The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-01-09
SACRIFICES VALUE
BECOMING KNOWN.
League Records Show Why De
troit and Philadelphia
Finished One, Two.
3. BuN nj is A GREAT HELP
Bush, Tom Jones, Crawford and
Cobb Can " Lay En- Down.
The Records.
.BUNT is A GREAT HELP

=
at the same time will have greater re-
spcct for the little aacrifce.p
In 1903 exactly 20 American League !.
players succeeded In securing go or,
more sacrifice hits during the season.
or 2 more than lastslycar. However,
thegayeragn OF "lay downs" was small
or. Taking the same number OF men
Into consideration the 25 high guns
made 673 sacrifice hits in 1908. COM
pared to Gi3 the past season. differ
snce OF 30
However. this does not necessarily
mean that sacrifice hitting is becom-
Ing lost art. Digging into the dope
still further one learns that about one
third again as many sacrifice hits were
made during the season that is little
over two months past than in 1893.
Percentage increases.
Would you believe, Mr.. Fan, that in !
1903. American League batters sacri-
feed themselves at bat In an effort to
advance runners l557 times. while
last season the total passed the 1000 i
mark. or. to be exact, 1904? What |
docs this mean? Nothing more nor less
than all managers are Insisting that
their men play inside ball at all times. /
When All more batters sacrifice
themselves In ono season than the year
before there Is only one conclusion to
draw--the players are playing the game
and getting wise to the fine points OF
inside play. all OF which means better
baseball for tho public at large.
In scannlng the dope OF the past sea- !,
Eon the fans will readily understand
why Detroit and Philadelphia finished
ono. two. Bush OF the Tigers led the
league In sacrifice hits, while Tom
with their mites. Connie Mack had
Ganley. Baker. Murphy. Barry and Col
Inns, quintet OF clever men In laying
tho ball down. Captain Harry Lord
bore the brunt of the sacrificing for
the Red sox.
Teams That Fall.
Now. take Cleveland and st. Louis.
two teams that we're picked to make d.
big showing in the 1909 pennant race.
Bradley and Stovall were the only two
maps to land In the select circle OF
sacrifice hitters with twenty credit
marks They were tied for twenty
third place AS for the Browns. they
didn't have single man who could
negotiate as many as twenty lay
downs during the season. OF course,
Tom Jones had that number. but he
helped the Tigers win the pcnnant.
The Sacrifice HIT looks like
mighty small thing in box score but
when one comes down to brass iacks
It is Just as big factor IN scoring runs
as5a clean single TO the outheld. what
ayais,s n sIean single unless man is
en- second. and how often does the sac
rilice send the runner along a base?
din'tivosmtshtneo.. ieagueit
A man that can both bunt and at the
same time earn himself q good batting
average is mighty good man for
ball club. Little Bush probably lad
down between 80 and 100 balls that
were Intended for sacrifice hits and
beat some as or 40 OF them out That's
rsrnt makes him valuable. Frank
Baker made moro triples than any man
In the American League last season.
and finished with a sos batting aver
ago and third In sacrifice hits. Is !.
any wonder that Connie Mack VIII
hold onto him? Then there's Danny
Murphy. Harry Lord, Sam Crawtord,
Ty Cobb. Pat Donghcrty ana Euuie e
Collins. all of whom combine sHe s w.
very Important essentials.
The "lay-down' figures estao!isn go
by American League hatters 10 i9os
aud the pas. season lcad one TO believe
tbat a man that is called upon 10 sac
rince very often soon becomes has
been az lar as polling out base hits Is
concerned.
bradley an Example.
Is ,rine WAS when Bill Bradley Of the
Nans was feared by every pitcher IN
+hn slearue. for Brad could WELD viii
low With deadly effect, Wild Conroy.
81 the washington Nationals is an
other player who could drive the oali
far before he. like Bradley. was caueu
upon to switch to the sacrifice tnlns.
,rn-day Brad Is not feared by sins
,,1e nitcher in the league, while Con-
ROW and others who come under the
same head have the respect OF only q
few twirlers.
b Fans all over the circuit recall VIII .l1' IN
Bradley's inamc graced the select clrcle
Of 900 5batters, but 1t has been several a.
years since the Nap third sacker mas
been even close. Ills teammates c1a d ~ !,
that the switching OF Brad 70 seco y,
In the batting order to perform tile
stunt of laying the ball down Wme''sssa
the first man up negotiated hrsl oase
resulted in Brad becoming punk
hitter.
There is no denying that Bradley
was ono OF the star sacritce hitters 81
the major leagues for several seasons .'e,l.'
but In leO9 he fell away Woe,lulls'
Not only did his sacrifice hlttlns SUI ".
fer. but he also failed 10 1nlproYe. ='''s
batting average. 4, I, ], ], i. !,
Few and far between q ~; :, -
Who are close to the top IN sacri INC
1,its vino can lay claim to hefty battins
averages. In 1905. Bradley had tbs
phenomenal record of sixty sacflhce
hits III l4S games, q record NOT ever
approached by any other major lea as gu :
4 ,,layer, but his swat mark was Z. Only
.o4s The same year Ganley. OF Wash Is
ington, laid down tifty-two sacrince
hits ana finished four points neh ~. !,
Bradley in batting. stova!l' WI W.
.a9o, stood seventh n sacFince NUS
N with thirty-one to his credit, ne nay
ing the best batting average OF any
~ the leading layer doWners,
Hush Is the / Star.
During the past season DOME Bush Bush
the diminuttye shortstop Of the cll am
pion Detroit Tigers, led the league !!
M sacrifice hits with ttfty-two In a 9,
iSs games, eight less than Bradleys recort
OF a year ago and In nine more games
but the little fellow tackled on thirt!
iSf points to Brad's batting average \
1908, finishing with .373, Ganley q 9
Washington and philadelphia, wa
ngain second this year having forty
Oh Z. sacrifice credits, but he fell q q
s thirty-ono points IN the ba tting com
- l,s ~ n Svi Iii II 8 %.