The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-13
Great Batsmen and Their Clubs

| From Leslie's.
 Very few of the star batsmen in major league company today use the same model
 of bat, so it is the men behind the big
 sticks who must be given the credit for
 smashing fences and polling the pellet out
 of the lots rather than the various types | of bludgeons used by them An Al bat
 ter learns from experience the kind of stick he wield most effectively and
 once he Is sa tisfied with certain style | of weapon, he is likely to stick to if to the end of his baseball career. Can A. c. Anson, one of the greatest slug | gers of all time and the man who led
 the sticksers in the old National league | in 1879, 1881, 1887 and 1888, ran second three | other seasons and ranked third once was
 more particular about his bats probably | than any player that ever lived It is said that he seldom had less than 5f clubs of the particular weight and shane that suited him best, and during the win ter he would work them with as much care as would be necessary to train pack of hounds. Not only would he scrape and oil them, but he would hang them up to season in a room where the temperature was kept at the exact point which he believed would put them in perfect shape for the following year
 A veteran baseball story teller says that Sam Thompson. who could drive a baseball as great a distance as any man who ever played the game, was given his opportunity to join fast company in 1884, when Dan O'Leary, then manager of the Indianapolis club saw him ''wallop the ball mile by using an old wagon spoke, after the only other bat available had been split. Sam made his home in a small Indiana town and after that sensational clout. OLeary arranged for him to bring his club of farmer boys to T ia pa fc ,,I, When Sam and his friends arrived he still carried the wagon spoke, and after the visitors had gotten over their fright at facing crowd of city rooters, he was permitted to use 1t against Larry McKeon the celebrated pitcher. Sam connected with the first ball pitched and sent it over the fence, thereby satisfying the pro- fessionals that he had the stuff in him of which baseball stars were made. After become major 1eaguer Sam acquired some real bats, but he never forgot how to slug the ball
 The great hitters of the old days used heavier bats than the great batsmen of today. Anson and George F. Gore used clubs that resembled small telegraph poles with unusually thick handles. Both batted
 in an entirely different manner. however,
 Anson timing the ball nicely and just meeting it, while Gore took a long wallop. Dan Brouthers and Roger Connor, left handed batters. also used heavy bats talk ing toe halds and swinging viciously. Con- nor once put ball over the right field fence at the old New York park, and for the feat was presented with $500 gold watch by the members of the stock ex- change. Dan Brouthers Edward Dele hanty, Robert Lowe and William Bottenus are credie with each having record of driving out four home runs in a single game and Brouthers, at Baltimore, slammed the longest hit recorded in base ball history. Most of the leading club swingers to- day, excepting Chief Meyers, use fairly light bats. 'tHeinie'' Zimmermans clubs have regular pipe-sem handles. Ty Cobb uses a medium sized bat with a small handle and Joe Jackson's sticks are much like those used by Zimmerman. And yet how these fellows can sting the ball, as well as and perhaps better than. if they | tried to swing heavy clubs.