The Washington times., 1936-05-22

why odSeUd44 AoJeAS WV"
"The legs go first" Bucky Har-
ris insisted, adhering to the age
of doctrine of ball players. IF
the legs retained their drive, 20
year ball players would be the
rule rather than the exception.
LEGS WENT BAD
GO right down the line
with players" continued Harris.
Ruth, Speaker, Cobb and others,
the eyes were all right, but the
legs went bad. At the end, they
laughed at Cobb; laughed at the
greatest ball player of his time.
He just lost his speed. He
couldn't break on a ball.
Eyes, the legs CO." said Earl
McNeely. "They grow old be-
fore their years. But a ball
player uses his legs pretty hard.
The sudden stops and starts, the
SprintS and slides take the snap
out of the legs all right.
But it isn't only the legs
that stop YOU" McNeely said.
'As you go along in baseball the
wrists lose their snap. Now you
can have the strongest arms in
the world and perfect shoulders.
But if you can't whip the wrists
through at the finish of swing,
thu ball won't ride.
Golf professionals call this
the flick of the wrist If you
we're driving a tack, or mailing
up a board, you might call it
the same thing. Whether you
call it flick or snap, the principle
is the same, and all good hitting,
whether it's in baseball, golf or
lawn tennis, the wrists at the
finish make the ball ride off the
bat, or the club head or the
racquet.
colder players suddenly drop
in the averages. Why"
PAUSES FOR REPLY
McNeely paused for reply.
1T is not difficult to figure"
he continued. "The old player,
whirls the bat through a level
plane, the pitchers won't fool
him badly, but when he meets
the ball, he doesn't get it any
place. That ring which you hear
in a well-hit drive is missing.
And it's missing because the elias
ITCHY is gone from the players
wrists. He doesn't get the bat
around with at smack at the
finish.
"See how this applies to
Babe Ruth" McNeely said.
Few players used their wrists
as Ruth used his. He would
take that hop, step and jump
and at the end of the swing
when his whole weight was on
the ball, the wrists would sup
ply the final impetus that car
ried the ball over the fence.
"If you looked closely at
BottOmley in our games with
the Browns you could see that
he was hitting with his arms
and that the ball w"S not
taking Off"
How will this affect Rogers
Hornsby in his quest for 5000
safe hitS?" we asked.
1T may possibly stop him,
McNeeIy answered. "HOrnsby
was one of the great batters OF
all time. He was the greatest
right-hander that ever swung
a bat. But Rogers has been
around a long time, and he has
been out of action quite bit.
He migNl not get those 80 safe
hits this season, and If he
failed, he would drag his bat
ting average down from Its
present high figures.
"HOrnsby, at his peak, used
to plant his right heel in the
back corner of the batter'S box.
step in and whiSk the bat
through with his wrists. He
had thick, powerful wrists, and
when he met the ball. which
was most of the time, it simply
took off"
"If you want to see good
wrist hitter in action" said
one of the players, lust watch
this Buddy Lewis tie into a
fast ball. He gets his bat on
the leather, and his wrists turn
it into right field. There are
few first year hitters who can
pull ball the way Lewis pulls