Imperial Valley press., 1938-03-30
TODANS
SPORT PARADE, 4.
hS1NYTtsD9
Bv HENRY McLEh.ORE

ST. PETERSBURG. Fla. Mafc1
so tUP)-Call it coincidence Il
you like. or even if you don't like.
but last year during spring train
ing the honorable Joe tDucky
Wucky) Medwick was quartered in
hotel room with the number OF
374.
1t was exactly .374. no more and
no less. that the honorable Med
wick hit during the 1887 season to
lead all National league batsmen.
The hotel was the Osceola Gram
atan, the town Daytona Beach.
This year when MedWick arrived
in ST Petersburg to begin spring
training, the manager of the De-
troit hotel, flanked by II bellhops.
three flunkieS and a buSboy, es-
corted him to the hotels best room,
as befitted baSeballS mightieSt hit
ter. The room had every known
sort of ventilation, including dor
mer windows. 1t locked out on a
park where SparroWS chirped and
larks hoped. 1t had hot and cold
running water. knee-action blinds,
and a carpet as Persian as any
cat.
Much to the managers astonish-
ment Medwick took one look at
the room, or rather one look at
the number on the door of the room
and refused it, The manager in
sisted it was the very best in the
house and that he must have it.
MedWick said he wouldn't have it
even if they gave it to him free
along with a paid up social Sc
curity slip.
His explanation was very simple
and to the point. The number Of
the room was 238 and Medwick,
as superstitious as a voodoo doctor,
was afraid that would be just the
percentage he would hit this year
if he lived in it. So he moved up
stairs. to a mean little room. al
most an attic number. 1t was dark
and it was dreary but on its door
it had a number that inspired
MedWick. 1t was room 403. and
that's just what MedWick hopes to
hit National league pitching for
this year.
I'm not saying I'm gonna get
that high" Medwick said. because
when you're on top, and everybody
knows you can hit, you oughta see
the stuff those pitchers blow UP
there at you. I'm telling you what
l hit stuff last year that was so
fancy, so ScreWy, that l didn't
believe I'd hit it until I saw the
box scores the next day. Hubbell
never throw me an easy one. Nei-
ther did that Mungo. Neither did
anybody else"
From this start Joe and I moved
into a technical discussion of hit
ting and he explained to me
phase of hitting of which l knew
nothing. Every good hitter has an
"imagincry zone" and when the
ball comes in there it gets swung
at. This zone differs with each
batter Medwicks zon~ for exam
pie. is much bigger than that of
the average hitter, and includes
an area that takes in what woull
be bad balls for a less powerful
hitter than Joe. He is so strong
that he can half hit ball and
knock it for a double or a home
run.
Joe doesn't try to outguess a
pitcher. When a ball comes into
his zone, he takes a whack at it,
be it a curve. fast ball, change of
pace. throw out or anything else
MedWick also dotes on hitting the
first ball and gets many of his
hits that way
"A good deal of the time that
first pitch is a sweet one" Joe
told me- 1T naturally would be,
because smart pitchers are always
working to get the edge on the
batter"
II began to get stuffy in room 403
at that point so I moved back down
TO room 238 and sat with a rookie
who said he would be mighty pleas
ed TO hit 239 in the National, being
as that would be a hundred points
higher than he hit in the Evangel-
inc league last year