Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-31
BATTING A LOST
ART IN BASE BALL
Only Thirty-TWo Out of 612
American League Games
Were Big-Hit Affairs.

Batting Is surely a lost art in base ball.
Did you ever stop to consider that OF
612 games played I'm the American League
the past season only 3d. or about one
, twentieth of the number, were blg-hit
affairs, games in which a team made
fifteen or more hits.
OF this number almost one-half or. to
be exact, 10 hits were made in IA games,
16 In six. II in six, while there were two
1S-hit contests and one each in which 10,
90 % and % bingles were made.
The Detroit Tigers lived up to their
reputation Of being the heaviest batting
team In the league by cracking out the
most bingles in a single game during the
season, twenty-five in number, against
Vickers, Schlitzer and Maxwell at Phila-
delphia. That quarter Of century hits
Melted them forty bases. Cobb made
five hits, two singles, two doubles and a
triple nine bases in ALL Crawford made
| four hits. two singles and two triples. for
eight bases. Schaefer had a quartet Of
hits, three singles and a double, total
| of five bases. Downs had three hits two
| doubles and a single, for five bases Ross
man, Coughln and Schmidt each made
two hits. one Of Claudes being a triple
and one or capt. BILL 3 a OOuDie quiz
mers. Suggs and Mcintyre each made one
| hit. Suggs' being a double.
These 20 hits netted the Tigers RI runs.
while the Athletics scored but two. 1t
! was the worst defeat of the season. But
| lust to show the uncertainty of ba3e bali
the Athletics came back the next day
| and beat the Tigers IL to D, pummellns;
the offerings Of Mullin and Willette to
all corners Of the lot. annexing II hits
, for % bases. The Tigers also batta1
strong, making 10 hits for II bases, but
were shy of the runs.
/ The 10 extra bases to the credit OF
/ the Tigers was the largest number
made by any team during the season.
| Detroit made 10 hits for 2S bases OF
| Chech, Thielman, Ryan and Hess in
J Cleveland July 2. In this contest
! Rossman and Crawford made home
runs. Rossman and Cobb triples and
! Rossman, Crawford and Schmidt
doubles For Washington. Clymer made
double. triple and home run, Mia n
! double and homer. Ganley triple
and Freeman double.
Tigers Win Four.
| OF the 15-hit games, Detroit won four
and lost one. Chicago three and one. ST.
Louis four and two. Cleveland two and
| one. Washington one and two, while
Boston and Philadelphia each lost three.
| OF the 16-hit games, Chicago won two
and st. LOUIS one, bOSlUu WOH TWO anu
| lost two, Cleveland won one and lost one,
! Detroit cost one and Washington two.
| Chicago and Boston each won 17-hit
| game. Philadelphia won three and lost
one Cleveland won one and lost one,
| while New York lost one and Detroit
/ three.
Cleveland and Boston were the win
! ners in the 1S-hit contests. Chicago being
| the victim both times Washington won
the 19-hit game. with New York on the
small end. Cleveland WAS top with
twenty hits, with Detroit trailing Detroit
won the o2-hit game from Washington.
| while the Tigers also won the 25-hit game
| from Philadelphia.
Hitless Wonders.
In the foregoing 1t must not be taken
for granted that the team that made the
large total of hits always won. For in
stance Chicago was on the small end
Of the hit column on two occasions, but
on the long end of runs, and as runs win
games and not hits the SOx were salts
fed
Boston made sixteen hits for eighteen
bases off Smith, Altrock and Walsh, but
lost to Z. despite a big lead attained in
the early innings. as the twelve hits for
fifteen bases made by the Sox proved
more timely.
In a ten-innng game at PHILADELPHIA
the Athletics made fifteen hits for eight
cen bases off Walsh. but tie Sox tri-
umphed. as Mr.. Timely Bingle was in
cluded in the eleven hits for seventeen
bases made by Jones men.