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THE STATTSIIAIT, SALEM, OnEGON
J5UNDAyiI0BNING.3IAY.23, 192G
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jtxpert Flays oh Diamond
Br ROGERS HOENSBT
- Every.boy. &1 one time or another, has known some chap
kT I nposmt? sinice-out ana victory, records to his credit
- rrf11: Yha seems to have nothing: at all on the ball when he
StL1 - faster company.- Likely youU remember the case
: ,ven A-arroii last year. 1 -
- frolV at Holy ...Cross pollege, was a pitching: sensation
lor three years. He had every college nine he faced' iir 1925
mpletely at his mercy and won every game; h In three years
" "VHaeoau nc osi oniy iwo games and won 49. So
i when the Detroit Tigers announced that he would play with
I ti01123, a "flop'Mn his first tries at big league base
Da1: . He laced Boston before a big crowd eajrer to see this
j : rXWf box Unmade
!' - one or two titner, starta Himn! tVia saeA. mt !
1 - v. , ; , owMJWAfc etui lie t ex ecuueu
j . to nxt his college stride. - . - : - vv -
- bmxnon sense-telU you that CarroITaabuty dito't lust
iaae away overnnrht. He's still wifh Twif on ham motd
I good in time, doubtless. For, ;if he's like others I've known,
e has just as good control, and; curves, and speedTas he had
i ? n hB Played against amateurs.: i Thfrdif ference In his rec-
f X of the men he faces.. What is the difference what is it that
' .young batters BO.oftendo wroiic? '
? ' . We big leaguers think that the major fault with boys' bat
timj is just-this: They: hit at-bad balls.
. f That im'tthe only fault in batting; there ire plenty of
' others that cut -down hitters . averages and help along - the
j pitchers percentages.- -But its the one;that bothers high
school and1 college fellows snost--major leaguers, , too. Let's
j-.j telk-aboutit. a v ! - -
j ; Eyery .boy who can handle a bat knows what the "good
i ball zone"- is. ? If. the ball is over the plate and -between . your
I knees and ahoulders, it's aistrike ; if it's high, low er wide it's
j a. ball;, The men who govern the rules didn't decide it that
way just toThe making-another regulation. JThey had a:rea-
? j sonand the reason : was that baUs ainrinir within that rec
tangle are the -ones a batter can most easily and. accurately
hiti Rule3 protect youi you see. if vou let . bad ones so bv.
I But everything is against you when you swing at- the bad
j ones;or if you don!tmiss altogether, jrontll probably loul off
I or hit An 'easy pop-up or grounder for aure out. -
l . r . ' 1 H K LOOKED GOOD,' BUT 7
J 'sLast season 1 had an opportunity to watch a sand lot
1 ame, .andlthe big rightfielderx)n one of the teams was a per
feet, example of what I mean. This fellow had a long, easy
swingat' the ball; and every move made me think he was a
real i batter. Then I saw him face the pitcher, and in five
;jtimes at bat he made only one single. He swung at anything
low halls he liked tiarticnlarlv; hut he hit atf imrtr Ahout v.
C eI7 pitch, no matter how far he had to reach for it. 'The re
suit wasthatin spite of his promise he did nothing but foul
or nu weaiuy into me grouna. . Jis one tut was a long clean
one and he made it when he swung at a good titch I !
vvneB 7011 re f 01 mat ruie aown
tli&C ou'xe ,redr ta go on with
yonr: butting tralntng. There are
serefsJt. things eTery; batter must
know',' and I'll take them up one
at Ctime. :-,
At the Theatres
-. Oregoa iCorlnne r. Criflith, and
Norman Kerry ia 'Mlle. Modiste.
byr Henry Blossom and Victor Her
bert, . , ' '
HeuigfThe Johnstotm Flood.'
4 i BIIh-lire acta TaaderlUe, and
pictures.- . v -
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t .The r ;rit one ; ties ; up closely
with the good hall rule. Keep your
eye on -the ball. 1 don't hare' to tell
you that you can't, connect square
lr with the norseWdeIf you're aot
matchlng , it eirery minute.t Vie
seen' fellows - who looked at the
pitcher, at ibe runner, at .the play
er through whom they wanted to
hit it. That bad. From the mln
jLJ the ball leares the pitcher's
V1 v the-instant it's -where you
Jteep -your eye on it. Nerer look
awayjf or a seeond.- i " !
