The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-05-05

livery baseball manager of extended
II experience knows the excuses ball
players make when they take a slump
in their batting. The falling off In bat
ting skill comes TO all players at some
period OF their season, be they minor or
major league players 1t is rarely. how
ever, that a ball player will acknowledge
the philosophical cause for this. but in
stead Will advance other illogical reasons
that are sometimes both ludicrous and
amusing. There are cases. however,
where deterioration OF batting skill comes
to stay and the high tide of former skill
never returns. An instance OF this kind
intend to write Of.
While running the champion Chatta-
nooga team OF 80 | received a telegram
from a certain Western league player say
ing he was released and wanted to join
had snow shs ssde player before as Sas
Pat: q fellow Of excellent spirit and good
principle.
The papers OF Chattanooga were BOOM
Ing him five or six days before he ar
rived. heralding him as a great western
slugger, Pat came, and all Chattanooga
was out to see the great batsman. The
first time he went 10 the bat a musical
sound OF applause met his ears, He
struck out. but of course this was not
noticed. The second time he struck out
again, The spectators looked at each
other In amazemeut, but the majority
was inclined TO be charitable. as II was
his first day. and many excuses were ad-
| vanced for Pats failure to connect with
the sphere.
AM indebted to nature for endowing
i mo with the faculty OF intuitively
knowing a batter when I see one, even
when he Is hitting in hard luck. In Pats
| case IL was deterioration or IN baseball
to TO- use ts the language OF the bisachers,
His lamp, needs trimming" ! noticed,
however, that the former aggressiveness
Pat at the Plate was mIssins and ahs5
by an awkward timidity to meet the ball
! took In the whole SITUATION u, noS and ,,ws was
Hs9y bs 5sr sfrnek any out the thpd @ te he
came to the bench and remarked
Them devils of cars have my head
dizzy fEpm Eidng from csrSinnahb Tsn,jar hurdle
raiirioad." Tafhi The fourth and The last tlns
at the bat that day he hit a consumptiye
oounder to the pitcher and dlsd a. at nrst, M
sIbie excuses for Pat. such as his long
ride and carrying greatt, at,d deal OF TeiSn1 lsnds
shst as es b ESs s,aSsr p hs oa
this al-Tound 0lly and ths aSdiemGe aS hs %ss gSs
ssiono sition Of aay the % day before His chagrin
| was so great that after he struck out the
second time IN the game of that day. he
exclaimed; A.,
you get them bats7 They would not use
them In the Western league to bat run
piled: "All right, Pat. we will go tonI0T- @
row and pick out the best In town. The
| Pat further remarked '"Tfose are rot
ten pitchers am batting against.
would not care II they were first-class
men"
DAT picked two great bats to his fancy
the next day. and he kept shaving
them all that morning with piece OF
glass. and more than oncc remarked that
he would "drive them hum pitchers u
the woods 1t was also circulated
around town that Pat was not used to
Southern league bats, 80 that helped him
a little with the crowd. tt.
i The third day the people thought he
would hit the ball sure. Ny curiosity
was only aroused as 10 what excuse he
would offer on the third day, HIS big
average of the year was mighty thing
present season was lost In the rain be-
tween Columbus and Indianapolis or per-
Well my gallant hero. went UP this
third day with his glass shaven bat with
} the crowd yet a little favoring HIM.
threw jolly into him myself az he left
the bench by saying "pSt you you know ,"
{ you won that silver mounted bat" Ny
l,vn ate far the nlate AND