The Washington herald., 1922-12-20
NINE-TENTHS
. OF TURNOVER
BATTERS FAIL
Twenty-three Hitters in Big
Leagues Stand at Plate
Either Right or left-Handed.

nSs stiShe w SSstttoituCos
By FRANK G. MENKE.
Copyright. 1872. BY King Features
Service. Incl
"HE advice of Mark Twain
about put all your eggs in
- one basket-and then watch
that basket" is applicable to the
batting bloke who likes to execute
the ambidextrous stuff.
Facts and figures of balloon
can be trotted forth to prove that
the best plan for ye cloutsmith is
20 determine from which side of
the plate he can hit them with
the most vim and the most vigor
and then to stick to that side
Of the rubber permanently.
For the bulk Of those who at
tempt the turnover" method Of
batting. finish up with a sad and
sick-looking mark. OF all the men
In the game at the present time
who hit left-handed against right
handed singers and shift to the
other side oof the plate when con-
fronted by southpaws. only a rare
few have compiled averages that
are beyond the mediocre.
1t Is a noticeable fact that the
batter who hits from his natural
batting position bangs the ball from
twenty to sixty points beyond that
which he achieves when he exc
cutes the turnover" All of which
proves that nature endowed him to
nit from one peculiar position and
that when he turns over, he defies
said nature and his batting aver
age suffers as a consequence.
TWENTY-THREE SWING.
The big leagues at the present
time embrace twenty-three men
who are ambidextrous swingers. OF
that total number, six hit the ball
beyond the 300 mark. The prime
reason why they batted so high is
that their success from the natural
side Of the plate offset the loss in
hits through ''turn-overs."
The Giants possess two of the
ambidextrous swatters in the per-
sons Of Dave Bancroft and Frank
trlsch- The latter hit for 1928,
while Bancroft poled them for .321.
Both men. hitting from their nat
ural side Of the plate, raped the
ball for something close to $50.
whereas. batting from the opposite
side. the best they could do was
around .290 or .295.
The king-pin swatsmith among
the turnover" hitters is Max Ca
rey. of the Pirates. Here Is an
athlete who undoubtedly In the
greatest ambidextrous batter of all
time-a natural turnover" man
the only one in the game. Carey.
unlike the other clouters. hits equal.
ly well from either side of the
plate. But there's n real reason.
BATS RIGHT-HANDED.
Carey. who hit 1923 last season,
10 right-handed batter by nature.
But he discovered years ago that
II he batted left-handed, his tre-
mendous speed would enable him to
beat out hits which, po.ed from
the other side of the pan, would
have resulted in outs. For the left
handed batter is always one step
nearer to first base than is the
right-hander.
over" boys, doesn't shift his posi-
tion at the plate to conform with
the style Of pitching which is
served up to him. He oftentimes
will hit right-handed when a long
walloping smash is needed. no mat
ter what sort of pitching is served
up to him. He can drive them
farther from the right side. He
viii shift to the left side Of the
plate, irrespective of the pitching,
when merely a single Is a vital
necessity. In other words, Carey
hits from the position which best
suits his purpose.
FEW 300 HITTERS.
The other 800 hitters among the
turnover" boys were Gooch, the
Pirate catcher; wally Schang, an
other catcher, and Lew Blue, of
the Tigers. The balance of the
ambidexterous persons scaled down
from. 290 to .13s.
Whenever the average turn
over hitter is presented with the
fact that he hits from 20 to 60
points better in his natural way
than he does when he turns over,
he will make this answer:
That is true. 1t may be that /
will hit $50 in my natural position
and can hit only .29O from the
other side of the plate. But if 1
am a natural left-handed batter and
/ stuck to that side of the plate
when faced with southpaw pitch
Ing, I wouldn't be able to hit for
the .290 which / make by the
Turnover"
Which mayor may not-be true.
But the fact is indisputable that
the turnover" method of hitting
is a bad one for about 80 per cent
Of the men who try the ambidex-
trous stuff.