The Washington times., 1915-10-04
WHITTED AN ODD BALL PLAYER.

Whitted is an odd ball player. IIe
has disposition. Last year he was ono
of the most valuable of the Braves.
He was the happy disposition. the fell
low Who turned serious situations into
Joke. who laughed of rows between
players. smoothed over difficulties, stood
between some Of the athletes and STALL
iEPs. often taking the seedlings OF the
irascitle manager upon himself to
shield some more sensitive person.
Stallings used him when he wanted to
vent his ire upon the team. and Whit
ted grinned and passed 1t or with q
test.
On the Phillies' team no has been in
during discourasing times. He has
cheered the players along, furnished the
yep" and the punch that some OF them
needed. and made Morans way easier
little internal clashes that SO often in
Jure a ball club.
Whitted Is a dangerous man on tho
attack. resourcefnl. quick to switch his
plan. and he can hit. He bumps that
old grapefruit to the tune Of about .28O,
gets on lot Of times. and Is one Of the
top-notchers in run scoring for hi,
team
His fielding is not brilliant, but It has
been satisfactory. and with a steady
work this year than he did last. On the
bases he Is not a speedy man, but he Is
tricky. trying to outgress pitchers. and
he steals q fair number Of times. prin-
cipally by catching the other team un-
prepared. He Is Just a little above the
average In mechanical ability for out
felders. he watches tatters closely. and
he works hard and fights all the time.
II is his spirit and punch that make him
compare SO well with his rival,
DUFFY Lewis Is one OF the problems
o. the series. We have come to be so
accustomed to referring to Boston, 9
wonderful outfield that at times we take
It for granted that 1t Is fiawless. Carri-
gan does not figure things that way.
Hc sits down there on the bench and
secs a lot of things that are forgotten
BY the fans. There was a time late this
stason when 1t seemed as If Lewis
would be benched and that Hendrtckson
would get a steady job In left field. 1t
WAS rumored through the American
League that the change was certain,
but it did not take place. AZ Lewis
bCaced considerably In his work. es-
pecially In his hitting.
Lewis Is not the greatest outhelder.
lie is scarcely above the average as a
mechanical fielder, but he has strong
points as against his weak. His abil--
ity to throw. and to cut off hard
drives that go foul after crossing third
base on the Boston grounds. and to re-
trieve the ball before II gets into that
embarrassing corner Is one of his strong
points which will come In handy even
on the new Braves ground. He has
n rather short field near the foul line.
and he can get to almost anything In
side the barrier. He has nerve and
courage in going against fences ond
stands for fly balls. He Is Inclined to
make his worst breaks at the most i'm
portant moments Of games. possibly
through III luck. more probably through
over-anxiety to make the play. Every
ball player calls this luck, but have a
suspicion that there Ia a psychological
reason for muffs and fumbles at I'M
portant times.
One thing is certain-you never can
say Whitted isn't trying. and that
charge was brought against Lewis late
in the season because he seemed to
lack his old confidence and looked dis
couraged. l know that a lot of ball
players who hold iron-cad contracts
did not try hard this year beyond pro-
tecting themselves. ] have seen out
fielders deliberately stop hatted balls,
let them fall to the ground, and then
toss them back to the inheld instead
Of trying to scoop them cleanly and
make a play. I heard Lewis accused
of this. but his own teammates In