Kataralness is an Important
part of good' batting. A good deaL
iaeaid-about correct batting form;
but .when. you Ve seen; the long,
lreeT swing) of Harry Heilmann,
Jtetrbit player .who -led the Amer
ican rleagoe in batting last . year,
and; the tremendous wallop of
BaTe RJith, and s the powerful
Jfchoke-swing of Jim Bottomley,
Urst .baseman withx the St. Louis
Cardinals when -ybuve seen i all
these and try to analyse them and
write , down. similarities of : form,
you'll find it pretty .hard . to- do.'
JThe answer rIsl, that -all pf tte
CTeat patters hare their own indi
tldnal istylee the styles that .are
easiest. : most natural , .for. them.
Outtirate, as far as possible, the
style of isving; and grip simplest
to you. I" don't mean that yon
should scorn adrlce from players
r coaches j who know good batr
ting; tseguently their hints will
l'clp tremendously. 3ut work in
those hln with .your own natural
batting-habits make -the two
work together, v" ".. - ',1 .
- Your stance at the .tlate should
fibjo be just what is easiest., for
you. .Some -piayera stand with feet
close together, others with them
spread, and" sot, on a line.- Erery
good batter -faces the -plate square
ly, so that -he can-meet the ball
wnea Its bat Is at the most force
ful point in jts arc . .
- . OrdinarUy j'd.adnse erery bat-
tedvto learn to step into the ball"
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as -he ,bats. rather .than to step
l backward. ' "Stepping In f means
adraneing the left foo.t. if you're
a right-handed batter ). toward the
j.Itcher as you swing.' I That i in
creases tie power you Impart to
the bat, and puts you in good posi
tion to; start your sprint. for first
if you connect. .. .Eren that is "pot!
a rliido-bound rale, although most
better practice it Telisiously. An
outstanding exception ii Al Sim
mona,' the. young -outfielder with
the young v outfielder " with the
Philadelphia Athletics who made
such a fine record in 1925, his first
big . league year. Simmons steps
back and still gets his hits. . Most
batters don't. - . - ;' -
f . Where la're you goipg 4o' grip
yourbat? That's unotberquestlon'
denends laraelr on' lndiridaal
-4Cerence.'s fcf course, there's
' i ie power fa: the f ree'swtsg wiUi
the bat held at its extreme tip; I
hold myjbattlhat. way, and, likely
that's' the reason I Trul been' aMc
to put -iasfalr hareof baUiiorer
tiietanca. ut .not aU good batJ
ters Use that grip. Jim Bottom-
ley, second high in the National
" "league 'la&t year, la a choke hitter
(that , is, Jie holds his bat about
six .inches . from : the tip and so
makes his Aits on sorter but ex
tremely powerful swings.) So are
Blades, Tpporcer and 4ther,-ood
batters on the Stl Louise team. '
..Ty Cobblias a. grip different
from both of these. He. hi U from
the right side of the plate, with
his right hand at the tip of bis bat
and ; his left about lire" inches
abore. We know how successful
he's found that grip.
: You hare your posltlon, your
grip. . The next thing is to meet
the ball.'' Tre already told, you
that your swing must be easy and
natural; It must aIso.be powerful.
To get the baximum of power, re
member three things t .' i
-; Swing your bat- in .one horizont
al plane. A . , -
Meet the ball at the "top" oil
the swing; time it correctly.
Don't forget the if ollowHhrough,
Swlsg ia One Plane f
The first rule is easy. to under
stand. If the bat is moving in one
plane- that is, if t's clrllng per-
tectlyjlerel with! the ground It's
going to delirer more' power
against the ball than it would if it
ere wearing . up and down .from
one lerel to another. , v
So train I yourself; to swing the
bat exactly on the plane in which
you plan to meet the ball. ; ; i I
Second time the saringroper
lj. .That means that you should
hear the eraek of bat and ' ball at
Just the instant the bat's gained Its
greatest momentum. Timing is a
mighty difficult thing to get ex
actly right; if every batter had it
down pat there'd .be a big Increase
In the home run cropi . The great
batters are the ones who hare per?
f acted their t timing HId Hans
Wagnejr.; Cobb, Kuth, Sisler of the
SU Louis JBrowns, Jacques Four-uier-
of Brooklyn. Friscb of the
Giants and others. ' r P
Don't think that,, Jus because I
say timing is hard to get exactly
right, it can't be learned. You can
improrei your - timing ; in baseball
Just as you can injrour golf swing,
your tennis swing- or your-' foot
ball kicking. Practice is the .thing.
