The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-07-30
TIPS END TAPS
 ON LIVE SPORTS
By c c. y.sWMAN

E VERY now and then you hear of
 some ball player who Is more or less supersitious, in fact nearly every ath- 4ete in the big leagues has a hoodoo chaser. You can pick out any one of the diamond stars of yesterday and today and you will find that each one has their own little way of keep ing the proverbial jinx from clinging to them.
 When Eddie Collins first joined the Philadelphia Athletics about 12 years ago he was given cap by Connie Mack and a year later Ire star sec ond basenan wouldn't have parted with it for its weight in gold. Each new season Eddie would start the campaign with a new uniform but the same cap was perched on his head and he used the battered head piece for ten years until it fell apart from the wear and tear. When Eddie started in the season with new cov- ering his batting average suffered a loss of 50 points and to this day Eddie claims that If he hadn't wo-=- out the old lid that he would still be hit ting for $50.
 Fred IuderuS, a few yeurs ago would step up to the plate and use his bat to draw a line in the dirt. One day the bat slipped out of his hand and on picking it l. he noticed that 1t made another line running on right angles to the one he had nl- ready drawn. The first ball pitched was knocked clear out to the center field fence and from that day on you will always see Fred make a double mark at the plate.
 Hal Chase is another player who goes through a lot of funny motions. He will always go into the game well supplied with gum. As he steps up to the plate he takes the gum out and sticks 1t under the peak of his cap. If anything happens before there are two strikes on him Hal is all right, but if the opposing twirler slips over a couple of strikes on him you will see him grab his gum in a hurry and jam t into his mouth in a hurry, feel ing quite safe that he will land on the ball.
 Ty Cobb always walks up to the plate swinging three bats, no mere, no less, and he said he would no more think of going to bat with one or two bats than he would of trying to clear the bases with a match stick.
 The plate tappers are in the maj ority in the way of jinx chasers, some tap lightly, while others try to knock it loose from its moortngs. Max Carey of the Pirates is a double tapper. Just before he settles himself for the swing he raps 1t twice in succession. Someone asked him once why he did it and he said that one day he for got to do 1t and went out on three pitched balls.
 Zach Wheat, the captain of the Eb- bets crew, lets a cloudburst of Piper Heidsack go if the first ball Is called a strike.
 Baseball players will tell you that good hitters are born and not made, but the case of Roger Peckinpaugh, as in a few others, is exception to the rule. A manager who gets hold of a weak hitter sometimes trys to get the recruit to change his style of hitting and sometimes increases the players batting average, but in the case of Peck, who was never more than g. .240 hitter, it was by accident that his style of batting was changed One of his teammates gave the eX- plantation of how he shot unto the ranks of the leading hitters and get ting a hit in 2S successive gamos. One day during batting Dra ctise Roger was hit by a pitched ball and his thumb severely bruised. The next time he went to bat he had to favor the injured member and took a. different grip on the willow. He was surprised at the success he got from the change he attained a free swing and was able to hit the ball to any part of the lot. ! Had someone tried to get him to change his style of batting they wouldn't have succeeded In a thous- | and years.
 Joe Wirhoit, former resident of New York, Boston, Pittst urg, and l other National League stations is i burning up the Western league by his 1 hitting. He has established what is 1 believed to be the worlds record for 1 hitting safely in forty-six successive l games. In 197 times at bat Wilhoit has attained the grand average Of | .522.
 While Dempsey was in training at it was noticed by many of the fans that he seemed to have a lit tie trouble in breathing through his nose, causing him to emit grunts and other nasal noises while working also in no small way with his breathing. He had never paid much attention to 1t lately, and he has plac ed himself under surgeons care in and after small operation 1 expects to correct this. {!
 As a pinch hitter for beer MT. 2.75 | is batting about .000.
 The old war horse Battling Nelson wants to come hack. Ye Gods!who's going to try this come back stuff | next. His manager, Frank Miller, says