Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 106, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 May 1917 — ANY PLAYER CAN BUNT [ARTICLE]

ANY PLAYER CAN BUNT

Athletes Overlook Opportunities to Improve Themselves. Batting I* One Department of Game That Requires Consistent Practice, Whether Free Swinging or Scientific Form. Major league baseball players who spoil the chances for victory in championship sanies through failure to bunt correctly can blame themselves in nine cases out of ten. thus saith a wise manager like John McGraw. A month in the South ought to suffice to turn a doubtful hunter into a sure man if the player takes advantage of his opportunities, but the average player fails to show a disposition to correct the fault during the training period and bunting practically is considered a hardship by most athletes. One would think that a player would be sufficiently interested in his own welfare to practice bunting for ten or fifteen minutes every day. but as a rule the average player wants to get up to the plate and see how far and how hard he can hit. John McGraw remarked one day that the members of the famous Oriole team practiced all kinds of hitting for hours every day. The aggressive members of that team were not satisfied with the regular hitting practice which precedes every game. They went to the park every morning and became skillful through excessive practice. Willie KeeTer.thoTrotcdbrmter.wnsamong this crowd, and to these sessions he owed part of his skill. The team batting average for one season was over the .300 mark. “Ball players think they are becoming proficient in hitting with twenty minutes practice each day,” said Me 1 Graw. “They surely have the mistaken idea. The Baltimore club members used up the energies of every kid around the park for pitching duty, and when they tired the groundkeeper sent out for more. If there is one department of the game that requires consistent practice, it is batting, whether it be free swinging or the scientific form.”