Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-01-05
GEORGE STALLINCS EXPLAINS
HIS OUTFIELD SHIFT PLANS


ers, but who had not hit much against
southpaws. l had another good left
hand swinger in him. 1t was this
weakness of his against southpaws
however, that made me believe in the
idea He was the one man on my
club who batted over 800 last season
and believe my shift which through
most of the season brought him into
the game strictly against right hand
ers was responsible for this good re-
cord.
Let us see what were going to be
the advantages to the club aside from
the mere added batting strength,
which, of course, was the principal
factor in causing me to adopt the
course. When a left handed pitcher
goes into the game and sees right
handler after right handler come up
against him, it begins to wear on his
nerves, especially il it is a tight bat,
| tie. It means that he Is not facing
any spots" in the batting order. They
are all tough. The strain will usual.
ly tell, and believe that this weaken.
ing of several southpaw pitchers won
many contests for us at first AS a
rule, left handed twirlers are not the
most reliable citizens in the world
anyway, and figured this shift would
begin to worry them from the start,
so. they would count us around the
| circuit as hard bunch to beat with
a southpaw working against us. 1t
worked out this way.
Is Proof Against Kidding.
Most of the other managers did not
approve of my scheme of shifting
men, and some of the newspapers be-
gan to kid the club by saying nobody
| could determine the regular lineup
from day to day. Said one writer:
THE Boston club is not team, but
just S,collection of players. Nobody
can tell you from day to day who will
be where"
But | have a notion that some of
the other managers will pay attention
to the shift next year because it is a
great way to beat a left handler, one
of the best, when he sees almost an
entire team marching up to the plate
and facing him from the right side of
| the pan. Even some of the managers
who limited that George Stallings was
crazy when first pulled it may do
some experimenting with it.
l was short of right handed hitters,
however, and SO started out to get a
couple. Hub" Perdue is pitcher, a
very fine pitcher, and an excellent en-
tertainer as well, for he is a good
story teller, but the raw climate of
Boston did not do his arm any good
since age is getting into the odd
soupbone." The weather just settled
in it last spring. Wherefore, | fixed
up a trade with Miller Higgins of St
Louis which brought Whitfield and
Gather to Boston and which sent Per
due to st. Louis. Let us state BADLY
right here and without any reserva-
tions that | never regretted the trade.
Perdue pitched good ball with the
Cardinals, and ] 2m glad Of it. The
weather suited his arm better in st.
Louis than it did in Boston. and he
got good year. I had a talk with
Perdue on the last trip the st. Louis
club made east, and he was feeling
pretty sore about being out of the
worlds series. as it looked sure then
that We would be the next champions
of the National League, but he kidded
about his misfortune as he does about
everything.
I'm glad I've still got my home,
George" he declared. THAT is some.
thing to be thankful for, anyway You
must have known you were going to
get into that big series when you cas-
ed me off the club. I always cut into
| the tough luck for my share"