use trying 70 make a study
Of pitchers he Sobserved. The only
way I have ever been able 10 hit is to
study the ball The minute a batter
begins figuring on what kind Of curve
the pitcher is going 10 give him he
gets nervous and will be fooled more
| than half the time The batter must
simply watch the ball. and If he sees
I II is coming within easy reach Of his
I bat he must step out and meet it. Most
I any batter after he has reached the
/ big hague can tell which way the ball
1 is going 10 curve the minute he sees
/ It start All this STUFF about a pitcher
sending in an outcurve when the batter
IS looking for a straight one and fool
| ing him is bosh.
The greatest faculty a batter needs
[ is that Of being able 70 meet the bail
/ squarely. AL batters can hit the bali
/ but the greater part Of them do not
/ hit it squareiy- The art Of placing a
ball IS not nearly as necessary as the
art OF hitting Il on the nose II you
I hit a ball sgua-sIy on the nose with a
/ good swing, it viii fan safe nine times
I out OF ten, no matter in what direction
I Il goes
HIT IL where You Aim.
( While judging the ban is an art in
Itself" explained Hans. making the
bat land where YOU aim IS more impor-
tant- Many batters know exactly where
! a hall is coming. but they swing so hard
! HAT they lose their balance and do not
{ nit where they intend to u Is not the
[ pitcher who fools them They fool them
! selves.
There are Two distinct kinds Of good
hirters.' he continued those who use
! the short choppy swing and those who
start them from the hip and come all
I the way around That old notion about
a batter not being able 20 hit a ban as
[ far By swinging hard IS he can by chop
| ping il is rot Whenever those hard
( swings land you viii see the feIde-s back
/ ing up 10 the fence But there are
mighty few ball players who can swing
/ hard and not lose their aim That Is
[ the trouble. They either hit the bali too
I low or too high Consequently they are
{ thrown cut on Erounders or lift up flies 10
the outfeld. You viii notice that the men
who hit the bali hard are the good bat
Z LEAS- Aa'th dA -sAlr A't'all4-4 ana 4al-ftIlt
I Both OF those fellows sting the bail every
1 time they meet fl No light Iicks for
theirs. On the other hand. Willie Keeler
/ chops scientifically and wins out on his
/ ability 20 place the ball He can also hit
/ t hard when he wants 20. Don't fool
yourself about that
I I really think that good batters have
I Il born in them Very few bad batters
at the start ever get 10 be good ones I
was q good hitter. # y0u'n excuse me
boosting myself. when I played on the
4 town lots In some way got the knack
Z OF hitting where I aimed when a kid. and
/ that's all there is 20 Il or course. I an
naturally strong lD my shoulders and
arms. and that has helped me out
Any Old Pitcher VIII DO.
! What kind Of pitchers can hit best.
did you ask he went on We'll. III
i tell you-it doesn't make much difference.
Sometirnes can pound a certain pitcher
all over the lot and the very next game
I cannot hit him at all"
! Sometimes slow pitchers get me taata-
/ lied. and then again fast ones bother
me. It's altogetEAr due 10 the way a fell
/ low feels. I guess.
The best pitchers in the world are
. a
. on their fast ball The batter VIII know
1 what is coming but she ball is liable
{ to jump differently each time. II II
/ varies the fraction of an inch. he Will
I either hit II too low or too high. some
( how I like TO hit a fast ball, though.
! There is a certain feeling in the batter 5
I hand when the bat lands sQuareIy on a
I fast one that IS pleasing. It's pretty
I hard 10 explain II, but any ball player Will
/ know what I mean
Good Hitter Has Advantage.
The fellow who is considered a good
/ hitter has many advantages over the
man who is far down the line" was a
rather surprising statement from Hans.
/ III tell you why" he said The man
who is put well up the list is put there
/ because he is supposed 20 hit the ball
! when given a siEnaI-that is. he must
5e sure and hit IT somewhere. whether
{ safely or not. Often he IS given a sig
nal 10 hit for the hit and run pIay
I II the shortstop should happen TO cover
! second and the batter hits the bali TO-
| ward left he viii send the ball right
I through the vacated position and get a
I hit. Vwhen otherwise he would have been
| thrown out easily.
"Oh, you can talk about this hitting
/ business all you want to- concluded
/ Hans, with a half yawn, but I guess
1 Willie Keller sized the thing up when
he said the secret Of hitting was to hit
I the ball where the man amt"