Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-09-30
ADVANCE DOPE
DOESN'T HURT
BALL PLAYERS

II
wants to see the Giants beaten out
OF the pennant. Herzog. who was
slipped something OF q lemon when
with the New York team. Is accused
Of tipping of the weak points OF the
team to other managers. Matty's stun
was written before Boston put the
Giants down for the final count, but
IL his dope is correct, then Herzog
must be wearing broad smile.
However. big Six" doesn't think
that advance information Is much &C
count in baseball, and he gives some
interesting examples. He writes In
part as follows:
I don't for a moment believe any.
thing Herzog may have told the mem
bers and managers OF. other clubs OF
the supposed weaknesses Of the Gi.
ants has hurt the New York team.
He does not know any more about
the flaws of the club than does the
average manager who has been In
the league for a year or two. and be-
sides, it is hard to get knowledge OF
any great value in this second hand
ed way. We have been told before
worlds series Of the grooves" and
weaknesses of our opponents by base
ball men supposed to know. but /
have never found that this informa-
ton profted MS to any extent. It 10
the same with a. pitcher when he Is
working on q batter he has never
faced before. He can obtain only a
general knowledge of the hitter's ten
denotes from another twirler, but he
must discover the fine points Of work
ing on him for himself. fitting them
to his own style. When first pitch
ed to Delehantv at the time ne was
with the old Philadelphia club some
body had told me that he did not IKE
curve ball. He lift tn the fence
two curve balls ] handed him. After
ward / tried fast ones on the corners
and got better results.
It is natural for = man OF Herzogs
nervous temperament TO want to see
his old club beaten after he has LETT
it. In fact, most players Following
transfer to another yeam are glad to
see the old crowd trimmed. None OF
us bears Herzog any hard feeling on
this angle. .Herzie- even went 80
far as to ten Higgins that e s.: Letlls
once caught us We would quit cold
mike. Mitchell and eDick Hoblit-
zeIl. discarded by the Nationals league
this season, went over into the Ameri-
can and have been among the leading
hitters since their Debut And yet
the opinion prevails among experts
that the pitching IN the American
League is more air tight than that IN
the National and the hitting lighter In
the National than m the American.
How, then, did Mitchell and Hoblitzel
compile such records?
The answer is that the pitchers IN
the American League did not know
these batters and their weaknesses
when they first went over, and both
men were inspired by q new ambition,
such as a change in team will often
do for a player. When twirler faces
a new hitter he begins studying him
carefully, his position at the plate,
ETC., to discover what he does not
like II the new batter smashes a
high, fast one to the fence the pitcher
at once makes a mental note Of the
fact that he wants 10 keep the ball
away from that zone. I
Many batters have made sensation
al records when they first broke into
the big leagues, only to take bad hops
after travelling at the fast clip for q
short time. Others come in and bat
the ball hard for = few weeks and
then drop back to their normal posi-
ton. Still others arrive, hit hard and
never do fall back. Few are In this
class, and they are known in the
league as the 'men without grooves"
For a long time after Eddie Collins
began to play regularly with the Ath-,
letics all the pitchers In the American
league were busy trying to figure his
grove" At last they concluded that
he did not have any weakness, and
they have been going ahead on this
basis ever since.
Meyers DisIiked Low Curve.
Look at Meyers when he first be-
gan batting the National League He
was the terror of all pitchers until
somebody discovered that he did not
like low curve on the outside, and
the news spread around the league
Snodgrass of the Giants made great
squirt after he first began to play
regularly, as did Davey Robertson.
In the deciding game of the 1913
worlds series with the Red Sox Hen
erickson, a youngster, was put in as
pinch hitter in about the seventh
inning. He got himself In a hole
right away with two strikes, one be-
ing called by Silk O'Laughlin that
looked little bad, one Of the few
which did IN that series. Then I tried
to get Hendrickson to bite at bad
ball, but be let two pass, showing
good nerve. Next I gave him q curve
on the outside OF the plate, Hendrick-
son being a left handed hitter He
hooked IL over third for two bases.
That hit cost US the game and, final
ly, the series.
The question Of whether the pitch
ing and hitting are better IN the
American League than the National
is hard to decide. The fans say the |
hitting is better because players like |
Cobb and jackson collect higher an
nual averages than the best sluggers