Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1908-09-10
AMERICAN LEAGUERS'
ARE BEST BA7SMENI
Their Batting Strength
Exceeds That of
Nationals

In the latest batch of unofficial
batting averages OF the National and
American League players, the names
of only ten men appear in the 900
percent. class. To be exact. only
| four National Leaguers are in the
class the fans delight to honor. and
only six Americans. or these. only
six are regular players on the teams
they are members Of
! While the baseball enthusiasts
idolize the 300 hitters" and APP
plaud them when they appear to face
the cunning twirlers, the general
wall over the decrease in batting,
that was constantly to be heard two
years ago, is now absent. The rea-
son given for this is that the last two
fights for the worlds championship
demonstrated that the highest hon
ors in baseball can be attained by
make up for 1t by inside playing and
the use of brain power.
When the Chicago White Sox met
the Cubs in the post-season series of
1906 It was conceded that in batting
strength the National beaguers had
II on the Americans two to one. The
hard-hitting of the Cubs had won
them the greatest number of games
ever won by major league team in
a season. On the other hand, the
Sox were notably weak with the bat.
II looked as though Comiskey's men
could not develop the attacking pow
er of the Cubs. When the series end
ed with the Sox the winners the ex-
perts set to work to figure out the
reason for their victory. and II was
found that the team made up for any
lack of strength in attack with the
bat by superior team work on the
Eases and in the field.
Last season a comparison of the
batting averages of the Chicago Cubs
and the Detroit Tigers showed that
the Americans individually and col
League men in batting strength.
Nevertheless the Cubs defeated the
Tigers In four straight games.
There is no doubt the result of
these important series caused the
fans to drop the batting question for
the. time being, and give more con-
sideration to the other features OF
the national game. Fans nowadays
appreciate the fact that 1t is not al
ways the player with the latest bat
ting average who is most valuable to
q ball team. The player who man
ages to get on the bases in some way
or other is the chap the average man
ager is looking for. The batsman
l who can bring in runs, even II he
doesn't get the ball to unoccupied
territory, is much sought after. Sci
entific batsmen who take advantage
Of the placing of the opposing in
\ flelders at critical stages of game
are few and far between. Their
work is not always appreciated In the
stands, although they do more, in the
long run, to help their teams win
than the slugger who has the fat
! batting average as the result of
good, hard swings at the ball. Often
the star batsman leaves the grounds
with the feeling, 81 made four hits
who won the gamer"
A veteran ball player who has seen
all the great batsmen of the past and
| present, thinks the decrease in bat
, ting is owing to the fact that the
ball has been deadened. "The rea-
son for the slump In batting" says
the veteran, "can be directly traced
to the fact that the ball now used is
the deadest in the history of the
game. The foul strike rule has had
. some effect, but not enough to cause
batting to fall off the way 1t has.
Moving the pitcher back has also
made the foe of the batters more ef-
fective, instead of less SO. as was in
tended. 1t was hard to attain a
good curve or break when the pitch
ing distance was only fifty feet. and
the pitchers had to rely more OH