The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1909-04-11
PLAYERS RECEIVE GOOD SALARIES

home club to hit more in every case.
That's all. They don't want the op-
posing team to be driving the ball
all around the field. watch ball
games in every big league city and al
most every minor league city every
season. and it is invariably the case
that when the visiting club is on a
hitting rampage the fans are disgust
ed. They like to see their own boys
hit hut when the shoe is on the other
foot, my, how they holler!
mo, there is batting enough right
now. 1t is the / to 0 games that peo-
runs in one inning often sends part
Of the crowd home. OF course, I like
to see batsmen get on the bases fairly
often by hitting the ball hard and so
does every fan. But when they begin
completing the circuit in droves it is
too much The game gets one sided
in a minute and the interest is Slapped
out of the contest, for it seldom hap
pens that both sides are killing the
ball at the same time"
ALWAYS Catered to Public.
Perhaps no man has had his finger
on the baseball fans pulse more in
tently than James A. Hart, who used
to own the Cub team 1t was Mr..
Hart who originated the foul-strike
rule, compelled it's adoption after a
long fight and soon saw it universally
accepted. Mr. Hart advocated it's pas
sage to shorten games. 1t also de-
creased the batting to quite an extent.
He was glad of that, too for he claim
ed by making scores smaller, and
therefore closer, the public had man.
ifested greater interest in the games.
1.-THE public pays the bills said Mr..
Hart, $50 why shouldn't we give the
people what they want?"
Getting back to the comparatively
easy time the modern pitcher has,
Scout Sullivan has called attention to
the few demands put upon pitcher
in other departments of the game,
aside from pitching. He reminds us
that nothing is expected of a pitcher
when he goes to bat, and he never is
asked to go out and steal a base.
Oh, we'll, what do you expect?-ne
is only a pitcher the fans say when
the twirler goes to bat, steps back
nearly into the water bucket and
strikes out.
Few Pitchers Car Eat.
"Only the pitcher, indeed" says
Sullivan well Bobb Carruthers and
Dave F'outz were only the pitchers,
too but nothing could keep them from
cracking the ball and running bases
like deer. This may be an age of
specialists, but T think it is carrying
matters too far when pitcher is ex-
empt from everything but hurting the
ball over the plate once in four days.
"Some people have even gone so far
as to advocate that a pitcher be ex-
cused entirely from going to the bat
That is all wrong, according to my
notion. Of course, there is good
reason why pitchers shouldn't be ex-
pected to hit quite as well as men who
are in the game every day. They
don't get the practice at the bat. But
they make mistake to take their poor
showing with the stick as joke.
Their base hits are usually the most
effective because they are least ex-
pected, and they bring up the head
of the list, which is apt to start a
rally
81 don't wish to take too much
credit away from the pitchers of to-
day. flor there are some wonderful
men among them, but the work cut out
for them is not a marker to what was
expected of the old-timers. When Ed
Walsh pitched 65 games for the White
Sox last season it was the talk or
the baseball world. Walsh would
have qualified to work alongside of
Clarkron and Keefe an those fellows
In the SOS some of the best clubs
had osly two pitchers to do all the
work. Many clubs right now have ~
pitchers to select from. Of course,
| that number will be whitfield down
! fully so per cent, but not few CLUBS
will go through the season with nine
or ten pitchers So I claim that the
| twirler of today should consider him.
self pretty fortunate, with his light
work and assistance from masseurs
and SPECIALISTS