Show LONG DRIVES ARE NOT SO FREQUENT RECORDS OF PAST EIGHT SEA SONS SHOW DECREASE IN NUMBER HOME RUNS HEAVY HITTING ON DECLINE faur jackera to the number ci of made in 1901 while last year there were only different reasons for the cause given by experts theory of manager me mc graw in 1901 homo home runs were made in the national league in 1008 1908 there were only in 1902 in the american league there were home runs in 1908 there were only in 1902 the national league had lust just been raided of many of its hardest hitters by the american league and made only 96 home runs so for purposes of comparison between the home run hitting of the present day and that of the early 1901 in the national league and 1002 in the american league are taken the year 1902 would serve for both were it not for the tha fact that the national league was suffering just then from the depletion in its ita ranks of sluggers caused by american league inroads the point Is that the drives to the boundaries b oun darles tor for the entire circuit are not as frequent by a good deal as they were seven or eight years yeara ago the records will show a falling oft off in number of home runs both collectively and individually why this seeming decadence in the making of the stalwart drives which send the batter clear around different experts give different reasons one of them attributes the falling off ob to the advent of the foul strike rule and the spitball saying these measures tend to discourage a P batsman from taking the tree free unrestrained swing that he would did he i not have h ave strikes charged to him when he fouls tile the ball another says it is the different construction of grounds while there may be reason in any of the foregoing explanations it Is probable that the scientific development ot of the tha game from year to year has haa had not a little to do with the curtailing of home runs no less fess an authority than john mcgraw who Is as keen a student of every angle of baseball as aa there Is says for fair one thing that the style of batting has changed batters nowadays go to td the plate less with an idea of getting g 1 in a punishing wallop than with studying and scheming with a view to hitting safely rather than hitting far they are governed more by the as aa lecta and phases of the game than they used to be team work the tha hit ind and run run and ara are corb more to be con considered si dered mcgraw also thinks the pitchers of the present study the batters more carefully than did their predecessors and suiting the to the individual batsman batsmen bats men increase the effectiveness of the pitching the foul strike rule ru leho ho thinks too tends to decrease the number of home runs and the construction st of playing fields may bear on an the subject all of which Is in line with the theory that scientific development of the tha game Is the main influence however whatever may be the morits merits of theories there are facts regarding home runs since the existence of the two present big leagues which furnish palatable food for or the fan A confirmed confirmed statistician could take the tha subject and explore it toi to the end of 0 his days and tire of the study |