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Show KNEE-HIGH BALL IS QUITE HARD TO HIT 1 Some Pitching Is Easier Than Others to Batters. Big league batters have often been asked what is the hardest ball to hit. Of course, stlcksmlths can bat some particular sort of pitching more easily than others, but there is a general sort of rule covering the easiest and hardest hard-est deliveries to face successfully,! writes Jack Kofoed in the Philadelphia Public Ledger. The easiest sort is the one pitched in the "groove," about half-wey be-, J ealern Newspaper LnlonJ mim bailee. tween the waist and the shoulder, three or four Inches toward the hands ffom the outer end of the bat when fully extended. A ball hard to hit must be away from the plnne of the natural swing of the bat; that Is, above or below the point midway between the waist and shoulder. At first glance It would appear ap-pear as If there was no choice as to whether the ball Is above or below the natural swing of the bat, but according accord-ing to the rules of the game the vertical ver-tical limits of a strike are the knee and shoulders. About ten Inches Is the limit above the natural swing of Hie bat, while about thirty Inches is the limit below. Also, at first blush, It would seem to make little difference whether the ball was pitched at the outer end of the bat or the handle, In the horizontal plane. However, n ball pitched at the extreme outer end Is usunlly beyond the outside edge of the plate, depending depend-ing whether the batter Is standing away or "crowding." As most batters step Into the plate, bringing the bat beyond Its outside edge, it is better policy to pitch at the "weak end" the handle. Not even Babe Ruth can hit one very far with his knuckles. Hence, the hardest ball to hit, theoretically theo-retically and practically, Is a ball pitched knee high over the Inside corner cor-ner of the plate. A low curve, "hooked" over the Inside corner, and a fast ball, started at arm's length over the pitcher's pitch-er's head and angled down to the batter's bat-ter's knees, If Judiciously mixed with a fast ball or curve, Inside or out, and a competent "floater" will worry eight out of ten batters. Slim Sallee, as an example, lasted a long while after his arm was virtually through, because his superb control enabled him to put the ball In the hardest of places to hit. |