Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 138, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 June 1913 — HANDICAP TO PLAYERS [ARTICLE]

HANDICAP TO PLAYERS

Stars Who Suffered Because of Size of Their Digits. Cy Beymour Found Great Difficulty In Controlling Ball Becausa Hia Hands Were 80 Small —Campbell Another Victim. It was the small else of his hands which kept Cy Seymour from being a great pitcher. When he first Joined the New York Giants, many years ago, he came as a twirler, but he found the greatest difficulty in securing control of the ball, because his hands are so small that he,could not get his fingers all the way around the sphere. Cy was finally forced to give up pitching entirely and go to the outfield, where his hitting, rather than his fielding, kept him in the game for a long period of years. Vincent Campbell, the fast center fielder of the Bostons, last season, has the same handicap as Seymour in regard to the size of his hands. Campbell’s mitts are far below the average In length and diameter, and the muffed files which he is guilty of are the result of this physical handicap, to a great extent. He Is also not so good a thrower as he would be if his hands were a bit more bulky. Campbell, however, played better ball last season than ever before.

Vincent is a speed marvel, no one excelling him in getting down to first base. But he has two weak points in offensive work. He is a very poor waiter, and so does not get on nearly so often as he would if he was able to force the pitcher to pitch to him. His great speed makes him k* hard man to Btop in the bases, but he is not on there so much as he would be if he could develop the habit of waiting to better advantage. Campbell hits IS points higher than Bob Bescher, but the extra bases on balls secured by the Redleg were more valuable than the extra hits made by the Boston gardener. t Owing to his inability to wait, Campbell went to bat more times officially than any other player in the National league last year. He was charged with 624 times at bat, and no other player reached the 600 mark, though 16 of them played In as many or more games than he did. This is a serious weakness In a lead-off man, who shotpd be on base more often by the pass route. Campbell, in spite of his great speed, is not a very clever base runner. While Bescher was stealing 67 bases last year Vincent was copping Just 10, both men playing in exactly the same number of games.