The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-08-19
SAM CRAWFORD, B TOMORROW, HARDEST
 HITTER IN BASEBALL

Although he will celebrate his th1rty-f1fth birthday tomorrow, Sam Crawford, the Detroit outhelder, is showing no signs of his extreme old age, and it is likely that for sovrr.o1 annums to come the "Nebraska peach will maintan his, supren1ccy the hardest hitter of the game. Sam may not have quite so- fat a batting average as his i1lustrious comrade in arms, Ty Cobb, but when it comes to propelling the pellet with force and vigor he has the edge on the Georgia Peach Craword uses the heaviest bat of any player in the circuit. and when. he landsy which he does. with considerable Frequency and rmonnen- tun, the ball is usually due for a long ride. And you'll notice that when SamI is at bat the right helders of the opposing team move nearer the fence than they. do for any other player. There is little room for doubt that Crawford is the. hardest hitter now in baseball spangles-probably the hardest hitter the game has. eyer had. 4s
 It wouldn't be at ali surprising if Crawford succeeds in smashing the great hitting records hung up by Honus Wagner. The 3,O0O-hit title of the Flying DutchYnan -s seems we'll within Crawford"s grasp, for he pass ed the 2,700 mark some little time ago. When Wagner got this hundredth home run last June, Sam was close behind with 95 swats for the complete circuit to his credit. As Crawford is nearly six years younger than Hans,- he has a god chance to put it all over Wagner's homer record. In the mat ter of homers Crawford Is far ahead of Ty Cobb. 64.s.st
 CrawfordN hopes not only to pass the 3,0O0-hit record of Wagner and Lajoie, but to set up a brand new; mark of $500. His average since he joined Detroit has been about 1855 hits season. At his present gait he should pass under the 3.O00-hit wire next season. Just fair hitting him to realize his ambition of $500 hits. E
 Crawford was born at Wahoo, sN4b., Aug 20, 1880, and played with Chat ham, in the Canadian. League, and with Columbus and. Grand Rapids, in the Western, before the broke into >the main. show with Cincinnati in 1900. In 1908 he Jumped the Reds and joined the Tigers, and he has been with thefh ever since
 Fsewif if any baseball players take better care of themselves than Craw- ford.~ He starts training for the sea- son soon after New Years Day. He keeps off the booze at all times, and smokes very little, and not at all in the training season. Pastry and other foods difficult of digestion aEe taboo. It is probably due to his abstenious life that Crawford has beenv iTnprov- ing, instead of going backward, for several years past His swatting av- craze for the last four years has been greater than for the preceding four years.
 Only one American League pitcher ever seriously bothered Crawford. That was Bob Groome, formerly with Washington, but. now with, the Feds. Bob had Crawford's number for fair, although Cobb and other Detroit swatters were not bafhed by Groon's delivery. <5 .4 sz a &
 In his 16 years of major: league ball, Crawford has. batted. under the }. goo mark only four times. < ss His big gest year was IS ii 1ss--when- hi average was :378s Onesreason4fer- -CraWford,s succ ess ass hitter is his wonderful eyesight. His vision has been tested by occulists who have found that it is twice as powerful as that of the av- craze man. The@big 3 Nebraskan is ones ofs5tIlez raost%popular men in.5tIle game, and althougt not so famous as a few others, he enjoys quite as large a share of. the respect of fellow. play CTS and; fans. t.s-a.ts-as,,G. >':-s~1s=..i