Until a broken ankle in 1902 slowed him, George Van Haltren was one of baseball’s best leadoff hitters; a .316 hitter with 2544 hits during his 17 seasons. After a disappointing 1903–.257 in 84 games—his major league career was over, and he went home to the West Coast where he spent six seasons in the Pacific Coast League (PCL).
George Van Haltren
A member of the Seattle Siwashes during his first year in the PCL, Van Haltren was asked by The Oakland Tribune—the paper called him “an ultra-scientific batsman,” to share his expertise:
“Every ball player occasionally meets other players who call themselves ‘place hitters.’ The assertions of the majority of these players are such that either they think that everybody is gullible, or else they are weak mentally themselves. They tell you they ‘can put the ball where they please,’ and that ‘it is easy when you know how.’
“Never take any stock in such twaddle. These place-hitters would be just the men to have around when the ‘fans’ are calling on the home team to ‘hit ‘em where the fielders ain’t!’ But when it comes to delivering the goods, I have noticed, they are generally short.
“As a matter of fact, the batter often tries to hit to a certain field, and sometimes he is successful, but no man can give a guarantee when he goes up that the ball he hits will take any special direction. If place-hitting could be carried out to the fine point that some players say they have it, they would be able to hit safely every time they came up.
“To the young player I would say: Don’t get in the habit of planting your feet on the ground and not moving them until you have swung at the ball. Get a stride and advance a little toward the ball as you hit. Do not step too far and accustom your eyes and hands to the change such a step makes. Learn to hit squarely every ball that passes over any part of the plate between the knee and shoulder, and devote the most practice to what you are weakest on.
“Learn to think and act quickly and to keep your head at all times. In a contest do not always do the same thing under the same circumstances. Give your opponents a surprise whenever you possibly can.”
By the time he arrived on the West Coast, Van Haltren was no longer able to give his opponents “a surprise” as often as he could before the ankle injury; he hit .270 for Seattle in 1904, he played five seasons with the Oakland Oaks, hitting .255 before retiring in 1909.
Van Haltren died in 1945 without ever drawing serious Hall of Fame consideration. A good argument for his enshrinement can be found here.
Baseball History Daily 
Ha ha! This is bad hitting advice for the modern player.