The Washington herald., 1910-08-01
HOW l WIN.
nr MIKE N1ITCHELL.


Outseldsr Cincinnati National League Club. and
One Of the Premier Battcrs Of the Profession.
Luck. 1 think. is the biggest element in
winning baseball games and in the sue
cess Of any individual player. I have
known many good ball players who were
sent back 10 the minor leagues and have
never risen again because luck broke
against them during their early careers,
and they never we're lucky enough 20 get
another chance.
Scoring runs wins, hitting scores runs,
and luck is the best part OF hitting.
which Is why I reason that luck wins.
There are mysteries in batting that even
the batters do not understand. I see
each season good hard hitters standing
up well. hitting the ball hard and square
-. who. 70 watch them hit. you would
think were In the 800 class, and yet
they are standing away down in the aver
ages. Hitting runs In streaks. too. Of
ten a man will hit hard and steadily
without getting safe hits for weeks, and
then suddenly the luck will turn and
everything ne hits VIII go safe. Sometimes.
too. after a period of hard luck hitting.
a player naturally viii become a little
discouraged and resort 10 all sorts Of
changes Of position and swing in or
der to get base hits. remember one
season at Cincinnati stood up and hit
that ball as hard as ever I did in my
life and hit It steadily, yet had hard
work TO get above 200 and the next
season hits rolled out OF the bats.
could not trace it 10 any fault Of my own,
for the swing and the stride seemed the
same.
There is no way for a man to learn to
bat take that back think left hand
ed batters WHO are extremely fast actu-
are natural hitters or not. They can learn
to poke and push the ball, and chop at It,
mixing it up with their swings, and by
practice become pretty good hitters
whether they were so at the start or not
But with the great majority hitting the
ball is natural and is the result of a
quick eye and steady drive at the ball
Boys just starting the game, however.
can cultivate their natural ability to bat.
They ought to study themselves, TO OBJ
serve how they stand at the plate, how
they hold their bats. and how they move
when the ball is pitched. They may be
natural hitters who have not learned to
handle themselves. Try to keep a steady
| footing, both feet on the ground, but
with the body balanced on the balls Of
the feet. Never hit fatfooted. Swing
so as TO get the force of the body be-
hind the bat and try to meet the ball
squarely instead Of trying to hit it out
Of the lot A great many young players
make the mistake of swinging too hard.
No man is as certain Of the direction Of
ball and bat when taking licking swipe
at the ball as he is in swinging with a
short, quick, steady drive, eye on the ball
/ all the time.
Notice the best major league batters.
They may take two hard swings at the
/ ball, then see them shorten up their
grips on the bat and make sure of hit
ting the ball to save a strike-out.
Notice how many batters have two
strikes called and then hit the third
solidly
Then begin the study Of pitchers. No
man ought TO go into a game without
some knowledge Of the style OF the op-
posing pitcher, whether he is slow or fast.
straight or curve or spitban and the
more he knows about the other pitchers
the better he ought to HIT II a batter
knows what the pitcher is likely to do,
he is much more likely to hit. The fact
Is that a majority Of hits made in the
finished game are made when the pitcher
is In the hole and the batter is almost
certain what is to be pitched.
1t is a question for each batter to study
out for himself, but, perhaps, a hint
or two may help. Keep cool, watch
closely. and study all the time and you
\ may hft-if you are lucky.
! lCor.rirht 1910 b. Ioaenh b Ronlcal