The Washington times., 1925-07-11

the jack rabbit ball has done are
? Among others it has had Its
effect, on. the youngsters coming
into the league. A few weeks ago
wrote about the great number of
good looking kids who are breaking
In this year. And if you'll just
notice you'll see that almost every
one OF these boys are Swing hit
ters:n That is, fellows who dig in
at the plate and take a full cut
att the ball. The lively ball has
done that. They've learned that
with this bail full swing means
home run, If you hit the hall
Squarely.
Fellows like Harry Rice of the
Browns, Cochrane Of the Athletics.
Wingo Of the Tigers, and Nanny
Brooks Of the Cubs are this type.
And so long as the fans are more
interested in long hits than they
are in close ball games it's good
thing for the boys to. develop the
swing style.
There's another thing about that
jack-rabbit ball, too--a thing that
Fred Merkle called my attention to
a few days ago.
Talk all you please" Fred said,
THAT lively ball is a great thing
for the old boys. 1t keeps them in
the league"
That sounds queer. but it's about
right.
The old fellows as q rule, can
still hit and with the lively ball
they get longer and harder drives.
That means that they don't have
TO be so speedy on the sacks. In
other words fellow can stay up
with this bah even though his
legs have gone q bit bad.
And the same thing holds in !le
field. too. Infielders can't cover
so much ground with this ball.
Consequently mans speed isn't so
great a benefit for nowadays he
BAH IS so fast that fellow can't
move far to one side or the other
anyhow And so long as they get
In front of the ball the veteran is
just as good as the youngster and
sometimes better. I never had
thought. much about that angle
until Merlzle spoke Of 1t, bat I ian
see now. that he's right. And fans
can convince themselves too If
they'll Just look around the league
and see how many OF the old boys
DIT used to be; a. ball player who
or thirty-two was at the end OF
his string. Nowadays thirty-five
ign't $50 very old and there are
q few OF the boys sticking AROUND
who are nearly forty. Part OF THAT
tst due to stricter training these
days of course: But it's partly
due to- that old Jack Rabbit bail
too and don't forget 1t. When
YOU can knock the ball over tire
outfielders' head or burn it through
the fnfield so fast it can't be fie1ded
poor legs don't cheat you out Of
base hits. And that's what the
boys do these days. Even a
cripple can run the bases when he
gets hold Of one Of the fast ones.
xrOf course pitching suffers. It
suffers because balls that used
to be hit into El1e air for the
Outffelders to get, now travel into
the stands, though they are hit
mo harder than the old ones that
used 20 be easy out. Nowadays
every ball pitched is q possible
homer. And there's no telling
when the game will be broken up
BY long fly into the stands. 81
There's another way pitching has
been affected too. The kids today
want TO be -hifters. This is hitting
age. Back in the days when Matty
and Bender and the rest were in
their prime the kids never though
OF batting In those days they got
q glove and a ball and started
curving 'em. Pitching was the thing.
But today they want to hit and
they want to hit long balls. They
grab a bat and dig in and take
their cut. They're hitters and
they're all Swing hftters."
1t only takes one swing around
the. league and one look at the
youngsters to prove that