Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-05-17
HITTING SLUMP
HPLAYERS JTNX
Will Try Any Sort of Freak
Measure in Effort to
Break Spell
SPEAKER TRIES BUNTING

Take ,ook az Steve O'Ncill over there
he's smoking cigarette"
Wonder what's the matter with him.
inquired one OF Lee Fohl's young ball play
ers in Chicago recently.
"i1l ind out" volunteered Ivon Howard
who returned IN few minutes with smile
on his face and said: "stcvc's in a bat
ting slump Tie says he never smoked a
cigarette in his life before, but when he's
in slump he'll try anything"
Original Methods Employed
Batting slUmp--oh how the players
dread 10 get into one How they fight
to overcome one! \ batting slump is tho
one big bugaboo, the 5iUx that will get a
mans goat, and some Of the methods em-
pl1yed 20 regain the lost batting eye are
as original as they nrc foolish, but most
ball players have a certain amount of super
stuon IN their makeup y batting slump
overtakes then, in mysterious manner.
and u order 20 get rid Of the jinN mystcri-
Gus tactics are ofttimcs employed.
steve O'NoW isn't hitting lie felt that
he must 30 something TO change his luck,
SO instead of smoking a cigar after dinner
he buns q cigarette. "I'll bet l get hit
tomorrow" steve says between pufts.
Bobby Roth found the old jinN astridc his
back when the season opened lie simply
could not get a safe hit. missing balls some
times By a foot lie did cverythiug he
could think Of In u frantic effort 10 snake
cff the ink. Finally he decided he was
trying too hard to work the opposing pitch
crs, that It would bc better TO let the pitcher
work on him. Bobby started hitting In his
home town. Chicago last week and is APP
parently his own self again.
Bunting Helped iris
\ couple Of years ago Iris Speaker found
himself in a batting slump, so me decided
not to try and hit the ball for few days
but spent half an hour before each game
bunting, and when the game started. in
stead of swinging at the bah he bunt"d. Nc
matter whether or not his club was f"ur
or five runs behind, iris was up there try.
ing to lay down hunt and beat the throw
Speakers slump lasted only short time
lie found that when he again started
swinging base hits resulted, so nobody car
| convince Spoke that the proper way to pul
out Of n slump is not to quit swinging and
| bunt
In 1913 when the Washington Senators
were playing such good ball and Danny
Moel'er was one Of the main cogs in Clart
| Gridth's machine Moeller ran into hittinf
| slump, and II affected him So that ne con
| suited an eye specialist, thinking possibly
| there was something wrong with his eyes
! bat an examination showed no signs Of poo
| eyes Eht
! Another Washington player who was II
| a slump received letter from some cranl
| and incosed were half n dozen little suga
! pills The directions were written plainly
! and stated that one pill after each mea
! would cure the slump and kill the jinX Th
! pills were eaten as directed, but II Is no
recorded that the jinX died violent death
| The player, however, would have takel
| them had they contained arsenic or rougl
| on rats.
There Is really no cure for a batting
| slump. It ovcrtales a ball player just a
! hard luck hits a business man \ slum
usually departs just as mysterousy as
| appears.