Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 134, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 June 1917 — THREE PITCHERS ACT AS PINCH HITTERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THREE PITCHERS ACT AS PINCH HITTERS

The old idea that a pitcher couldn’t hit is being rapidly dissolved. Ray Caldwell is the main pinch hitter of the Yankees. Walter Johnson is the leading pinch hitter of the Nationals. But the premier bird of them is Babe Ruth of the Red Sox. Ruth is probably the best hitting pitcher that baseball has ever known. George Slsler started out as a pitcher, and he may have challenged Ruth’s title, but not even the Brownie star is as feared as the big left-hander on the Red Sox staff. He is not only a consistent batsman, but he is as likely to crack one over the fence or up into the stands as any man in baseball. Last season Ruth had as many home runs as Tris Speaker or Joe Jackson, two of the game’s leading sluggers, who played in almost three times as many contests.

TWIRLERS WHO ARE HEAVY HITTERS.