The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-01-26
AST-0FFS IN 1907.
HOW NEW MEN HIT WITH The
MINORS.
By THOMAS S. RICE.

Dy 4uOMAS D KILL
As the time approaches for the Wash
ington ball team to report at Chicago
IN March for the start for Galveston,
the fans are specializing more and more
upon the new material and wondering
10 what extent the batting strength
has been increased.
To the naked eye it is hard 10 see
how the smuggling can improve much
in 1908 unless the new men show IN
expected reversals Of form. The only
major Lacquer added to the ranks siucs
the close Of last season. when Wash
ington finished fifth in American
League batting with .243. two points
ahead Of Cleveland and seven behind
New York. is Pickering. the St. Louis
outheIder, who batted -ZT6 for St Louis.
which IS what GanIey batted for WASH
ington. III exchange for Pickering
was gtven Charley Jones, who hit -255
last year and IS as good a man in COW
ering = far garden as there Is in the
business.
Weak in MinoIs-Weak in Majors.
All of the other recruits Of whom
any notice has been received are from
the bushes, and the question naturally
arises: What is the difference between
mans batting IN a minor league
and in a majcr2
As a general rule. with some notable
exceptions, 1t may he laid down that
If a man is ever going 20 become 4
classy batter in fast company he must
show signs OF il while in the smaller
leagues II he cannot hit in circuits
where It is a rare thing for one team
TO have more than one really good
pitcher, &c is almost too much 10 expect
him 10 shine in society where all the
pitchers on all the teams are Consid-
cred too good TO go back to the COM
pany from which the newcomer has
just graduated. That is a reasonable
proposition on paper and IT has a way
OF working out in fact.
Kay Best Of the Lot.
A study OF the batting done last year
by the Washington recruits before and
after they Joined CantiIlon's team. and
of the batting done by the Washington
cast-Offs when they dropped into the
second rank of the business, is highly
instructive. Then. after assimilatnE
those figures. take a look at the batting
averages made by the new men who are
expected 10 figure as candidates for
Washington's 1903 team.
The only man OF the many picked up
by Washington last year from the bush
leagues who showed signs Of becoming
a real batter was King Bill Kay. the
oddly from Martinsburg. ". Va where
he had the habit Of knocking the cover
off the ball three or four times in every
day in Independent games. King Bill
was described as q natural born sluCger-
man, and he did prove to be an excellent
batter. but not Of the smuggling type.
Instead. he is a pOky. chOppy hitter OF
timely singles who shows signs Of hav-
ing an excellent natural eye He hit
for 1888 in twenty-five games. and IL is
not believed he was false alarm. even
though his trial was short
Milan Made Good.
Milan hit -3O4 in the Western Assc-
citation and 20 in the American League,
by far the best showing of any
youngster who was played regularly,
for IL must be remembered Kay was
an emergency fielder and pinch hitter
Milan is fast. has a good arm and works
hard. His .279 viii insure him a berth
in the ma jors unless he has a big slump.
in the figures and the recruits were sad
affairs. With the exception Of Gshring,
a pitcher who led the Western League
with 4O6 and batted -205 here. there was
not a novice that reached 200 with
the Cantillonites.
These Were in Bad.
Block. Tony Smith. and Shipke could
not bat in the minors and they couldn't
in the major. They had bad lamps to
start with and never lost them Shipks
improved one point in the American
League over what he mad done IN the
Western, but even that left him with
a mark too low for a tailend team these
days pennant winner might caIIy
him on the strength of the rest Of the
outfit, but that 1876 looks mighty small
in the National Capital.
Tony Smith hit for all OF 1856 in the
Texas League. and tt Is probable that
some of those points were made on &C
cidentaI Texas leaRuers. In our set Mr..
Smith naturally did not do so well as
in the back country, therefore il was
natural that his average should fail TO
.IS7.
Jim Block fell of a matter OF iO7
Continued on Third Pagel