Hornsby Felt Sorry Forpitchers
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Hornsby felt sorry for pitchers "doesn't belong in the major plained. "In no time, you'll be leagues." swinging at bad balls. The first rule Are .400 hitters extinct? When Hornsby hit .424 in 1924, his of any good hitter is to make the United Press International ter a level achieved by only eight only "slump" of the year occurred pitcher throw the ball in the strike men in this century and none since when he went 0-for- -8. Hornsby had a zone." NEW YORK Hitting a baseball Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941? composite .413 average for two con- Johnny Mize, another Hall of is considered one of the most diffi- Consider this: 1941 was the season secutive .400 seasons and from 1921 Famer who is considered one of cult skills to master in all sports. in which Joe DiMaggio hit safely in through 1925 strung together aver- baseball's greatest batting stylists, Ty Cobb, the most successful bit- 56 consecutive games, considered by ages of .397, .401, .384, .424 and .403 phrased it another way. ter in 115 years of organized base- some to be baseball's most remark- for a five-ye- ar mark of .402. "Baseball's rules allow you to hit ball, bit safely only 36.7 percent of able record. DiMaggio hit .408 dur- "When I go up to hit," he said, "I one fair ball each time you bat," he the time in his 24 seasons. Rogers ing that streak and .357 for the sea- feel sorry for the pitcher." says. "I've beard batters say, 'The Hornsby batted safely on only 42.4 son. Yet during the same stretch Asked how he felt about the game pitcher made me swing at his pitch.' percent of bis attempts in the most Williams tut in 53 of 56 games, and in of golf, Hornsby snorted. I could never understand that. Why successful single season anyone has two of those three hitless games he "I don't play it," he said. "When I would anyone swing at a pitch he had in this century. went 0-fo-r-l because of walks. He hit a ball, somebody else chases it" didn't want to swing at? " Yet the difference between a .250 batted .406 for the season. Williams, who played for the Bos- And then there's the advice of and a .300 hitter is an average of To have batted .406, DiMaggio ton Red Sox from 1939 to 1961, was Paul Waner, who averaged .333 as a 1.115 bits a week over the 25-we-ek would have needed 47 more at bats sometimes criticized for refusing to major league hitter and at least a season. A guy who makes 150 hits in and to have hit safely in all 47. swing at balls a fraction of an inch quart a day as a big-leag- ue drinker. 600 at bats is a .250 hitter and a guy Hornsby was an irascible man outside the strike zone. "Sometimes I see two baseballs who makes 180 is a .300-hitte- r. One is who bad a .358 lifetime batting aver- "If you swing at a pitch a quarter coming up to the plate at the same regarded as average and the other age and nothing but scorn for any- of an inch outside the strike zone, time," said Waner, who often nipped as excellent. one who hit less than .300. "Anyone they'll soon have you swinging at a bottle during games. "The trick is, What does it take to be a .400-Mt-- who hits .250," be once said, pitches a half inch outside it," he ex-- always bit the bottom ball.".