Las Vegas optic., 1913-04-03
PITCHERS
ARE ABLE To
BAT
TIE 1912 SEASON EXPLODED FAL-
LACY THAT HURLERs CANNOT
HIT The BALL

N0w and then some baseball man
aser or writer comes before the pub
He with the suggestion that the nit
ehsrs Be relieved Of the f0rmality Of
bstdng-argufng that most Of the pit
ehers ara deucss In the art Of bat
ting anyway, and should Be allowed
to stick to their department OF the
gzme-zftempting to deceive the bat
ters. writes Henry P. Edwards in the
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
TO1 do not hear this argument ad-
Tsnced cutie As often as in the days
gone BY. for the simple reason that
the pitchers themselves are explod-
ing the theory that they cannot con
Heet With the twists Of their adverse
ries- Take The really good pitchers
and Eou VIII ind that few Of them
eonfine their efforts to pitching. The
star pitchers are real al around PLAY
srs They do not depend entirely up
on the cunning and strength Of their
salary arms They know how to field,
and Do fed with skin They know
how TO bat. and demonstrate their
ability along that line when put to
TIE test
Joe Wood led the American league
pitchers In victories He batted .2s0,
Lis hits IncIuding 1s doubles. a triple
and : home run. He made but four
errors IN 4s games Eddie Plank.
Who lost but SIX games. ranking next
70 Wood. batted .zs7 and helaed With
ont an error. Walter johnson. the
pitching marvel, hit -2e4. SIX doubles,
four triples and two homers going to
bis credit He also flelded his posi-
ton splendidl5. Jack Coombs. who
won q and lost ten games. batted -25S
and did not make 3 fielding error.
Jean Dubuc Of he Tigers led his team
mates IN victories. batted .27s and er-
red but three times. Mcconnell Of the
Yankees hit 2s7, while Russell Ford
barted 2Ss. The two led the Yankee
hurIsrs in victories Ford was also
among the leaders in fielding. Fred
Blanding was the Maps most consist
ent winner. he fielded exceTlently
and batted ven. Ed Walsh vas an
other Who helped himself out by his
own batting. as did George EuIIin Of
Detroit. CHEF Bender IS also N the
list
Hendrix the leading pitcher IN the
National league, led the beavers in
fielding and batted SO, his collection
q drives including ten doubles, SIX
triples and one four sacker. Mathew
son CrandaH Wiltse. Camnitz, Ruck-
er. Brennan and Marquard also batted
vel ana ranked high as helders as
vel
1t goes to show that class tells. Had
ice Wood. Russell Ford. Fl walsh,
Hendrix. walter Johnson. Coombs or
Plank elected to play some other po-
sItion, the chances are that he would
have succeeded. providing he had
brought the sane energy to bsar upon
bis work that he devoted to pitching.
Perhaps the country was robbed Of q
great second saeker when Joe Wood
became 8 pitcher. Perhaps a Grand
-hird haseman went to waste when
Iean Dubuc picked out the box as the
softest spot On the team. Who knows
sut that Christy zTathevson might
ave made a wonderful first basemans
Krause. the southpaw, who worked
4 e games for Toledo in the Ameri-
An Association last year. hit PSI and
made only two errors. At that Pow
u Of the Kansas City team probably
Tas the best bating pitcher in tbs
sagua. Powell hit .272 in 4 games.
sufficient number Of contests to get
real lire on the batting Of any play
r Powell also is an excellent FIELD.
T. playing frst base Ike a veteran
2 that JOB. Powell ma3e only two
rrors last year. waddeH hit .277 IN
Z games. Maddox. a cracking good
batter. hattea .25s and
aads only two errors Kraksr q s.
Paul southpaw. hit 2sS and Packard.
e Columbus pitcher who went 70
,sncinnati. battad .25a