The Washington times., 1915-02-18

One Of the inexplicable mysteries Of
baseball 10 how and why 30 many left
handed pitchers become famous az
great batsmen after their days Of USE
fulness az hurlers are over.
And. on the other hand. baseball his
tory gives the names Of very few
right-handers that became noted as
willow wielders and held Jobs as such
after their days Of effectiveness as box
men were over.
The very first left-handed pitcher
the game ever had. and the father OF
all the tribe. dc Lee Richmond. was
Q famous swatSman. and was used In
the outheld by several teams because
OF his ability to hit the ball and hit 1t
hard.
Mike" Tiernan, the great hitter Of
the New York Giants back in the sos
and 9Ts. was signed by the New York
management because of his wonderful
hurting for the Jersey City club. then
member OF the old Eastern League.
TiernaR didn't do much pitching for
the Giants. for his pitching arm went
wrong early In the season ef 1886. but
his batting eye made II possible for
Mike to hold his job In a short time
he was a fixture on the team, and for
many years afterward was considered
one of the best batsmen In the coun.
try; .o ,.-
tionals. brought George Van Haltren all
the way from California, believing he
had In him the greatest left-hander the
game ever had. George lasted about
three seasons in the pitchers position,
batting much better than he pitched dur
ms the time.
He came to the front as q finished
batsman while a member Of the New
York Giants; In fact. he was their star
hitter for many years. Van lasted near
ly a score Of years in the game after he
lost his pitching ability.
One Of the games most famous bats
men pushed into the game by the pitch
ing route was Jess Burkett. the man who
led the National League for three sea-
New York Giants through his ability to
pitch, having stacked UP wonderful
pitching for Worcester. then In the old
Atlantic League In 1889.
son. SO much SO that he had heaped upon
him the appellation Of the Human
Crab" However. Burkett failed as a
pitcher, but he could swat the ball in q
manner most delightful. In three sea-
sons OF his career Burkett batted 400
and over.
Elmer Smith. of Cincinnati. was con.
1 sidered one Of the greatest left-handers
in the game. from 1887 until 1892. and
ne was a wonderful hurier. In 1891
Elmer quit the pitching game and took
up swatttng the ball as means OF
| livelihood.
II was tile best move he ever made
during his baseball career. for by his
, effective hitting he held good jobs for
many years on some OF the big teams
, notably Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
| Billy George was signed BY the New
York club as a pitcher back In the late
SOS Billy was horrible pitcher. but
as q batter he stuck in the game for
years and years.
when "Cy"> Seymour was. first dis.
covered he was pitcher OF no meal,
as such. ICY" wasted about five years
in trying to be pitcher.
He possessed a batting eye that was
worth a mint Of money to any team.
but New York didn't find It out until
, "Cy" opened their eyes to the fact by
swatttnE the curves Of all Manhattan
hurlers TO the four winds when a mem.
ber of the Cincinnati Reds-the team
that the New York management
dumped "Cy" on with an n. g. tag at
| tached 10 him.
After starring for Cincinnati for sew
mour came back to old New York
where he ended his big league careel
as regular player. For seven seasons
he batted 800 and better.
Mike" Donlin was taken out OF 8
bush league out in California durine
| the season Of 1899 by the st. Louis Ma
tionals. Donlin didn't pan out as
hurler: In one game he passed nine ms1
to first and hit a few more. but he made