Norwich bulletin., 1914-07-16
PHILLIPS ARE sLueeeRs.
Dooin's Team Popular for Its Good Batsmen-Hardest Hitters in the League.

It has So often been said that the real strength of Dooin's Phillies lies in their ability to hit the ball often and hard that the subject appears to ability to slug the horsehide remains the most fascinating phase of their play and is making them one of the most popular teams of the National league circuit. From St. Louis to New York they are known as the ,Slugging Phils..'
 Inside baseball is good to look at for the man who is a student or the game. The great majority of the pa tion's fans, however. like to see the sphere sail over the fence; they glory in the crash of bat on ball, for 1t is this that gives them the real thrills. The fan will chuckle with admiration when the double squeeze play is sue cessfully executed. but they yell with frenzy when a Cravath or a Luderus knocks the ball over the fence
 And so the "Slugging Phils'' are popular everywhere they do They may finish in last place or they may fight their way to a place with the leaders. but they will always hit the ball and hit it hard. Their pitchers may weaken, the fielding may fall away and many runs may be wasted 1 by slow base running, but they will slug, and as long as they do they will have a place in the hearts of the pub lie.
 Are the Phils the hardest hitting team in the big leagues? If they are, why are they? These two questions form the foundation of our offering. The Answer Is "Yes~ The answer to the first question is a vehement yes" It is possible that | the Giants or some other team will wrest the lead from the Quakers in | the matter Of extra bases. but this does not necessarily mean that the Quakers are not hitting the ball hard | CT than any of their rivals. Extra base | hits are largely a matter of bringing 1 the bat against the bail hard, but there is another factor that must be cons1d- cred. It is speed.
 All other things being equal. the | Phillies would lead the field in extra base hits by such a wide margin that ! there wouldn't be any race at all. As [ it is, they may be beaten out by a team which hits lighter, but which | gets more extra bases because of their 1 superior speed
 As team the Ph!lIies are slow on | the bases. In order to lead in extra
 base hits they have got to do more | than hit the ball harder than their | opponents. They must not only hit
 the ball harder-they must hit it harder by great big margin
 l. Many followers of baseball attribute l the home run record of the Quakers | to the short right and left field boun- ] laries at the Philadelphia park. Un- ! doubtedly. it is true that this has
 something to do with their home run | record, but as far as other extra pase
 hits are concerned 1t is detrinent.
 How many times in the course of a | season will Magee, Cravath. Luderus | and Becker hit the right field fence | with terrific drives only to have the
 ball bound back so that the hitter is l held on first? Many of these drives 1 would go for extra bases on other | fields. The Quakers play half of their games on the home grounds and it is
 more than likely that they lose more
 extra bases because of this short fence than they get by hitting the ball over into Broad street.
 So much for the first question. The Quakers are undoubtedly the hardest hitting team in the big leagues. The problem now faces us. why are they i Four Fence Breakers.
 While all of the Dooin athletes are 1 hard hitters, the presence of four men
 in the batting order has given them
 the title 'Slugging Phils." In Cra- l vath, Luderus, Magee and Becker | Dooin has a quartet of fence break
 CTS extraordinary.
 All four men are gifted with extra
 ordinary strength. and their greatest
 power is where they need it to- swing a l bat hard. Look at the massive shoul- | der muscles of every one and know | why they hit the ball hard
 But hitting the ball is not all. Tn | order to hit the> curving sphere fai1
 and square it is necessary to have a good eye. The slugger must bring the
 bat around with full swing, and moi