The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1911-09-22
EACH OF THE PREMIER
BATSMAN HAS OWN STYLE
There Seems to BE No Particular
Form That the Leading Swatters
Have-Cobb and jackson
Have Easy Poses.

Have Easy Poses.
Similar results In batting good re.
suits that is. are obtained from many
different styles. Good form, poor
form and no form at all, get there
with the bat, and each contributes its
quota to the 800 division. The thing
Of form" at the bat il largely shib-
boleth, bases on nothing. In other
sports form" may be more or less of
necessity, at any rate certain
branches Of sport lay much stress on
FORM" possibly laying more on the
niceties Of physical poise than there
IL occasion for. Maybe there Is
form" In baseball, but IL many diff
ferent opponents Of hard hitting 20
about getting good results in quite diff
ferent ways as TO adjustment OF body,
feet, arms and 80 forth II Is not clear
just where any regulation form comes
in. 2nT
No two batters handle themselves
exactly alike at the plate. OF course.
but methods differ so widely as to
make each mans form" his own.
Styles can be corrected to advantage,
that Is. faults overcome and changes
made suitable to the individual, but
even then there IL no approach to a
standard.
Take Hal Chase, for Instance. Many
Is the spectator who says he doesn't
see how Chase hits the ball. Yet he
does hit II, keeps on hitting IL, and
always has been q first-class batter.
The batter who steps away from the
plate is VIGOROUSLY poor hitter, but
while Chase doesn't step or pull away
he Is fidgetty with his feet, and sug-
gests that he IL about to step away.
Seemingly careless and Indifferent,
he really Is watching the pitchers
every movement, as well as the whole
layout. and no man can hit better
with q base runner. His attitude Is
anything but menacing; indeed con-
tains q hint of timidits, which really
doesn't exist, but with loose wrist and
arm action he can adapt himself to
any sort Of d pitched ball hittable.
He used to be weak on low curve
outside the plate, but he got over
that and now 10 free hitter. II
he wants to hit he'll hit at anything,
like Lajoie and Wagner. and he's
likely to lift anything. He doesn't
swing hard In the sense Of having a
long swing, but swings with q good
deal of snap.
Entirely different styles Of hitters
are Schultz and Hartzell. or which
manner Of hitters was Ginger Beau
mont. Theirs more nearly repre-
sent the golf swing, a long, easy
sweep, gathering speed az II nears
the ball and with q distinctive follow
through. They drive. the ball long
distances. Larry Doyle a slugger, il
q snap hitter with sharp but not
sweeping swing with more tensity
and less looseness than Schultz.
Doyle brings his bat forward on
lateral plane, more stin armed than
some, but not with the body swing
ing the arms with that peculiar push
eject which characterizes Caldwell of
the Highlanders. Doyle's lateral
plane meets the ball squarely. Cald-
well, a sturdy hitter, Is quite form
less, awkward, crouching, and with
no freedom Of motion. With him the
arms are merely handles to hold the
bat while his body, principally the
shoulder. Is really the propelling
force. He is stiff armed and ungain-
ly, but he biffs Cie bah.
Fred Merkle puts body as well as
arms into his swing and is a vicious
ewinger. There Is more independence
so far as arms and body are con-
cerned than In hitters of the Caldwell
type, freer shoulder movement and
less rigidity In the arms, but a CO
ordination which gets all OF his
weight In the swing when he lands.
Two Of the best hitters, Cobb and
Jackson, stand in an easy, natural
position. SO does Lajoie for that
matter, but bit straighter than COBB
and feet not so close together. Lajoie
can hit anything, and, perhaps more
than any other batter, perssaifies
FORM" Yet he doesn't follow through
to any great extent. A splendid eve
and quick, well controlled but not
violent arm movement do the work
Tor him. His body Is turned toward
the pitcher more than Cobb's or Jack
sons Cobb's swing IL sharp and
quick and his position gives him con
troi OF his every movement, ut least
prior to his swing The force he puts
IN y may pull him on his balance for
an instant, but even then he Is back
IN position at once. He stands square