The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1910-02-07
(By W. A. Phelon.)

-,o+.ars are born not made-that is
GOOD old saying and IS generally
.-,e As 4 rule you cannot make a
..,od hitter out of naturally poor ma
..an attend to batsmen who hit in such
.rs. year in the big league VIII seldom
l-,nb much higher Now and then,
ta,,ever. a man improves a weak aver
..-s until he develops into regular de-
,rar and in such cases the pitchers
..,ffer and the slugger's salary goes a
Eiting upward.
Every batsman has his own idea, his
MN ret theory as to how he should
aIsoa his feet, bend his body, hold his
.,a+ and swing at the curves. Once a
man gets rooted to any special style, an
,ttempt to teach him new ideas will
only crab his work for keepsake must
no allowed freedom to follow his own
,lan Of attack or he will fizzle. And
the different styles of the different
,Iavers-the way they smite. the rec
,r5 Of successes they make-compose
baseball history.
# man will watch the leading
SKATERS he will soon discover that
there is no set style of method that
,an be called better than any other
system Every possible way of holding
the bat and swinging at the ball can
he found among the various players,
and all these styles make good. Moth
ing in the action or poise, therefore
its all in the material of the man who
does the hitting.
Baker and Stone for instance, are
much criticised because they hunch
themselves in such a fashion that they
get the clear sweep of the bat on only
one side Of their horizon.
These men, as a rule, drive the ball in
lust one direction and the wiseacres
have long declared that the fielders Will
soon attend o batsmen who hit in such
Is manner 1t will be noticed, though
that Stones average is plenty fat each
season and that Baker, butting right in
q the fast company, hit like a raging
hsnd last summer What's the answer.
Simple enough-while these men car
ollv hit in one limited swath, they
taste the ball SO devisilhly hard along
that particular trail that the fielders
otpnot stand up against it, What diff
fs~once does it make how narrow {
uath a man,hits in, if he soaks them sc
sttagely YOU cannot stop them?
keeIer's Way.
While Keller when in his heyua!
showed method the exact opposite O.
hat adopted by Baker and stone. grab
hing the bat way up beyond the han
DIG, simply cut at the ball with the bi
q" stick left over. He didn't send it far
hut he sent lit often, and he varied hi
attack by sending the bail in ever.
"~Siole direction. Keller. as he used L
and Baker, as he is today, woul'
H. terrible pair FOR any team to face
aker would rideshOt them througl
itt iielders, and Keller would upse
"l calculations by peppering them t
Tie right, left, or center-any old Dlac
"htde the guardians didn't happen t
D, standing.
'-ajoie hits with a free armed eWeeT
2lareful, accurate and terribly effect
"e. Many of lis hits are long flies tina
drop far past the fielders. Wayne
bangs at the pail with a terrifyin
SW0op like that of a man who
chopping frees. He doesn't foul or eli
them often. Hans either misses com
pletely or drives them an awful wa.
This was shown one day last summe
'n the Polo grounds. when, in a double
header, Wagner famed four times an
made about four long hits
Herman Long used to swoop at thel
With even a wilder. looser swat tina
that of the great Wagner In fact mos
II the powerfully muscled Germa
players have that free swing. with tn
arms arching farther from the bod
Uian is the case with Irish or Ameri
can batsmen. Any time you see a bats
man huddled over the plate, maxim
snort cutting plays for the ball, neve
letting his arms go full length, thu