Therenow, the young shortstop
who played . with St. : Louis last
year, proved this. Therenow came
to the Cardinals determined to im
prove his batting, and erery
chance he got : he, had somebody
pitching to him; He watched his
timing, along with the other ele
ments, and by the end of the sea
son he was a much better batter.
Follow- through! Here again
comes the parallel; to golf, tennis
and football. The bat should not
stop dead when it hits the ball,
nor immediately afterward. The
are should continue just as it
started; the bat should keep -on its
path while the ball is well on its
way. The : follow-through is the
logical conclusion of the swing,
and it's wrorth a lot of work. I
wish erery young batter -could
watch the work of men like Bot
tomley, or Zack Wheat,, the veter
an Brooklyn star. It's his vigor
ous follow-through .that takes
Babe Ruth oil his balance when he
swings and: misses; and it's the
Btrength of this follw-through
that, imparted to the ball when it
mets the , bat, gives is. such long
rides. You don't have to lose bal-
SEE n
WHO IS
COMING U
aace like Buth. of course. I ner
cr, fall, although I put a lot: of
strength and rhythm into my. fqlr
low-through. ; C"! : i;fe ii'
A mighty good way to develop
fallow-through is to take year bat
and practice free swinging prac
tice the long level are; and the con
tinuation of. the swing far around
to the i front. There's plenty j of
rhythm in a good baseball swing;
try to get It into your own urork.
A Write-siuip Adds Force
,Ive told you 1 that i you should
meet the ball at the. "top" of the
swing. There are two more things
to ; know, about . meeting the balL
One is a snap of the ; wrists that
gives to the bat. Just-at the mo
ment of ' impact, an '.added bit of
force. Until the moment or tnis
snap, the bat angles backward
from yDur,hands; the snap brings
U suddenly ont to the perpenaieu-
laf from ; your body, i so that it
smacks the ball squarely instead
of at an angle. .
The second question is that of
Just' where to. plan on hitting , the
ball directly.- over the . plate and
opposite your body, or out in front
and: slightly ahead of your body.
Both-methods are-used , in big
ieague play. Stuffy Mcjnnls, right-
handed atter with the Pittsburgh
Pirates, hits in front of the-plate.
as xlo many others. I hit the ball
in closer toy body. It seems to
be a question of individual differ
ences again. Ernie Vick you'll
remember his name in football 'as
well as baseball, for he was AU-I
American center at the University
of Michigan, as well as a star
catcher, before he Joined the Card
inalslearned to improve his hit
ting considerably by connecting
out in front of the plate,
i Bunting is a form of . batting
that absolutely demands hitting
out in front. Yonr purpose 'in a
bunt is to lay the ball down where
it's going to be hardest, for any
body to fteld. In effect, you stop
the ball ttead at the plate; your
bat doesnt crash into it as in an
attempt at smashing a hit, but
simply meets it and drops it on the
ground at your feet .with Just
enough force to keep it out of the
4 ; ,
ARRIVES TUESDAY
At the
4 What a title!
What a star!
' What a film!
mm Jw
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DON'T
JMISS
HIM
catcher's reach, but -not enough to
carry it too .rapidly to any other
neider.
