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Show I INABILITY TO HIT LEFT HANDERS 1 DUE TO SIDE OF DELIVERY 'nTHT can't a left hand batter suc- . cceafuliy hit a southpaw twlrj-or?" twlrj-or?" Ths question was asked Doc Whlto, i.hg Chicago White feox pitcher, who "notonly Jhrows from the port side, but fllflf bats left handed, and who Is regognlzed ' as ono of the brainiest dingers in the TO: big leagues iTO , "I know one left hand hitter who 'Al can wallop a southpaw any old time ho It Iff iFv II mrh if i' y rjjj; DOC WHITE. 4A' . comes to the bat," was White's quick 3 : retort. j? "Who'" fll , "A gent named Ty Cobb, who draws S; wages from tho Detroit Tigers," was rr. the answer. til "Eut. seriously, Doc, what's the an- , swer? What is your theory?" "It is the simplest thing In thj "& world," he replied. Kf "The majority of pitchers in the big leagues aro right handed, are they not? "When you were a kid and played on the lots the majority of pitchers then were rfght handed. Isn't that so?" The original questioner admitted it was. "Well, then, Isn't It reasonable to assume as-sume that a ball player from his earliest ear-liest days to the time ho gts Into the big league hits against right handed pitchers twice as often as he does against southpaws?" This also was admitted. "Woll." continued White, "that's tho answer, and that's all there Is to It. "If tho big leagues should decldo to carry half a dozen left hand pitchers and only one or two right handcra you would find that In the courso of a very short time all these fellows who cannot hit left handed pitchers would soon bo able to solve the port side shoots." Tho lanky dentist admits that there is something baffling about a southpaw's south-paw's delivery to the average left hand hitter, but declares emphatically that If left hand batters made a study of southpaw pitchers and batted against thorn as much as they could In practice prac-tice they would probably overcome to a great extent their weakness. ''Take Ty Cobb, for Instance," added White. "I used to like to pitch against him when he first broke Into the American Amer-ican league- Ho was the easiest kind of a proposition for me. But now weil, I can't fool him any more, and no other left handcr can I don't care who he Is, "It Is claimed that Vcan Gregg, the Cleveland Bouthpaw, was the only man who could ecrvo up something Ty could not hit lost season," Doc asserted "This may be true, but you can gamble that If Gregg stays In the American loague very long Cobb will bo ablo to get to him." At this stage of the conversation Bobby Cranston, the old Georgetown catcher, butted in and said: "Doc, do you remember when you used to work that old fast ball on 'cm? Don't you wish you had it now?" That last remark broke up the fanning fan-ning bee, and Cranton had to beat It to the cyclone cellar. |