Evening journal., 1914-07-14
more extra bases because Of then super

more extra bases because Of their super
ior speed
A a team the Chicks are slow ON the
bases. In order TO lead in extra base
hits they must do more than hit the
ball harder than their opponents They
must not only hat the bali harder, they
must hit it harder by a great big mar
gin
Many followers Of baseball attribute
the home-run record of the Chicks 10
the short right field boundary at the
Front and Union Park. Undoubtedly il
is true that this has something 20 do
with their home run record, but as far
as other extra base hits are concerned
1t is detriment
How many times in the course Of a
season viii Myers, Mckenna. Jackson
and ShollenhcIger hit the right field
fence with drives ouly 10 have ball
bound back so that the hitter is held at
frstg Many of these drives would 90
for extra bases ON other fields. The Ia.
Gals play more than half of their games
ON the home grounds and 1t is more than
likely that they lose more extra bases
because Of this short fence, than they
get by hitting the ball over into Front
street.
30 much for the first question The
Chicks ere without doubt the hard
est hitting team in the big league. The
problem now faces us: Why are they?
While all Of lackson's men are hit
ters the presence of four men IN the
batting order has given them the title,
Smuggling Chicks In Myers, McKenna,
Brown and sharpe. jackson has a quar-
tet of fence breakers extraordinary.
All four men are gifted with extTa
ordinary strength, and their greatest
power is where they use it TO swing a
bat hard Look at the massive shoulder
muscles of almost every one of them
and you will know why they hit the
ball hard. Jimmy himself, is quoted
among leading fence breakers.
But hitting the ball is not all In
order to hit the curving sphere fair and
square il is necessary 10 have good
eve The smgger must bring the bat
around with q full swing and not only
must the eve be Of unusual power, but
il must also be working in perfect con
junction with the rest Of the body.
McKenna. Brown, Jackson and Myers
are gifted with unusually good sight.
Their Judgment OF distance is nearly per-
feet and thcy can follow tho fast ones
with accuracy a they come TO the plate
There is another factor TO be consid-
cred. No successful slngger relies on
his eyes and muscles alone. He must
be able to outguess the pitcher a good
part of The time He must have some
idea what the man m front Of him is
thinking about and be ready for the
kind of n ball that is about 10 be offer
ed him. Few home runs have been made
with blind swings.
OF the four men. Jackson is perhaps
the hest at outguessing a pitcher He's
q thinker. He makes study of the
pitchers and il is battle OF wits every
time he comes 10 the plate.
Mckenna. Myers and Brown are also
figuring all the time when up az the
plate.
The question ia about answered. The
Chicks arc a heavy hitting club because
Of the presence Of Jackson, Myers,
Brown and McKcnna.
Life is one double header after an
other. If Harrisburg takes today 3
game the end OF everything can't be far
of.
One OF the most inimitable happen
ings in yesterdays game was that the
very first ball thrown over by Adams to
each opponent was called q ball with
two exceptions This was when Shol'
lenberger was marked for strike and
Smith for a pop fly.
Stuzman, who made his debut 20 the
local fapdom in the Tri-State League,
lasted for a short time.
Trenton will BE- here tomorrow and
Thursday.