The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-09-06
JOE JACKSON Tells HOW
t FEELS TO BAT 400

may appear. 1t Is hard. %unceasing
grind. which w let's up from day
to day. and which worries the nan
VINO ts making 1t more than he can
toll. The infielder who hits v $50
is a good average batter. Consider,
men. the fact that last year Ty Cobb
could be allowed q fair average for
an infielder. That ITO points tells
the whole story. The good batter, the
man who belongs to the a]ristocracy
OF the baseball world. hits. we will
soy. for 800. Frank Schuize. who
won n Chalmers automobile as the
prize for the greatest individual play
or IN tho National league. hit for only
800. To rise above 800 makes three
hits for every ten times at the bat.
1t Is easy enough to do this for n
or w games or n or two weeks.
put to keep 1t up right through the
season against all kinds Of pitching
ID q strain OH any man.
necessary to hit four hits out Of every
ten times mt the bat, and 1t is no
wonder that the critics of the game
thought this to be impossible. With
all the improvements in pitching, the
introduction of the spitball, the de-
velopmcnt Of various curves, the per-
lection Of team play. the detail work
- SHFoOAAA6 taStuOkSs W ldIu IOuC OaIIS
IN safe territory out of every ten
times at the plate is a record to keep
one hustling.
Five Times at Bat.
In an average game, the man who
stands well toward the head Of the
batting order will go to bat about Ave
times. He will be passed once in a
while. He may get a sacrifice hit:
put ordinarily he will have between
-four and five times at bat in every
game. In order to hit for 400 or
thereapout, he must make an aver
age Of nearly two hits a game. This
schedule lasts for $50 games or more
and Is a terrible strain, which no n
VINO has not experienced 1t can an
preciate.
Naturally. a player who is batting
Tor 400 at the middle of the season
wants to keep up that r~ecord-break-
ing gait. He goes into u game and.
with all his tricks. he is unable to
means a slump in his batting aver
age. That e that next game he
must make up that slump. Some
times he goes for seevral games bat
ting not over 100, which means that
MS batting average sinks below the
800 mark. He must take a squirt.
and lake it quickly.
In this way. seesawing back and
torth. the season passes. but every
game the 400 hitter has to strain to
utmost of his strength to keep up
tnat phenomenal gait. I know I used
to lie awake nights oftentimes, plan
! how I was going to get at least
two safe hits on the following day.
ana worrying about it. It seems SO
hard some times to make a ball fall
safe: On some days 1t looks almost
impossible. Wherever you drive it
there Is some one to field it; and YOU
are always worrying at the possible
,ty Of fouling out. Then, too, the
best OF the batters strike out once in
a while. in spite Of all they a do.
A man has time to congratu-
late himself on any game when
ne Is hitting for 400. He may make
two or three good hits today, but
Sefore he has time to think about it
ne IS wondering what he will do to-
morrow. I do not know how Cobb
felt when the race was in full swing.
U 1 know how it seemed to me
how oftentimes the game was not
worth the candle. ~