Show JACK TACK JACK TAYLOR A A MEDI MEDIOCRE CRE PITCHER PiTCHER WAS WAS HARDEST H FOR FOR WAGNER TO I I Batting Slumps Skimps Kil Many ManyA A Good Coo Player Payer t p plumps Slumps lumps Are the Most Puzzling Thing in All Al Baseball and Are Hardest to Overcome 4 t By Hans Wagner HE pitcher picher I found the hardest to hit in all aU my years of o J r baseball was Jack Taylor aylor of the Chicago Cubs That is an answer to a dozen questions I have received i nd I feel fee sure it will wil be a surprise Most of the writers who Z I been kind enough h to su suggest est these subjects and who about the toughest pitcher variably asked if I ho were Math Math- son Alexander C Cy Young Mor- Mor Brown and so 80 on Not ot one ea ought of or Jack Taylor the s same me I had more In Jn getting safe saCe hits off Tay- Tay C. C Jy than any other man I ever er aCed He Ito was not a a wonderful pitcher icher at that He lie did ont have anything like the stuff of oC those I 1 ha have ve mentioned Somehow though 1 1 Z simply couldn't do a thing tung with i would size up tip the ball bal exact ex- ex act and know Just what was com con comS S fH ing but it didn't get mo no anyOne any any- f g. g Wy One season I wont ont for tor two to months i ROT ir more without getting a a single hit off oCt Taylor Talor I hit many of or them 1 Squarely on the tho nose and got line Une drives all an right but they would go straight Int into the hands of ot some out- out A thing like Uke that gets X C f goat one game at I had Jeen e up twice without touching riTa saor lor The he pla players ers on our curb 1 d d begun to kid me about tt it I. I 1 He Hey Honus Claude P K called caled to me in a joke joice ma maybe be his f weakness is left handed hitting VT Wh Wh- dont don't you OU turn aroun around This got a good laugh from Crom the rf 4 V J-V pla players ers as I had never batted bated leftA left left- lel- lel A handed in m my life ute Never could swing a a bat that way That might be a a good idea I Isaid Isaid said to myself walking up to the opiate v Being thoroughly disgusted and the whole thing as a Joke I walked up tip there and took th the tho op- op side of or the plate There was tta f JA a murmur of oC surprise from the fans the umpire looked as if It ho le IH en thought me crazy You Vou know where you ou are arc stand- stand v- v tr he asked Just then Taylor laid one over oyer I and I punched at the ball bal with lh m ray my Awkward left handed handed ler-handed swing swung swing swung f he bat like lice a a woman 11 HIS IS LEFT lIADEl yip n. n I I Ill I'll Il be doggoned if ir I didn't lilt bit that ball right on on the nose and w whipped JU i lt down th the right foul toul line lino for two Aliases Everybody including ho he players roared with laughter Taylor Taylor Tay Tay- lor br called caned me a lot of or names But that had turned tn tide For Fort Forthe t the tl the rest of ot the sason season I hit as well welli wel 4 i Noff off Taylor as the rest of or the pitch pitch- pich- pich ers And I never did bat hand ler-hand- left hand ed cd again either j. j A batting slump Is the most puzzling thing in all aU baseball It I its batter bater at some time or other and once the blight falls fals on a he ho has no mental rest until untila U cow Js a over Nothing he tries seems seem 2 26 to H o go right As a a result he getto gets get to to pressing trin trying to kill Idl the bal ban That naturally makes him worse y There is no explanation of or how ho hO a will wil get et that Personal Personally I think It Ita Ia a matter mAter of or the mind more mor than the eye ere and the muscles muscles' It I might interest you to know i that a majority of oC the ball bal players clayer vho ho received my request to submit suggestions gge lons for toJ subjects in this thi autobiography a asked for an nn of ot the batting slump anti and andI I how to get over I It I t J In the first place I believe e bele a batter batter batter bat bat- bat bat- ter after faUn falling two or three times time i f ty succession gets overanxious In any v case caBe I found it all al In the step t would either cither take too lon long a c step the ball ban too short too late too too slow too straight and a aien ien tendency enc to pull pul away As a a. result 1 I tried to hit everything e and never neve could get the pitcher picher in the hole Then iThen hen I found m myself sel unable to waland watt walt and nd became hopelessly confused contused T This In a way applies to driving Jn in golf gol Lots of them tell tel me they get ret in slumps like that It I also applies to every da day business and andi andt i t to life lite in general Once a fellow gets ml mixed ed up goes off ott his routine he starts plunging around and Is Js' completely off oft balance My y suggestion for a way to get Jet e out of th the batting slump Is Js the one everybody tells you but you cannot cannot cannot can can- not do do