Bridgeton pioneer., 1912-08-15
FANS DON'T ENJOY
PITCHERS BATTLE.
Average Follower Of Baseball
Prefers a Lively Game.
He LIKES LOTS OF HITTING.
With Plenty of Stick Work and Dar-
ing Base Running Diamond Bug Is
Well Satisfed-Actions of Stars at
Bat Is Interesting.
By TOMMY CLARK.

By TOMMY CLARK.
A man may go to a ball game and
sit through nine innings while two
pitchers battle for supremacy. At the
end of the game the score may be l to
and one of the pitchers credited with
a one or two hit game and the other
fellow with four or five hit game.
And the man will go home, and
when his wife asks him about the
pitching he has just witnessed nine
times out of ten he will shake his
head wisely and remark, yep; it was
a nice game, all right, but
And there you have it all. The
average husband fan, no matter how
much he may rave about inside ball,
doesn't care hoot for pitchers
duel. When he goes to a ball game
away down in his heart he is hoping
there will be a batting bee, one that
tongues hang out. And Mr.. Fan is
also plugging to see some wild base
running.
Pitching duels are all right, the fan
realizes, ana he looks on them as a
sort of necessary evil, which isn't so
bad if the home pitcher happens to be
right and his team wins, but what the
real fan delights in is free hitting
game, full Of daring base running and
sensational fielding.
Consequently the actions of the best
hitters in the game while at bat and
of the best base runners are Of consid-
erabe interest. At a TigerYankee
game in New York recently the writer
listened to a wordy argument between
two fans which resulted in a bet of a
good sized sum Of real money as to
whether Ty Cobb swung three bats be-
fore taking his position at the plate or
contented himself with swinging two
of the warclubs. The man who picked
the three won the bet.
Cobb is a nervous chap, who is al.
ways thinking and scheming some way
whereby he can put something over on
the other fellows. About the time Davy
Jones steps up to the plate Cobb gets
off the bench, picks up three of his IA.
vorite bats, marches a dozen feet or so
away and stands there swinging the
sticks while Jones and Bush take their
turns at the plate. He then walks over
near the umpire, carrying the three
bats, then tosses two Of them over to
the bat boy, and he is ready for the
pitcher. He stands clear in front of
the plate and apparently meets the
ball before it has time to break.
Lajoie Of the Maps stands out in front
of the players bench, swings two bats
for minute or so, throws one down
and then usually sits on the end of the
club he has selected until his turn at
the plate comes
Larry walks around the umpire, takes
look at the pitcher and then draws a
line along the right hand side of the
plate with the handle of his bat. He
raps the end of the bat hard on the
plate, swings it up over his shoulder
and waits for the ball. AS rule, he
'takes one"-that is, he lets the first
ball pitched pass him without attempt
ing to hit 1t. Many pitchers know
this and endeavor to work the big
Frenchman by shooting the first one
over. Larry, however, has a trick of
clouting straight one, which has the
pitchers guessing, so his bluff usually
gets him a ball
Wagner is good deal like the
Frenchman at the bat. The big, stolid
German is never worried. He has
phenomenally long arms, which enable
him to swing while over the plate, and
he meets the ball with the full force
of his shoulders and back, like Lajoie.
Cobb'S attack is more choppy. but
Wagner hits a ball harder than any
man now playing the game, with the
possible exception of Lajoie. Wagner
is patience itself if he believes base
on balls will help his team as much as
hit, but if he really wants hit he
is liable to get it, no matter how wide
the ball is on the other side of the
plate, and this is possible because of
his tremendous reach Pitchers say
there is no way to fool the Dutchman.
"You might as well put it over for
him" Brown, the tI,--~ 7---~''~" Won
OSI VI lue SuDS, Stll OICC' tAo " hGep
it away from him if he wants to hit
You would have to pull wild pitch"
All batters are superstitious. The
New York Giants still carry along with
them the bat Mike DonIin once swung,
and Chief Meyers, the Indian backstop,
always uses Donlin's old bat when he
is up and a hit is badly needed. Also
the chief has a habit Of delivering, but
he swears he couldn't connect if it
wasn't for Donlin's bat So the stick
is tenderly cared for all the time.
Jimmie Sheckard of the Cubs when
he wants to make a hit real bad takes
out his chewing gum and sticks it on
the button on top Of his cap.
And so it goes. Every man has his
favorite bat and his own peculiar style
at the plate, and it takes mighty hard
sound reasoning to convince a ball