The Washington times., 1924-06-14

the advice of three Neterans-th
to dig the spikes around the plat
gripped way down at the handle 1
In the spring of 1910 Wheat,
during a morning batting practice,
had dumped several short pops
over the head of the third basemen.
Trotting back to the bench lack
heard:
:. Say. kid. you gotta wallop 'e,n
In this league If you expect 20
Hnger. long; wallop 'em from the
toes. or you'll be drifting back
where you came 'front.'
Harry Lu,nley, Tim Jordan and
John Hummel in a group on the
bench, gave that advice to the
youngster from the West.
Wheat pleaded with his advis.
ers. He reminded them that he
had batted .3O4 finishing the 1909,
and in those days a .3O4 average
ranked with the leaders Of the
profession.
Nevertheless, Lumley, Jordan and
Hummel insisted that it was the
good old sock that brought out the
names in big type on the sport
pages. Wheat was tWenty-one
years of age. Lumley. Jordan and
Hummef were fading veterans and
the kid of twenty-one always will
ing to learn, accepted the inside
tip from those who knew what
they were talking about.
Thus, Wheat went through the
change as batter. He was es-
I'd Nr rNF lNA %SAvl
at the training camp by Lumley,
Jordan and Hummel. The heaviest
bat in the bag was picked out by
Lumley and presented to the
Grab 'er right at the end" said
Lumley.
Jordan was next on the scene.
Tim arranged the stance and the
place for the feet at the plate
LAS far away as you can get,
lack, my boy" said Tim.
J Humrnel grabbed a dozen balls
and became the pitcher during
the batting practice to develop
young Wheat from a crouch hitter
to a fence buster.
That act was rehearsed for full
week. And sure enough lack
Wheat was sending terrific wallops
off the right field wall similar to
Lumley. Jordan, and Hummel.
I'm never forgot those days." re-
marked Wheat recently IT didn't
know a thing about hard hitting
because / didn't think that / was
built for a fence-buster. AS a kid
on the corner lots back home 1 was
satisfied with single or a double.
thought more about getting to
first base and trying to score
myself than thinking about driving
In somebody who was on first.
Il was mighty fast for a kid,
although I'll have to admit that I've
slowed up during these last ten
years, and when got to first it
was a simple trick for me to steal
second or third. I-liked to run the
bases. and the thought about be-
coming a heavy hitter never dawned
upon me.
And then / met Lumley, Jor.
dan, and Hummel. I'll never forget
those fellows. You hear q lot about
ball players Of years ago, about how
they wouldn't pay any attention to
q youngSter, but let me tell YOU
that Lumley, Jordan, and Hummel
treated me like a little brother.
81 watched those fellows hit
during that spring trip. / had to
accept their advice because I saw
them step I'm and whistle their
drives off the right field fences
until the opposing pitchers
moaned and grOaned.
IT guess all kids are stuck on
themselves. And I figured that II
they could do it could with prac-
tice. Therefore made myself over
In batting style.
The change In Wheat's stance az
O; hitter however is not the only
remarkable part about his big
league career. For thirteen sue.
cessive years he was hitter right
around the 800 mark. The annual
= average did not vary much. 1t
was .2S4 in 1910. Then .287 in
1911, 1t hoped to .SO5 in 1912.
Dropped but four points the next
season. In 1916 and 1917 he had
the same figure-.312, proving that
he was steady hitter.~
Then comes the most remarkable
part about lack Wheat. In his
fourteenth season he compiled the
highest average OF his entire career,
jumping way up to 1915. What
caused this unusual spurt?
For years, you know" ex.
planned Wheat, "a player who hit
800 was established as a star.
always moved around that line
and did not worry much about
any thing better. But a cOuule
q. years ago i saw some OF the
boys moving up. Averages leap.
ed to $50, up to 1915, while ROg
Hornsby gave us a .4O1 figure in
1922.
You might say that I did NOT
wake up until living thirteen years
in the National League. q decided
that I could improve myself with q
little more care by taking nv time
at the plate and trying for q Ease
hit every time / faced a pitcher.
Ball players generally keep pref.
ty close tab on their own BATTING
averages. There is, a squirt where