New Britain herald., 1918-02-02

,sr rsee y vss Sc E5uis a. LEES b
finished second in the recent tradeXor
Pratt and Eddie Plank. He thinks
highly of Pratt and says that DerriIl's
injuDed wrist is all o. K again, and
that he can hit4the ball hard, is young
and aggressive and full of ginger
Hmggms thinks pretty well of his in
heid and Is glad that he has that wor-
ry off his mind. AS for Eddie Plank
not playing next season, Higgins does
NOT believe. it, He thinks the ancient
soufhpaw viii turn in some good
games with the Yankees.
Plank and his brother Ira have a
garage on the Lincoln Highway at
Gettysburg, and they found it a. pros
porous proposition. But Higgins
thinks that brother Ira can take care
of the business while brother Eddie
rusrSns over his croSsfire boots for the
Yankees
The Yan4xs' new pilot is making his
first appearance in the American
League, and he says that, as far as he
has been able to judge, there is
difference in the playing systems of
the two organizations. In the Nation
al League, Higgins says, the bats
men wait out the pitchers more than
they do in the Ban johnson organlza-
ton There is more hn-and-run play
in the American league, he says, while
in the National the sacrifice hit game
is more widely used. Huggins is strong
for the bunt game. One of the first
things he is going to drill into the
Yankees is the Importance of being
able to drop down a bunt. IF Hug
ginslsucceeds, the Yankees will look a
lot better than they have for the last
few seasons
HIGGINS also had something to say
about the charge that he led the Ma
tional league last season in changing
pitchers New York fans will be
raSarer paeased if Higgins does change
his pitchers when they show signs of
weakening, because last season Bill
Donovan had a. tendency to leave his
pitchers on thepmoInd until they were
hammered over stheahil1s, and far away.
Huggtns says he did change the
Cardinal pitchers quite often last
year, but this was because the ST.
Louis c1nb was losing and winning
games by such a. narrow margin that
the fingers had to be yanked just
assssoon as they showed signs Of HIT
ine~the down grade. The year before
last. higgins says, the fans were
after him all the time because he
dSSrst change his pitchers often
enough.
higgins says that :rwhenA.tealnad Poi
Peritt in st. Louis, he used to KEEP
him on the mound when he was
being hit because Pol was new Their
and he wanted to- break him into the
game right. He believes that it is g
mistake to yank young pitchers If ii
Ls not absolutely necessary. If q
club has a. good pitching staff, Hug
gins explained, 1t is not necessary to
change pitchers often, but If the
pitchers are cratic they have to be
changed often.
Higgins aired his opinions about
curling the pitchers so that there
would be more batting. He said the
best way to make more hitting was to
cut down the pitching staffs and then
there would not be so much of a
chance to change pitchers. The Yam
kee leader stated, however, that he
doubted whether the fans wanted
more hitting or run getting, for the
present generation of baseball patrons
had been educated to close bail games
with small tarlfes, and If a change was
made to curb the pitcher the
fans would have to get accustomed
to the old state of affairs all over
again. But he stated that just as
long as baseball clubs carry large
pitching stats, weak boxen will be
taken out and life savers will DC
substituted.
Boosts MaTSans.
Manager Higgins was at the yam
kee office early this morning and go1
down to work. One of his first tasks
will be to engineer another trade fo1
an out1elder. Higgins expects grea1
things from Marsans, the Cuban, who
broke a leg at the Polo Grounds soor
after he joined the Yankees last sea
son. Marsans has been playing bal
in Cuba this winter and is back il
shape. Higgins has seen Marsan:
play often in St. Louis and believe:
he will be a valuable man in .>ente
field. Marsans is a. good h @er anc
thrower and Huggins wants to Lane
another outfielder who Will raise tn.
batting strength Of the ottfeld. Witt
now outfielder who can hit and Will
second base strengthened, the Yam
kee manager believes the New Yorl