Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-10


There is 30 doubt that Rogers
llornsby is the greatest right ha nded
batter i'll years. He is a natural hit
ter | may he wrong about this state
ment. but on "a great many pitched
balls Hornsby looks to me like "a call"
hitter. BY that 1 mean that he calls
the turn on the ball the pitcher is
about to deliver and is set for It..
There are a number of players who
are cali" hitters. 1 used to be one
myself. II you can call the pitched
ball, good; If you guess wrong, not so
good. II the pitcher throws a curve
when you are set for a fast one you
are going to be crossed up and out of
luck unless you have full control of
your bat and can make a quick shift
and pull the ball down the third base
line providing YOU are a right-handed
batter) or. If set for curve and fast
one is delivered instead, shift quickly
and drive into right field.
Also Possesses Speed.
Besides being able to hit a ball
Hornsby is one Of the fastest right.
hand hitters in going to first wag.
ner was fast, but Hornsby is faster
He is great deal faster than he ap-
pears to be, for he MOVES along with a
deceptive gait. His stride fools you.
There is difference between a good
batsman and fair batsr>an. A good
hatsntan is ready for the NIL that Is
being pitched and il he is crSssed up,
he still has control of his bat and him
self and can shift in time to NEST the
ball and drive il into fair territory
While it will not be the ball he expect
ed, he will not be caught flat-footed;
he will still he able to hit it some
where. a fair batsman can be fooled
and If he does not get the kind of ball
he Is looking for, he is completely
done.
Eddie Roush is what 1 call a good
batsman. He is fast on his feet. He
hits to any field. He can bunt. He Is
an intelligent batter and he frequently
calls the turn on the pitcher. He Is
one of the best call hitters the Ma
tional League has known.
Keller Most Scientific.
While making these remarks on the
scientific side of batting l want to in.
troduce the first and greatest scientific
batsman of all time, barring none. I
refer to Wee Willie" Keller. He
could hit. bunt, pull or drag a ball, and
on top of all that he was one of the
fastest men of all time in going to first
and in running the bases. At hitting
through on hit and run play the
game has never produced his equal
At bunting on the sacrifice or squeeze
play he has never had a SUPERIOR
There are many men that hit a ball
harder than Keller and there are some
that made more hits although he did
get 200 and more hits in eight differ
ent seasons of his major league ca
reer), but there was never another
that used so much intelligence or car
ried batting to such a fine scientific
extreme as Keller.
The lively ball has squeezed much
of the sacrifice and hit and run work
out of base ball. There are few good
hunters in the game today and there
are few men who are effective on the
hit and run. The reason is simple.
Hitting comes natural to a ball PLAYER
| while bunting and running do not.
1t takes long and hard practice to
master the art of bunting and to get
the knack Of chopping ball and
pushing it through an opening on a
hit and run. Players do not like to
bother with the fine points involved
IN executing these moves, preferring
to stand up at the plate and swing,
Tor that is simpler, easier and gets
them higher batting averages.
Better in Some Ways.
OF course, in some ways base ball
| today excels base ball of IS years ago,
but in other ways it does not. 1 am
not of the group that is '1amenting the
passing of the good old days and wall
ing that the game has lost its class.
In few respects it has. I have point.
ed out two. The fault of this Is a
new condition created by the introduc-
ton of the lively ball, which produced
the inevitable results have observed.
I have frequently been told that