The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-03-08
IE IT'S HERE
IT'S RIGHT
TAKES OFF HIS
HAT TO WAGNER
MatheWSon Says PittSburg
Star Is Greatest Hitter in
Game Today.

Boston, March 1--Christy Mathew SCu.
the New York Giant pitcher. who now is
coaching the Harvard twirleTs made a
general criticism today of the great bats
men whom he has faced in his career.
The. heavy hitter" said Matty, is
most feared for his ability TO break up
games. The place hitter is feared with
men on bases, as he can work the hit
and run and squeeze plays. or advance
the base runner by bunting al the most
unexpected times.
of course, in any criticism of batsmeR
of the present day / am limited to my
own experience in the National league.
except in the worlds championship series
of 1895 when l pitched against the Attn
letics. who failed to do much hitting in
the entire state.
THE man most to be feared is Hans
Wagner Of the PttsburE club. He is
the rare combination of place hitter and
slugger and is equally dangerous in either
style of hitting. While he is a free hit
ter, he is constantly trying to outwit the
pitcher. When the outfield is playing
deep to cut off long hit, 1 have known
him purposely to push the ball over the
infield for a twO-base Texas Lacquer.
with the base runner on first, some
of his hardest drives go past the first
baseman who, of course, has to play on
the bag. Most of his longest drives go
toward left field, but he has been known
to hit the ball over the Brooklyn right
field fence. which is a great feat even for
a left-handed hitter.
W d2IlGT QQeS lDI always wait LOL tllG
ball TO come over the plate. Many Of his
long hits are made off balls pitched high
or wide. His strength of arm and eX-
ceptionai reach enable him to meet
squarely balls that another batsman
would miss or pop up in the air.
by his great speed he beats out any
ground ball that is fumbled momentar-
lily or is not thrown accurately and 1t is
probable he stretches more singles into
doubles by taking advantage Of the small
est openings than any other player in
baseball today. He is stingy with his
dangerous batsman to whom ! ever have
pitched I even have been called upon
to try the spitbali against him. which
| rarely use. but if he has a pronounced
weakness, I have never been able to
find it.
I'm speaking Of dangerous hitters, there
are. of course. men on my own team
against whom I do not have to pitch, but
7 would class Mike Donlin high in the
list of dangerous batsmen- He and Wag-
ner had a very close race last year, but
the Flying Dutchman' beat him out in
the stretch by few points
while discussing the great PittsburS
star it might not be Temiss to remark
that it is wonderful with what power
Tommy Leach hits ball. For a little
fellow he is marvel. Fred Clarke too.
is a consistent hitter and especially dan
gerous with men on the bases
some DdLSillerl nave lilptONtu III AltHtA
hitting and cannot be fooled by certain
balls that originally bothered them. Such
batsTnen are Frank Chance and Joe
Tinker, of the Chicago club. The hits Of
both these men against New York helped
Chicago greatly in winning the champion
ship last season and most of these hits
were made off balls pitched to their sup
posed weaknesses. Both are difficult men
to fool and Chance is probably the more
scientific hitter
.'Magee ard Bransfieid. Of the Phillies.
are valuable men with the willow. Ma
gees Illness was a serious handicap in
the latter part of the season of 1908. while
Bransfield struck a terrific gait in the
closing months of the campaign and sue
ceeded in leading the team for the year.
"LoDert of Cincinnati is a dangerous
long hitter and is so fast that he can
beat out infield hits While ne did not
have the opportunity to shine on cham
pionship club. his work against the lead
ers in the closing weeks of last season
contributed to upsets in both New YCNS
and Chicago calculations