Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-10
BATTING RECORDS
MUST Be ACCURATE
Reasons Given by John Heydler,
New President of the Ma
tional League.

John lieydler, the new president OF the
National Baseball League, contributes
the following to the January issue OF the
Baseball Magazine.
Persons like myself who compile sta
tisticS arc seldom understood by the man
III the street A friend OF mine recently
sad 10 me, Il should think YOU would get
n headache paving over all those musty
figures To which replied, II suppose
they would give YOU headache, but there
Is nothing mtisty about them to me. In
fact, | find them intensely interesting.
Governor Tcncr once took the occasion
to question tho advisahllity ot my spend
ing 50 much time over my records.
Aren't you making too hard work of
II, John he asked
Perhaps | am, said ], Il am making
rs much work out Of il ms needs to he
made out of il. It's the most important
work | know anything about
"Of course, | realize II IS important.
admitted the governor.
Il should saw IT was important, said
| w hen YOU come 20 study INTO It, what
is baseball carried on for anyway, IT II
isn't the records? What are the players
working Tor? Records every time. What
are the managers working for and the
owners? The reoordsl You might think
they are working for the championship
and 81 thev arc, but what is the champion
ship but rccords2 The team that wins a
certain number Of games beats the team
which won n CERTAIN other numrcr The
PLAYER who made certain number ot hits,
leads the other PLAYERS who made lesser
number Every item ot the game II built
upon records, and while the public docsn t
think II is Interested m dry statistics, the
public will wrangle all winter about bat
ting averages aud pitching averages and
So On The records arc the whole thing
in baseball You cant make them too
important and you cant lie too careful
how YOU handle them.
don't know whether or not | fully
convinced the governor, but ! did state
nv own opinion, and the morc ! sec OF
statistics, the more important ] believe
they are.
Since general reforms seem 10 he the
order OF the dav almost everywhere, and
old established customs are falling down
all around us. perhaps il is the psychology
cal moment 10 discuss certain features OF
the baseball records which might he I'M
proved. For some time past u has been
obvious that a number Of changes might
we'll he made tending 10 give a more accu-
rate idea Of the player work. Ii has
been my experience that when YOU try 10
talk statistics to the ordinary citizen, he
looks at you with open mouth Tor a moment
or two. and then beats a strategic retreat.
In launching brand new idea n hasehal
records, YOU must keep that idea simple
II II Is too complicated the public will not
grasp it, will make no effort 10 grasp 1t,
and il will encounter all kinds ot obJcc-
tons Now you are bound 10 encounter
no matter what you suggest
But the part OF wisdom Is 70 stick 10
SIMPLE ideas that are easy TO understand
and that viii not meet with the criticism
that perhaps more accurat" but more
ideas are bound 70 encounter.
Therefore the fundamental reforms III
base ball statistics which believe will ulti-
mately be adopted and should he adopted
shall barely touch upon. conhnIng myself
excluavciy to certain simple features OF