Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 181, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 August 1917 — BATTERS DON’T START RIGHT [ARTICLE]

BATTERS DON’T START RIGHT

Modern Hitters Do Not Get Away From Plate Fast Enough, Says Billy Keeler, Old-Timer. Billy Keeler, who surely knew something about batting, says that the modern hitters do not get away fast enough from the plate, and seem to lose speed on the way to first. “There were lots of players in my time,” said Billy, “who could beat out any grounder that took more than one hop. Infielders, to get these fellows, had to come in fast, pick up the ball without one hesitating move and send it to first without stopping to take alm. In those days we chopped sharply at the ball and then went to first without stopping to see where the ball was going. Now, the batsmen don’t seem to start as they hit—they hit and then get under way, thus losing the little fraction of time that means everything when you are racing against the Infield.”