. Since the purpose of the bunt is
to stop the ball and put It where
it can. be, fielded with most diffi
culty, the direction in. which you
send it must be controlled. You
must be able to tap it along the
third base foul line, or toward the
Crst sacker, or to the pitcher's
richt if you know he has difficulty
in fielding that kind of ball. And
in order, to control the bunt you
must hit it out in front. You
can't do it accurately if you try to
meet the ball over the plate, even
with-your. body. Some men always
tep tar to the front of the bat
ting ' ' for' a bunt.
fSc ep that in mind when .you
try to bunt. Remember, too, that
jou don't get the free swing into
bunt. The bat is almost motion
less, as a rule, when It meets the
balL Most players choke their
bats when they bunt
Here's a. warning on - bunting
do your best to hide your inten
tions from the men in the field. ;
Of course, there are plenty ot sit
uations when the bunt is a conven-j
tional jplay when there; are less
than two' down-and a man -is on
hr8t, for, instance and usually, to
such situations the third baseman
and the others will play In. But
If you hold your bat in ; Just the
same way you do for a. full swing
(at least until the pitcher delivers
the balif, don't look where you're
planning to send the ball, and oth
erwise veil your plans, you've a
much better chance of making the
bunt effective.
Bunt Out of a Slump
Because bunting", is so different
irom swinging into me Dan, .
mighty useful in another way-
aiding a batter to worfcout or a
hitting flump. There's never Deen
very good explanation xpf a
slump it's something, that simply
comes. Right in the midst of their j
season,- frequently, big league
staggers find themselves unable .to
connect their battingieye is bad.
their swing feels awkward, their
average goes down. Apparently
they're doing things properly, too.
But the base bits jlon't come.
George Grantham, of the Pitts
burgh champions, hit the ball hard
all season and right np to the
world series in 1925; he haji been
particularly effective against rl?hl
handed pitchers. But in the aeries
he couldn't hit a thing a slump
got hold of him. '
Often bunting comes f in handy (J
In a case like that. When you
find you're unable to hit the ball
at your usual average.' forget "ev
ery kind of hitting but bunting for
a while. Practice all you can on
bunting for a few days; gradually
work- -back into Tegular batting,
taking it easy as you go. It's
no-4ban likely that you will find
the "break,, from free swinging has
chased, the .f ault, out of your bat
ting and that you're able to make
your 'share of the hits again.
I've heard high school baseball
players exer a lot of extra energy
in discussing, the virtues of 'place
hitting." . When they get to the
big leagues, thevil forget it. Some
men. according to report, learn-to
pot the ball where they. Wat It -
t smash to -ief tSeld. or through
shortstop, ,or down a . base line-
but -I've ever run onto any. of
them.. -' ' i . -.. f;
' About the only place hitting wo
do in the big leagues is try tohit
back" of the runner, Tather 'than in
front of him. ' Forl'instance. if -a
man is -on first v.aa tne order is
given to sacrifice him to seooiul, a
grounder down toward first is Ca
lot mote-, likely to be successful .
than ene toward second. Thema
son la Uit he'll be, nearer .tLfScl
9Btlaed , on par T.)
OREGON
Today Monday
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.... -v. 1
With
NORMAN KERRY
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Knowing that men and young msn of qui city
Enjoy Wearing: Good Clothes
I have maugrurated this plan to .help .them .wear
GOOD CLOTHES AND
"PAY AS. YOU
WEAR THEM"
DOWN
, . ' J
Buys, any suit or
overcoat and the
balance in
10 PAYMENTS
Pay $5.00 Down on a Suit and the balance in 'Sv
N 10 Weekly PaymenU !
Men's Athletic Under
wear English Broadcloth j
PI. 3D
2 Suits $2.75
Collar Attch. Shirts
$1.45
2 Shirts $1.75
f: Fancy Lisle Hose
4Ge 4alr
SEE MY
mm
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CREDIT PRIVILEGES
AT.CASH PRICES! ,w
bJLb my a ir iTjr tni a tt to,tti The shop with
WINDOWSll ToSng
385 STATE STREET
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Tf. WSURETTE: "Americans
will become a music-loving
nation only if from childhood
they are taught in the
. schools to , understand good
.: music"
Slkouflldl - Be A 1
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TIT
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each
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Terms $15 a month. - Your preseh
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taken as part payment
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Includihg 'over thirty-five .standard high grade inakeaj ' Pianos you will be proud to'
fown. OQld on terms as low as per monti. i 'S' r ' 4 "
NEW
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$925
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PIANOS ! $395 dp
Wei;will accept your silent piano as part payment toward any player piano; . We' also
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'Ve have instqek the; world's greatest re-enacting pianos in the' Knabe ,6i Eischer
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