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William Ewing

William Ewing.jpg Ball hit high to the in-fieldThumbnailsThe CatcherBall hit high to the in-fieldThumbnailsThe CatcherBall hit high to the in-fieldThumbnailsThe CatcherBall hit high to the in-fieldThumbnailsThe CatcherBall hit high to the in-fieldThumbnailsThe CatcherBall hit high to the in-fieldThumbnailsThe CatcherBall hit high to the in-fieldThumbnailsThe Catcher

The accompanying cut of Ewing is an excellent representation of a batter, in the act of hitting. He not only swings the bat with the arms, but pushes it with the weight of the shoulders. The position is a picture of strength.

In hitting at a high ball the bat should be swung overhand, in an almost perpendicular plane, and so, also, for a low ball, the batter should stand erect and cut underhand. If the bat is swung in a horizontal plane the least miscalculation in the height of the ball will be fatal. If it strikes above or below the centre line of the bat, it will be driven either up into the air or down to the ground. Whereas, if the bat is swung perpendicularly, the same mistake will only cause it to strike a little farther up or down on the bat, but still on the centre line, and if it misses the centre line it will be thrown off toward first or third, instead of up or down.