The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-06-16
Not All Hard HitterS Prove to
Be Good SWatteTS.
CRAWFORD HAS MIGHTY SWING
Slugging Detroit OutfeIder Hits Ball
Harder Than Any of His Fellow
Piayers-Wagner Shifts His Style.
Methods of Cobb and Lajoie.
By TOMMY CLARK.

ters in baseball Sometimes the words
are synonymous; sometimes they are
not. The good hitter Is not necessarily
a hard hitter, hard hitting being used
in the sense of driving the ball away
from the bat hard-hitting it with
great force. There are good hitters
who do not send the ball away hard,
but who are proficient with the club
because they are skillful and make
many hits. The hard hitter, however,
is likely to be a good hitter, because
the forcible impact of the bat against
the ball often drives the ball with
such speed that it gets by the infeld-
ers.
Little men produce their share Of
hard hitters. AS with big men, it may
be because of hard swing or may be
because of an accurate swing that
meets the ball squarely and thus
makes every ounce of exerted muscle
tell
Willie Keeler, the ex-big Lacquer and
now a member Of the Toronto team of
the Eastern league, is an example of
a player who is a good hitter rather
than a hard hitter. He beats out a
good many infield grounders with his
speed in getting to first base, and he
taps many safe hits to unguarded
spots. Fred Tenney of the Bostons is
another who makes fewer long hits "in
between" just over the infielders and
just inside the outfielders. George
Stone, formerly of the st. Louis Amer
leans and now member of the Mil
waukee team, is ferocious hitter He
swings hard, and when he meets the
ball flush it fairly huns.
sold Honus'' Wagner Of the Pitts
burgs is a fine batsman and one of
those free hitters who connect with
any kind of ball He is another of
whom it may be said that he some
times hits ball too hard for distance.
This naturally robs it of some of its
speed and converts into one base hit
what would have been a two bagger
or better had the ball gone up trife
as it left the bat. But the Dutchman
lands so hard that what would be an
out for a ball struck with less force,
but in precisely the same way, be-
comes a base hit with him.
Wagner's hard hitting prowess is
further shown by the way his curving
| fly balls carry when there is any sort
of solidity to the hit A three-quarter
impact, the ball being struck below
the middle would be an ordinary out
| field fly and a sure out if made by any
body putting less force in the blow
than does the burly Teuton. Wagner,
however, does not always take long
swing. He can shift his style and
chop a ball, but he generally gets force
and therefore makes more hits off
balls hit on the handle than most play
ers--that is. ball hit on the handle by
him is more likely to go safe than if
made by less robust slammer.
Ty Cobb of Detroit hugs the plate
fairly close and stoops just trifle. He
doesn't take a big swing at the ball,
| but puts all his strength into the effort.
Like all good hitters, he uses his shoul-
ders in the swing and never pulls
away from the plate. Cobb's great
speed helps his batting average won
! derfully. It's not so much in the hits
he beats out, but simply because when
he's at the plate the opposing team is
all on edge, knowing that the ball must
| be handled fast and clean in order to
get the southerner. The result is that
Cobb gets a hit on many a ball that
would have been handled perfectly had
not the opposition been overanxious.
There is no player more graceful at
the plate than "Wahoo Sam" Craw-
ford, Cobb's side partner. His is an
air of confidence from the time he
leaves the bench until he assumes his
position at the plate. Crawford uses a
big, heavy bat, which he poises on his
shoulder in such manner that 1t al
ways makes the opposing pitcher feel
better when he is out of the way.
Unlike Cobb, he stands at the plate
with his feet wide apart instead of
close together. Crawford takes a
mighty swing at the ball and generally
hits It on a line and far away. It's not
exaggerating in the least to say that
Crawford goes out on more hard hit
balls than any other player in the
major leagues. With men on the bases
Crawford is very dangerous.
Lajoie Of Cleveland hits the ball as
hard as Crawford; but, unlike the
Tiger slugger, he doesn't take a big
swing. Lajoie doesn't swing at the ball
like Crawford or chop at 1t like Keeler;
he's just the happy medium of these
two styles. Into his swing he puts all
the strength of his powerful physique,
and his drives generally cling close to
the ground or go to the outfield on a
dead line.
One of the hardest hitters in the Ma
tional league is Sherwood Magee of the
Philadelphias. His bat comes around
with powerful sweep, but with his
body under control He is useful dis
tance hitter and makes the ball travel
even when his bat gets only slice
If II.