Evening journal., 1910-12-28
MR.. LAJOIE'S
LONGEST DRIVE
Star Tells Story Of
his Greatest Hard-LuCk
Hit to the Fence

- have, of course made quite a few
long hits and hard hits in my time, -
says Napoleon LaiOie. Some of them
went a good deal farther than others,
and some of them were smashed with
a good deal more vigor than the rest
all depending largely, OF course,
upon the way the bat met the leather.
J have keen and painful recollection,
however. of what think was the
hardest hit I ever made. The recol-
lection is specially keen and extreme
ly painful because | wasted so mucn
energy on the blamed thing. and be-
cause the best l got was the haw-
haw.
1t was way back in the days when
was on the old Philadelphia team,
which, as you will remember, was
some aggregation of swatsmiths. Al
though ] was rather new to the big
league in those days, | seemed to fit
in with that bunch all right, and was
hitting along with the best Of the
tribe We needed all the hitting we
could accomplish, too, for somehow or
other. we weren't winning any flags,
and It took all our slugging to keep
the opposition from treading on our
backbones. In those days, the right
field fence in Philadelphia was close,
too close, and the fielders used TO play
TO take them on the bound as they
camo back from the fence. In one
game, if ! remember rightly, three
men We're thrown out at first on what
should have been the safest kind of
hits-but that is another story. Pass
me right on please, TO the description
Of my own individual sorrows.
"The afternoon / made my great
hit was one of good husky batting.
Life was miserable for all the pitch
ers, and especially for our performers.
When last half Of the ninth arrived
we We're to the bad something like 9
to z. There was a hit, an out, "a base
ON balls, and pop fly ! came up,
with men on first and second, two
gone, and the chance to tie or win be-
fore me. The ball came over Kissing
hot ! grazed Il, and that was all.
The next one must have been intended
simply as a teaser, for Il drifted over
so slow and easy that baby could
have hit IL with a wire. Methinks the
hurler never meant to get Il near the
pan, but was playing wide to get a
possible fall out Of the runner, who
was leading OFF second. Anyway 1t
came over the size of a fat balloon.
oh, iOy!' said |, and ! leaned the bat
against that ball with all my weight
and muscle.
"To the best of my recollection,
never before or since hit a ball SO
hard as that one. / could feel the
leather being driven into the core Of
the yarn and rubber by the force of
that tremendous drive, and the sting
ran up the bat with such venom that
my hands and wrists blazed burning
hot The ball went out. not whizzing,
not sailing. but faster, more terriflcal-
ly speedy, than anything / ever laid
the wood against in all my life"
There was a glad roar from the
multitude, and | went down to first,
blazes-bent for a home run, while two
men flew for home. Round first
went and steamed for the middle cor
ner Suddenly "A man rose up I'm my
track, and stuck the ball into my
diaphragm-it was the third out aud
the game was over
How and whyfOre? Only this:
had hit that ball so fearfully hard that
il rebounded back from the right field
wall like "a snapped piece of rubber
band. It shot straight back all the
way to the diamond. and leaped right
into the second baseman's hands for
a sure trap and the lastout of the af-
ternoon And that. kind gentlemen,
is the story Of tho hardest ball I ever
hit DO you wonder that the memory
gives me pain?"