The Florida star. (Titusville, Fla.) 1880-1917, 1909-06-11
STYLES Of BkTTERS,
Not All Hard Hitters Prove to Be
Good Swatters.
caaWFoRD's MIGHTY SWING.
siussins Detroit ovthsIdsr Hits Ball
hardsr Than Amy q His Fellow
Players Hans Wssnsrs Method.
Lajois Most eraesfuI-Ty Cobb

Laloto MOST oracSfui-ty CooD-
There are good hitters and hard hit
tiers In baseball. Sometimes the words
are synonymous: sometimes they are
not The good hitter Is not necessarily
hard hitter. hard hitting being used
I'm the sense Of driving the ban away
from the bat hard-hitting II with
great force. There are good hItters
who do not send the ball away hard.
but who are proficient with the club
because they are skillful and make
many hits. The hard hitter. however.
is likely to be a good hitter. because
the forcibIe impact Of the bat against
the ball often drives the baR with such
speed that it gets by the inleIders-
Little men produce their share Of
hard hitters As with big men, II may
be because OF a hard swing or may be
because Of an accurate swing that
meets the bali squarely and thus
makes every ounce Of exerted muscle
tell.
Keller OF the New York Americans
Is an example Of a player who is a
good hitter rather than a hard hitter.
he beats out a good many in6eld
grounders with his speed In getting to
first base. and he taps many safe hits to
unguarded spots. Tenney Of the Giants
is another who makes fewer long hits
''in between" just over the inhelders
and Just inside the outfelders. Stone
Of the st. Louis Americans is q Zero
cious hitter He swings hard. and
| when he meets the ball flush II fairly
huns.
~OId HOnus" Wagner Of the Pitts
burgs Is a fine batsman and one OF
those free hitters who connect with
any kind Of a ball He is another Of
whom II may be said that he some
times hits a ball too hard for distance.
The ball. having been reversed by the
bat. may go straight as a bullet. bat.
having started at a downward slant.
describes no arc at all and tears into
the ground.
This naturally robs It OF some OF it's
speed and converts into a one base hit
what would have been a two Dagger
or better had the ball gone up a trihe
as II left the bat But the Dutchman
lands SO hard that what would be an
out for a ball struck with less force,
but in precisely the same way. be-
comes a base hit with him.
wagner's hard hitting prowess Is
further shown by the way his curving
hy balls carry when there is any sort
Of solidity to the hit. A three-quarter
impact-the ball being struck below
field fly and sure out II made by any
body putting less force in the blow
than does the burly Teuton. Wagner.
however does not always take a long
swing. He can shift his style and
chop a ball, but he generally gets force
and therefore makes more hits OF balls
hit on the handle than most players
that is. a ball hit on the handle by
him is more likely to go safe than II
made by a less robust slammer.
Ty Cobb Of Detroit hugs the plate
fairly close and stoOps just trife. He
doesn't take a big swing at the ball.
but puts all bis strength into the effort.
Like all good hitters he uses his Shout
ders in the swing and never pulls
away from the plate. Cobb's great
speed helps his batting average won
derfully. It's not so much In the hits
he beats out. but simply because when
he's at the plate the opposing team is
all on edge. knowing that the ball must
be handled fast and clean In order to
get the southeTner The result Is that
Cobb gets a hit on many a ball that
would have been handled perfectly had
not the opposition been overanxious.
There is no player more graceful at
the plate than "Wahoo Sam" Craw-
ford. the star right fielder Of the De
troits. His is an air Of confidence from
the time he leaves the bench until he
assumes his position at the plate.
Crawford uses big, heavy bat, which
he pOises on his shoulder In such a
manner that 1t always makes the op-
posing pitcher feel better when he is
out OF the way.
Unlike Cobb. he stands at the plate
with his feet wide apart instead Of
close together. Crawford takes a
mighty swing at the ball and generally
hits it on a line and far away. It's
not exaggerating in the least TO say
that Crawford goes out on mere hard
hit balls than any other player In the
major leagues. With men on the bases
there is no more dangerous man In the
business than Crawford.
Manager Lajoie OF Cleveland hits the
ball as hard as Crawford, but unlike
the Tiger slugger he doesn't take a
big swing. Lajoie doesn't swing at the
ball like Crawford or chop at 1t like
Keller; he's just the happy medium Of
these two styles. Into his swing he
puts all the strength Of his powerful