San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-01-30
Sluggers Predominant, as
Heydler Points Out, and
Youthful Ambition Turns
From the Mound to the
Batter's Box.
BY GEORGE CHADWICK

Copyright, 1928, by The San Antonio Light.
New York, Jan. 3O.-Lefthand bat
tiers are increasing out of all proper
ton as compared with the increase OF
lefthand pitchers, according TO President
John Heydler of the National League
Furthermore, the biggest and most bril-.
liant drawing cards Of the game today
are those southpaws who perform sen.
sationally with the stick rather than
in the pitchers box.
Just glance at the facts and fig
ures," said Heydler today, ''and you
will find that the most prominent bats
men of today are portsders, with very
few exceptions. OF course, Rogers
Hornsby is the big exception.
1t is a debatable question why we
have had this tendency to lefthand hit
tiers. Many believe the lefthander is
generally better because he is nearer
to first base and therefore should get
there more quickly. Then some folks
add that lefthander always has been
able to bunt better than a righthand
batter. Records will show that more
lefthanders bunt successfully year in
and year out than do righthand bat
tiers.
Wagner VS.. Cobb.
Now, some have said that the Ma
tiOnal League could be called the school
of righthand batting and the American
League the school of the lefthander,"
says Heydler. This teory started over
fhn LONE riy-n1rt fbnf nxiyfnI hot N
Wagner, righthand batter. and Ty
Cobb, who, as we all know, stands on
the opposite side of the plate when he
swings. In my opinion Wagner NRas
the greatest righthand hitter of them
all, although many fans believe Pop
Arson the greatest.
Il am proud of the reputation that
has been given the National League for
its great righthand hitters, but never
theleSs that league is today recognizing
that lefthanders are developing faster
than righthanders.
IF We follow the list OF National
League batters after Hornsby, who
tops them all, we find that ma i; OF
our prominent batters are lefthanders,
and again it makes me doubt that we
are developing lefthand pitchers in pro-
portion"
Batting Picking Up.
Which brings us to the second as
sertion that baseball's spotlight has
shifted from pitchers box TO the plate.
Everybody has been talking about the
way that batting has picked up. The
Pitchers have talked about it until the
tears ran down their cheeks. There
was time when the great pitcher stood
higher in the baseball world than the
leading batsman. In the old days the
first thing the average boy tried to do
was TO, emulate Clarkson. or Keefe. or
Mickey Welch or Goldsmith or Rad
bourne or Matthewson. or some other
man who made himself famous by pitch
ing.
Almost everybody thought sometime
he would make homerun like William
son or George Gore, but that was sec
Ondary 10 the hone of becoming a great
pitcher. Now it is different. The
pitchers are losing their grip as heroes
Ruths. Cobbs. Speakers and Hornsbys.
Would Check Batters.
II lefthand pitchers were developed
in proportion TO lefthand batters. would
il not be likely, as President Heydler
intimates, that there would be fewer
batters hitting abnormally well? Every
body knows the lefthand pitcher is
check on most lefthand batters. 1t is
perfectly natural that he should be.
To the boy of today it may be news
that there was a time in baseball when
the lefthand player was looked down
upon. II a man batted lcfthand. volun-
teer teachers attempted TO instruct him
how 10 bat righthanded. If a begin
ner pitched lefthanded more often
than two-thirds of the players md fans
began to yell to change pitchers. es
pecially If he were little wild. 4.
rigbthand pitcher could be wild and it