Hitting
Hitting ability is the most important requirement of every baseball player. No matter how well you play your defensive position, the team cannot win without your hits. Even pitchers must be alert at the plate. Their sacrifice flies and bunts can win or lose a game. Your efforts in the field are wasted if you can’t produce runs because, after all, it is the score that Counts.
“Snuffy” Stirnweiss, American League batting champion in 1945, spooks for his fellow players when he says, “Hitting” is the most important thing in baseball. You have to hit before you score, Even if you get a base on balls, someone else has to hit to bring you home.
The big leagues want hitters. Every year the Scouts survey thousands of minor league parks and sand lots. They watch the good fielders, of course, but it takes a man who wields a big club to attract their attention. Several years ago Frankie Frisch, then Cardinal manager, sent Mike Gonzales on a scouting expedition to appraise the skill of o “red-hot” minor-league player. Mike looked the prospect over and wired back, “He good field. No hit!” The “red-hot” player remained in the minors. Without hitting ability he was only lukewarm as far as the big time was concerned.
But does that mean you should give up baseball if you are a weak hitter? Certainly not! You can learn to hit as the stars do. Study the basic rules and figures in the following pages and practice, practice, PRACTICE! Hank Greenberg, former home run clouter of the Tigers, punched the clock at Briggs Stadium every morning at dawn until he corrected a flaw in his batting. Ted Williams, acclaimed the greatest hitter since Ty Cobb, struck out sixty-four times his first season with the Red Sox because he couldn’t resist high, fast balls. Manager Joe Cronin took Ted aside and taught him to wait for the ball and to restrain his swing until the last possible moment. When Ted gained this new knowledge, his average soared to new heights. Everyone needs coaching and practice.
Now we’re ready to teach you how to become a good hitter. Let’s start from scratch and probe every angle of hitting, how to select a bat, the proper stance, grip, and swing. And remember confidence is the first requisite of a good hitter. Joe Di Maggio says. “If you go up to the plate knowing you’re going to get a good piece of the ball, that’s half the battle. If there is any fear in your heart that you cannot hit or that the pitcher might hit you, you might as well give up baseball.