a man will force himself to stand before the
swiftest and wildest pitching without flinching, the fearlessness that
can contemplate the probability of a blow from the ball without allowing
the judgment to be affected. Out of ten poor batters nine are so because
they are afraid of being hit. It is often asked, "Why are pitchers, as a
rule, such poor batters?" and to this the answer in my own mind has
always been that it is because they know so well the danger which the
batter incurs. There is perhaps no such thing as absolute fearlessness;
the batter who has once been hit hard--and all of them have--will never
quite forget the occurrence, and he will forever after have the respect
for the ball that a burned child has for the fire. But some men will not
allow this feeling to overcome them.

It is absolutely necessary, then, to first conquer one's self, to fight
down fear and forget everything except that the ball must be hit. To
some, this seems not a difficult matter, to many it comes only after the
most determined effort and schooling of the nerves, while to a few it
seems to be an utter impossibility. The instinct of self-preservation is
such a controlling power with them that unconsciously they draw away
from the ball, and, try as they will, they cannot stand up to the plate.
The player who cannot overcome this feeling will never be a good hitter,
though when he finds that he is a victim he should not give up without a
struggle. Some players have broken themselves of the habit of running
away from the plate by stepping back with the rear foot, instead of
forward with the forward foot, when in the act of hitting. Thompson, of
Detroit, who is a remarkably good hitter, steps backward instead of
forward. Others, like Hecker, of Louisville, step neither way, but hit
as they stand, simply throwing the body forward. Every expedient should
be tried before the case is given up as incurable. In my own case I was
forced to change from right to left-hand hitting. I had been hit so hard
several times that I grew afraid of the ball and contracted the habit of
stepping away from the plate. It was a nervous fear over which I had no
control, and the habit became so confirmed that I resolved to turn
around left-handed. I thought that in learning to hit the new way I
could avoid the mistakes into which I had before fallen. It took time
and practice to learn, but the result, I think, has been an improvement.
While not able to hit so hard