Evening star., 1915-05-23
PLAYERS FOOL THEMSELVES:
FIND IT PROMOTES SUCCESS
Handling Extra Bats and Throwing Heavy
Weights Make Ball Men Believe Bat
and Ball Are Lighter.

Nowadays 1t is far from a novelty 10
see major league base ball player
advance toward the home plate to take
his turn at bat swinging three hefty
war clubs. writes George McLinn in the
Philadelphia Ledger. When this Gus
tom first originated 90 per cent of the
spectators believed the swatters who
did it were showing off," to use
homely expression. They saw no good
reason why a man should carry three
clubs when the rules permitted the use
of but one.
Ty Cobb probably was the first Dig
league player to swing three bats on
his journey from the bench to the plate.
And how they used to shout sarcasm
| at the Detroiter.
We know you have more than one
bat; you don't need to show EN- on
| four or five times in game, one
fanatic would yell
Cut the posing and get up there and
show us you can use one bat, Woulo
come from another part of the field.
| But Tyrus. apparently oblivious TO
the jibes of the bugs. continued TO
swing three bats and to get greater
percentage of base hits than the other
II
somebody asked the champion batsman
| why he went through the seemingly
| useless club swinging before his turn
| in the batters box, and the secret was
| out
Well, you see. l have found that
| am able to hit the ball better with
heavy bat" declared Cobb. But no
| matter how strong man may ne ne
naturally gets to thinking his bat is
heavier than it really is when he has
To
| times a day every day for six months
So | got the idea that l would fool my
| self.
Now I walk up handling three bats.
l swing them a half dozen times just
before l face the pitcher Then
throw two away. What's the answer?
Why, the bat I hit with feels like a
stick of bamboo. It's just as heavy as
be if did not carry the three clubs
up. But. by cutting two-thirds on the
load ] do my preparatory swinging
with l convince myself that my bat IS
like a feather and l never notice It's
weight when I'm swinging at a pitched
ball"
A Man Can Fool Himself.
In other words, Tyrus Raymond
Cobb admitted that it was possible for
a man to fool himself Other players
were quick to see the logic of the De-
troiter's system And now, virtually
every big league player who hits con-
sistently goes to the plate swinging
two or three bats.
It's seldom that you and l play base
ball, unless We qualify for either the
fats" or the leans at the annual club
frolic, and then we are lucky If there
are three regular bats around for both
mines to use. But if you desire to test
l. L. tNt nd
become convinced that it is possible for
a man to fool himself, we will suggest
way
Suppose that you must carry two
travelling bags, weighing fifteen pounds
each, from Broad street station to
Market street wharf-understand were
only supposing, for with jitneys so
common. you'd be a fool to wear out
arm power and rubber heels. But, to
discover why ball player swings
three bats, let's go ahead and do 1t.
Naturally, you'll say. Gosh, but they're
heavy"
First of all, then. you must get two
bags weighing forty-five pounds apiece.
Garry them from Broad street station
to Arch street and back. Then. imme-
diately pick up the two fifteen-pound
grips and start for the wharf Why.
you'll feel like running. You'll wonder
how in the world you ever arrived at
the conclusion that it was difficult to
mile SO.
You are fooling yourself The two
travelling bags weigh thirty pounds.
just as they have all along. But. com
carried for practice. they are light
SO light that you imagine you could go
ten miles and not be tired.
Howsomever be all this as it may.
we did not start this canter on the
typewriter with the intention of dis
haf
the major league batsman, or the toting
of two forty-f1ve-pound grips by the
fan. Instead. we intend to write about
shot-puttine as an exercise for big
thing at the Phillies' park. and. judg-
ing by what some of Pat Moran's
sphere have been doing, it
must be mighty good idea.
patricius a,s, n1 -, keeps eepss "a twelve-pound
a round ball. about the same size as a
base ball. but many times al heavy, OF
course. since it is iron. Granted
pitcher has to use his arm almost ex-
clusively, it's a splendid idea for him
ting the shot should do that But that
is not the reason for the twelve-pound
weight on the Phillies bench.
Taught to Fool Themselves.
The wise Mr.. Moran is teaching his
twirlers to fool themselves He be-
lieves that in the majority of cases a
hurler is only as tired as he thinks he
is. Pat agrees that psychology is
big factor in base ball
Did you ever try to heave a base ball
for nine innings? Well, the regulation
big league sphere weighs between five
and five and one-quarter ounces. In
the first inning it feels like an ounce:
about the third it feels like what 1t ac-
tually is. five ounces: when the sixth is
reached II has added about Ave ounces
to it's weight, and by the time finger
arrives at the ninth inning-if he lasts
thaf lnxaex.-ho ai th2f ha hall