New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-04-23
Sensational Recruit OF
Giants Sought to Enter
West Point.
BEST OF M'GRAW'S
ROCKIES IS TWENTY
New Player Has Caught On with
His Hard Hitting and Natu-
raj Adaptability.
By FRANK O'NEILL.

by u nam " -Nbii<L.
Uncle Sam lost the services of po-
tential Won Hindenburg when Herbert
II. Hunter discovered that he could hit
a baseball. He was preparing for West
Point when ne decided that lombard
ing the outer fences of baseball park
was a more thrilling and withal more
civillzing pastime than batterlng down
the defences of beleaguered city.
Accordingly ne renowned the glitter OF
gold lace, the glory Of shoulder straps
and stars for the dusty fannels Of the
baseball diamond. To some ears the
whistle of bullets and the whine OF
shrapnel may be music. but 10 him the
crash OF a three-base hit is a symphony
unsurpassed.
This big. broad shouldered boy, who
has seen only twenty birthdays, is re-
gardsd as one Of the greatest iinds OF
the years. Veteran ball players declare
him quite the best who has come up
in years, and the wonder of it is that
he has seen little service outside oil
high school and college. Just now
Hunter is nursing badly spiked hand
and cannot take up a bat, but when me
wound heals he will DE placed on third
base and receive the chance to fuihl
his wonderful promise Of great things.
Perchance he will not rise "a great
heights this year. but ne is only boy,
and we risk our reputation or the
prophecy that one day the name OF
Hunter will ring from the lips OF the
fans as that Of Merkle, Safer. Matty,
Eddie Collins or the others do now.
Hunter is a ball player born. He IS
a hitter born. and all kinds of pitching
look alike TO him. He can stand up and
hit the offerings Of left-handers, al
though he swings from the south side
Of the plate himself with quite as
much ease as he clouts the right
handlers. On the training trip he out
slugged Cobb, Doyle and the others.
and ne nit good pitching. too. The
boys on the team soon became I'M
pressed with the idea that all they had
10 do was get on and leave the rest 20
Hunter. Rarely indeed did he fail.
He can field with any OF them, and
with all his natural ability, his great
speed and his fine arm he has brain
that is swift as the lightning One to
see Hunter make play would say
that he never thought at all. but just
did il. This is not so. He has his
move all thought out beforehand and
then goes ahead and does it. Here ia
what Hunter mas to say Of his actions
on the field: When ! am out there
think Of. what 70 do If certain con-
dition arises. figure it from all an
giles. and then if such condition
arises | make the play | had thought
out. Sometimes | have TO change my
plans. but ! manage to make the re-
adjustments quickly most OF the time.
The one handicap under which this
vounV star labors is oyer-anxiety. lie
lust wants to shine all the time, and
he is affected by the fortunes of the
field. We remember down in Dallas
this spring that he struck out in a
pinch. and for the rest Of the night ne
was miserable. That he had driven
over run an inning or two before
with a rollicking triple did not matter.
He wanted TO do it all the time. John
j. McGraw says that Hunter is over
coming his nervousness and that there
is no doubt Of him being a sensation
when he gets into the game.
Hunter played for short while with
the Wheeling Club, of the Central
League. last year. He was first base
man, and played clever ball after he
found himself. His hitting was strong.
and his fielding, while far from finished,
was satisfactory TO the manager OF the
Wheeling team. IL was Hunters bat
ting that attracted the attention Of the
scouts, and the New York club was
only one Of the organizations which
sent men down to look him over. lie