Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1910-07-21
TRAINING HIS PITCHERS
TO USE THE LOW BALL,
5resnahan Has Studied Out General
Batting We7kness-Put 1t Over at
Knee Height ard Well In

Roger Bresnahan has distinguished
himself this season. He has a good
hitting club to help. yet he is a clever
batting expert himself, says st. Louis
writer. In the first place Bresnahan
makes his men wait out" a pitcher
better than ever any men have waited
out pitchers before. Every man on
the olrO, with the exception of Cakes
ana Ellis, is a stiff waiter. AT times
cakes and Ellis distinguish themselves
by waiting, too. The other day Cakes
got three bases on balls in four trips
70 the pat. As matter of fact. when
a Tree hitter like Cakes makes up his
mind to wait he is a greater annoyance
70 pitchers than reluctant hitter like
higgins, whom every pitcher knows is
sure to hang out for the very last ball
he can compel. Cakes and Ellis ara
too free to hit. When they wait they
surprise the pitcher and get a base on
balls without any trouble
Huggins and Torsy Hartsel are the
heroes or procra Situation at the bat.
they are small fellows, hard to pitch
to. Their size limits the zone Of
pitching perfection to relatively small
space. They have good eyes and alb
solutely refuse to hit at a bad ball.
their judgment being so good on balls
and strikes and their treatment of
umplres so fair that the officials often
accept their judgment of balls and
strikes in preference to their own.
You rarely see Higgins Hartsel
kick on called strikes often, when
called out on third strike at which
they do not hit. they lay down their
bats without a word of protest Hence
they give umpires the impression that
they are absolutely honest about such
things. and also compliment them
the umpires-by agreeing with them
even when the decision is much
against them. As a rule a player who
lets a third strike sneak over unhit
at is vastly ashamed of himself anC
tries to square himself with his man
4olIx H.
by protesting that the strike was a
ball Not Huggins Hartsel. They
usually accept the verdict. If they do
protest they do so in soto voice to
the umpire alone.
So artfully have these little chaps
got the umpires 'conned' that the
fact that they do not hit at a bail
often leads the official to accept their
judgment of lies value as final and SUI
perior to his own. Therefore, they
get away with more good strikes
called balls than any 80 players COM
plned. Opposing players know this
When higgins or Hartsel come to the
plate you can hear the opposing team
over to this fellow Make him hit.
Make him HIT" This is a vast ad-
vantage to the batter. He knows that
it VIII be as close to over as the
pitcher can get fright in the fatal
groove, rather than not over at all.
Few pitchers try to cut corners or to
fool these demons of the batter's box.
Evans is another extraordinarily
good man at the bat. His eye for a
ball is as good as any mans, and he
has a way of ducking when the ball
comes high that makes a good shoul-
der ball look as IL il was over his
head. But he offers q foot more pitch
ing space than higgins or Hartsel, but
he is good waiter and a rare good
man to hit a high ball. This brings
US really to where Bresnahan's new
scheme of ball excels all others.
h lies in making his pitchers mas
ter and use the knee ball, a ball
pitched across the knees just high
enough to come within the limits of a
strike. Most batters can kill a high
ball. Most of them are death TO a ball
which comes across at the belt or the
thighs, but few of them can hit a real
ly good low ball. fast or slow. Cobb,
for instance is weak on a low ball
kept close to his knees. He is lucky
to get a foul off a ball of this variety
Hitting a low ball is just as easy as
hitting high one and in the old days.
when the batters took a full swing
with a long bat. the low ball was not