forget forget It H. That is easier caster said than titan done How can t a man forget torget a thing that Is the only ony thing irr ht his mind START T AT-T OvErt O AGAIN As As 45 I have Just said I overcame n iny my batting slump against Taylor y IY batting left len That might help others The main thing though is to look yourself over and nd start start right from the bottom as asIf If I you were learning all al over But n In i a careless way as if IC you didn't Ive lve a hang what happened A A batter bater should start In by tak- tak ll Il lpg g a short a-short step and an easy swing KS KS as if r he simply wanted to tap taJ the ball ban Time the ball bal and dont don't be he overanxious to hit Walt Wait Wal the pitcher pitch pitch- prout er trout out as long as-long long as you ou can If I you ou get get two or three balls bals then make malce makeup 1 up tIp your mind to hit the first good one Dont Don't Worry about a hit A batter bater In a slump should take an unusual lot of or batting practise and rid bat hat as If it I he heaR was waa aR experimenting Above all aIr things things dont don't blame blamo the j li bat t. t I have known many hitters rs hit I fa fo fO throw throwaway away their bats bat while in ina a slump and buy new ones Golfers Golf Golf- Gol- Gol ers rg who go wrong In their drives s sI I often ofen throw away their drivers and nd buy new clubs As' As a result th they y are re worse off ot than ever It I Is nev never r toe fault of ot the bat For expert batters hatters hatters-bi batters bier leaguers it It Is a good idea Idoa in getting out of oC ofa n a slump to simply hit the ball baU bal on tl the nose They should never try trY to place it 1 In my whole experience the most satisfactory batt batting I ev ever r accomplished PUshed was wh while e coming out of cr these slumps while with wih Louisville Louis Louis- ville We wo had been losing regul regularly T could not hit the ball ban and the theother theother theother other heavy hitters were in fn the Sams' Sams fix The fans farms had to ride That by bv the thea a way is the worst part of the batting slump It I vis dsa jt is-jt a sure s to how bad you look The Tho pla players ers notice It i long ber before re the fans On the day of or this particular game ame we were Pittsburg i and the fans knew that J I came from here there that the Pittsburg section Was wa my home I In ri time tho tie very first Inning they gave crave ave Th Ino 1 an extra extra hard har razzing Some IDu mouthed loud mouthed ones were begging beggIng th tiie club to take me home h wih with them that they were tired tred of or Booking at that Dutchman JAT JW lJ Inn DID flO o. o I Tannehill pitched for tor Pittsburg and nd he be was a n corking good pitcher hH th the same I rose out of or my and slammed him for or a home ryn un the first time up Later I got Rot Another nother homo home run Before Detore the day clay ay was over o I had four tour hits his My second second sec sec- ond home run which came in the ninth inning inning- won the tho game for us by a score of ot 2 to 1 1 My home borne runs were the only scores Louisville ma made do In all my m- time I think that gave glo me more satisfaction than any batting Latting lt- lt Lat bat ting stunt I ever did The fans tans did not try to wish me on Pl Pittsburg after aCer that None of ot us realized then that in a n short time t I would actually be bo in Pittsburg playing on the homo home team They never dr dreamed r jamed that Louisville would be out of r the hf league forever and that the whole team would be moved to Pittsburg Still that is what happened There seems to be some misunderstanding misun- misun I amon among a few tew I Iday day fans as to how I went to Pitts I bur burg I was never trad traded d tH there re o or sold I When Ven I got in the National league It was made up of or twelve clubs This proved a n failure The circuit was entirely too big I didn't know much about baseball baseball base base- ball bal politics in thos those days days das care care but but there was a lot of or hollering hollering holler holler- holer- holer ing from Baltimore and Louisville about being dropped out It I yas was particularly loud from Baltimore where they had the greatest ball bal bal club of ot that time Still Sti the Baltimore Baltimore BaldI Bald Bald- Balti Balti- more team with wih all al its stars didn't I pay So the league was cut down to eight clubs Barney Dreyfuss got the Pittsburg franchise and the whole Louisville team was moved over there Some of the Pittsburg players stayed sayed but not many I Ionly Ionly Ionly only know I was tickled to death to tobe tobe tobe be shifted over with a chance 01 or of being with m my own friends for or the rest of or my playing da days Copyright 93 In U. U S. S and Great Creat Japan and South b by North orth Norh American Alliance All l rights reserved rd Yr THE THEl TIE TEST OK OF A ASTAR I STAR TEAM |