Show ON DOPE COMPARISON FULLERTON FINDS HOBLITZEL OF BOSTON AMERICANS SHADE BETTER SETTER THAN LUDERUS OF PHILADELPHIA Two Nearly Equal in Team Play Pia v Batting Strength and Fielding but Baseballs Baseball's Greatest Picks the American First Sacker to Shade National League Rival in the Worlds World's Baseball Classic f t By HUGH FULLERTON i r ri V r V 1 i 3 1 I II THE FIRST BASEMAN I. I Value In Value in Value in Value in Offense Defense Season Series Hoblitzel Luderus I THERE HERE arc are few ball players in the thc country about whose ability ability ability abil abil- ity there is as much question as there is about Dick Hob Hob- Dick S litzel From rom first baseman of the thc National league he hc retro retro Cradel until ho lie was not considered good enough for the tail tail- Hoblitzel end Cincinnati club in the National league five of which needed first basemen waived wai claim and he went to Boston There he r Fa Yh struck his old stride an and seemed as goo good a ball player cr as ns ever e I L although h he has played ed b by streaks the streaks the greatest in in the tho league for a n time and far off his work at nt another That he ho has lost los j Fong of his sensational speed around first is undoubted and his base running naming is is not what he promised r Hobb Hobby is a n left handed first sacker handles the ball like a flash along the line and makes the play down to second or across to third as ns handily n at as anyone That he is stron strong enough to hold holi the thc stead steady job with Del Gainor on tho the bench shows that Carrigan Carrigan Car Car- rj rigan an thinks he is going oin well and relieves us of the necessity o of figuring P Gainor in in this series save sa as ns a n 1 pinch hitt hitter r or a n capa t 4 blo bio understudy un if cl should be incapacitated in in any n wa way r r z Luderus is more like the old type of first baseman than thai r any man now in the thc game rame He lie is a n big hen heavy V footed flat-footed ball bal ballplayer player slow and amI a bit awkward in his movements an and only n a fair first baseman His Isis chief defensive strength lies in in the th fact that he lie is is solid and steady stend and nna that he makes an au excellent mark for the other infielders to throw at Ho is a n plodding earnest worker cool under all circumstances and just about as asgood asgood good a n player mechanically in a worM worlds world's s series as he ho would be bein bein bein in in an nu exhibition game Luderus has hns been a normal hitter ever er since he broke into the National league in spite sp te df af his slow slow- ness Hess lIe He is a n terrific driver 1 cr and und the thu fact that he plays on the Philadelphia grounds adds ls perhaps la 15 points to his percentage c because he lie hits hard towards right field The Thc majority of r his lo long g hits Juts arc over o or against ng the right field stone wall vall Batting Hatting against n Hooper and an Speaker will cut down his chance on the long Boston Doston field but the short wall wal at nt Philadelphia will help him an and handicap them then This season Luderus is is- rapping the onion to the tune tUnc of about 10 and keeping right on He is helped b by bythe bytho the tho fact that the pitching in in the National league has hns been worse this season than it hiss has been i in a n long timeTo time To 10 see how he ho is l likely kely to bat against Wood Shore Leonard Ruth nn and Foster I looked over over o his batting against ten National league lea uc pitchers who who arc similar to them in style tle Against these ten which included Toney Tone of Cincinnati Hn Ragan nn and Nehf of Boston and 1 I disc discovered er l t that mt his average crage against these ten was was a. a a rather remarkable difference The indication is that Luderus is not liable to be so formidable in the worlds world's series as one JOi might hl think from the bare averages Neither Hobby nor Luderus has hns been hitting tho left left-handers very cry well St Studying ing Hobby's figures against g five American league pitchers including Johnson Scott and Caldwell 1 I find fund his is batting average a must also be reduced considerably when ho lie faces Alexander Chalmers and Rixey who will beyond doubt carry the burden for Moran Neither man is n a good g baso base runner Hobby having baying some advantage o in that regard He gains in in speed taking 1 two wo bases going faster from second d to t third ird than from first firt to second Indeed in ill studying stud ng these figures fi it will strike you as rather remarkable that the pennant winning teams in inthe inthe inthe the two len leagues cs who ar are about to step out and battle for the worlds world's 5 championship are arc about the poorest base base- running n aggregations in either cither league ue and their first basemen aro fair fail representatives of the team Luderus is a n quiet phlegmatic and nud unemotional fellow with ith considerably more brains than tho the fans JUa may from his deliberate movements mo and lack of enthusiasm The Tho pitchers pitcher pitch pitch- give give- him credit for fur possessing possessing- when thc they judge er tell ers ers tell me that he is deceiving ing in this that 1 he looks easy to fool but is just justs just's as s likely l to be fooling the tho pitchers for after he h has looked bad had swinging at one ball he may kick the cover cr loo loose e from the next ono one of that kind He Hehns hatter what hat it is and will tr to pitch litch to has hns one bad weakness as ns n a batter a and Hl tho the Boston pitchers undoubtedly know try it If they have lUl good control they can cnn stop h him m. m but 1111 he has shown symptoms of tempera tempera- temperament rn- rn undemonstrative e is a n different t type pc He is also quiet and ment m nt He goes oes into the dumps damps when things thin s break badly His Isis failure at nt Cincinnati Cinc was due largely to a n protracted protract protract- ed el attack of grouch against men and conditions It is not likely that he will ill have Faro o such an nn attack durin luring during the Ute worlds world's series for he will trill go into it with high hopes nn and all ke keyed ed up He lie is that wa way way either cither at one extreme or orBy orI orthe the other By n. y the comparative figures Hoblitzel is the better hetter ball pla player cl for this series anti and neither he nor hi his rival is I likely to to cut any an great g figure fi rc in tho the final result The big chance for one ono of them to be he a n hero is for fOl some sumo Boston pitcher to Fet get careless careless and and then theu watch the the ball go goo over Cr that right riSh field n i in Philly hilly sufficient t to either cither decisive c claim to superiority superiority anti and we e emust Tho The difference between th these se men is IS not nol give C nl any and Y must go o to to the second baseman to learn leant more I Get out your pencils and anti dope lope them with me mc for tomorrow I V t v V Co Copyright lUlo lUl by b tho the Syndicate Srn Inc A V f k I |