The Washington times., 1925-03-13

baltimore Orioles and later with
the New York Yankees i'm the
list of ten leading batters. 1
5pitched against Keller at a time
when he had passed his best
DAYS, but he was still hard
man to handle.
He was perhaps the best place
hitter ever in the game and
wonderful bunter. ! well remem,
Der the first time I ever pitched
to Keller. Joe Cantillon then
managing Washington, warned me
This fellow is the greatest
bunter in the game, Walter, and
he's been told you can't handle a
bunt."
When Keller came to bat he
got set for a bunt, and so did l.
In fact. he hunted four times that
+ afternoon, and on each occasion
, the ball trickled right into the
pitchers box. / threw him out
without moving from the pitchers
box. His comeback was very
clever. 81 outbunted you, john
son." he shouted, but forgot
to outguess you" Keller choked
his bat and used less bat than any
PLAYER l ever faced. But to see
last fraction of a second, was
perfected trick 1 never expect TO
see again.
Charley Jameson, of Cleveland,
is great batter who slaps the
ball considerable. Wally Schang is
not only a fine batting catcher but
one of the best turnover batters
ever in the game. Harry Hooper
was always one Of my. toughest
problems, and like Duffy Lewis,
| was deadly in a pinch. Both Of
those players, in their Red Sox
days, were poison to pitcher
when a hit meant a run.
Bob Meusel, of the Yankees, ranks
with the very best hitters. If he
played with a little more spirit
Meusel would be one of the great
stars of the major leagues today. he
| is a powerful slugger and while he
| looks bad at times on a cuHVe bail,
Meusel is very dependable in q
pinch. Miller Higgins, the Yankee
manager, has told me he has seen
| few players in thirty years OF base
| ball with the nerve of Meusel. Fol-
| lowing Babe Ruth in the Yankee
| lineup, Meusel is a dangerous threat
against pitchers who Intentionally
pass Ruth. Meusel drives in many
runs each season and has the strong
est, although not the most accurate,
throwing arm in the game.
Danny Murphy was the popular
sIugger of the old days and could
blast a ball to any field. Murphy
was q bad man to face when his
team needed a safe hit. Harry
Davis was another dangerous bat
ter of the old slugger type and
Ken Williams is one of the best
sluggers in ajOr league baseball
today. Williams is liable to hit
any pitcher, at any time, for a
home run. He is one of the best
of all hOme-run hitters, but to
answer the question / have been
asked so much 1 do not consider
Williams the equal of Babe Ruth.
Concluding the chapter on leading
batters it. is interesting to note tnat
of the ten leaders, four are out OF
baseball-Lajoie, Crawford, Baker
and jackson. OF the remaining SIX
| Cobb, Sisler, Speaker and Collins,
are now big league managers and
still leading batters. 1t is plainly
evident from this, that batting cham
pionships are not merely won by
men who can hit hard and run fast
| but men of skill and intelligence.
Ruth and Heilmann are consider
ably younger than the others and
| it will not surprise me to see boeh
as managers before their careers are
| finished.
Copyright. 1925. by the Christy
| Walsh Syndcate.)
Next chapter: American Presi-.
| dents as Baseball Fans.