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ARTHUR DEVLIN
jtold that Montes weakness was a high
FRED CLARK
of Pittsburg
N PITCHING and winning
your games I have often
been asked by devotees of
the American game how
much figure does brain work
cut
Many an honest young fa
natic has asked me that
question during the ten years
and more that I have been
pitching major league base
ball peering at my head
meanwhile as though he ex
pected some such reply as no
headwork whatever Many
an older and wiser baseball -
follower fortified by the
wondrous knowledge that comes to men after
years of squatting in the grand stand has asked me the same
thing in a modified form
How much figure does brainwork cut I dont quite know
myself I do know that no pitcher however powerful or agile
can hope to become a great performer without being thoroughly
equipped from the shoulders up The steel arm is desirable
the good eye Is even more desirable but without the little filling
of gray matter that is popularly supposed to Inhabit the skull
a pitcher might just as well pack his suit case and go back to
the quaint little village where he was first discovered It isnt
the iron in the arm because lots of longshoremen could snap a
pitchers arm In two with a single twist Its the combination of
brain and body the perfect co operation of mind and muscle that
makes a man a successful major league twirler
Most pitcherB who break into fast company and stay there
by consistently demonstrating their ability are men that went
through a long course of sprouts
before they got anywhere They
like hundreds of successful men in
other walks of life were forced to
look listen and learn before they
had anything like an
even chance to win
their spurs
Many things have
been said and written
about pitchers out
guessing batters and batters out
guessing pitchers and to tell the
truth there has always been a
question In my mind about the
outguessing proposition I have
seen so many Instances where
guesses went wrong so many hun
dreds of Instances that I am
about the last human being in the
world to pose as an oracle on the
subject of pitching psychology
Nevertheless there certainly is a
lot of psychology about pitching
a baseball Granting that a pitcher needs something more than
a clear head it must be admitted that the successful pitcher is
always a student There are a hundred and one little things
that every good twirler has In his repertoire a hundred and
one little things that the average baseball lover doesnt know
anything about I have always made it a practice before going
ilnto a crucial series to get some kind of authentic information
about the strength or weakness of every batter slated to face
me and once I know positively that a batter doesnt
like speed I feed him oceans of it If I find that
his weakness Is a low curve he gets that for a
steady diet
When we met the Athletics in the season of 1903
after having won the National league championship
I realized that a good part of the pitching burden
would be on my shoulders and I began making in
quiries about the weak and strong points of the
American league champions
Monte Cross who played on Connie Macks In
field in 1905 was known by me to bo a dangerous
hitter though his average was not high He was
the kind of a hitter who was alwayB bobbing up
with a hit at a time when a hit meant
trouble and just before the series start
ed I did a little quiet detective work
through friends of mine who knew the
game and knew Monte I had been
fast ball but when I talked to ma FRANK CHANCE
Gleaaon of the Philadelphia Nationals
---- -- - -- - - - - -
for a high ball he may lose his strength
on low balls because he has been contin
ually fed high ones by opposing pitchers
In that case I would try him on a low
ball and if it was found that he could
still hit that the only thing left would bo
a curve ball or change of pace It is
often -the case that a pitcher cannot de
ceive a Butters eyesight but ho
can deceive him mentally For In
stance most any batter can hit a
slow ball if he knows it is coming
The same is true in regard to a
fast ball but if he is
expecting a fast ball
and gets a Blow one
a strike out or a
weak grounder to the
infield will be his
best effort
Some batters a
few of the chosen
have no weakness
that the most studi
ous pitcher can detect Men like Hans Wagner and Lajole dont
care much what the opposing pitcher has to offer
I have often been told by my friends that a pitcher Is about
90 per cent of the game and have never failed to assure them
that nothing could be further from the truth A winning
pitcher helps a baseball team a whole lot of course but there
are eight other boyB on that team and nobody knows it better
than the winning pitcher The recent series between the Giants
and Yankees will prove my point
In that series I got away with every game in which I par
ticipated but I won because I received magnificent support
both in the field and at the bat Had George Wiltsef been right
or had McGraw sent in Ames or Crandall the story would
have been the same if the support had been of the same splendid
caliber The wonderful work of Devlin Devoe and Doyle
the wonderful work of tho whole team for the matter of that
made defeat practically impossible With that great machine
working behind me and with the greatest manager of them all
backing me up I simply couldnt lose Thats how much a
pitcher Is 90 per cent of the game
As a matter of fact it would be impossible to establish the
mathematical relation of the pitcher to a ball club Figures in
baseball are often misleading One pitcher may work brilliant
ly for 13 innings and have a 1 to 0 defeat marked up against his
record while on the following day another pitcher may luckily
win a 10 to 8 game It Is a matter of record that In the
season of 1909 Leon Ames of the Giants In finishing a 17
Inning game and participating In two extra Inning ties
pitched 30 consecutive innings without allowing a run and
yet did not win one of the games
From this it can be seen that the winning power of a
team must depend largely upon Its run getting ability To
wMBKBk
Mr m
MATHEWSON
reach an estimate of value we will say
that offensive play is half the game I
think that conservative That would
leave but CO per cent and the pitcher
could not be all of that I would say
that about 30 per cent of the strength of a ball
club lies in the pitchers box No matter how ef
fective a pitcher may be in tho box he cannot win
unless the team bats In runs behind him It Is
true however that the work of a pitcher can have
a very strong influence upon the work of the
rest of the team Disgruntled fans frequently
make the assertion that infielders and outfielders
will not support certain pitchers That Idea Is er
roneous Ball players always want to win no
nioason told me that Cross had fought against and overcome his matter who Is In the box It Is usually lack of control on the
weakness and had developed Into a murderer of the high fast part of the pitcher that disconcerts or demoralizes the infield
confidence because they uncertain to what
delivery Keeping uieasons aavice in mina i save wuas uum
ing but low curves during the series and had him helpless from
the start Had It not been for Gleasons tip Montes always
dangerous bat might have caused trouble In that aerleB for
there were some very close games before It was all over
The greatest strength of a pitcher aside from his control Is
-what the players call his mixture That means no more nor
Jess than what the word variety of fast and slow
balla his serving of this or that curve What we call the
j changa of pace the delivering of a fast and then- a slow ball
with the same preliminary motions and the mixing of a high
fast ball and a Blow curve are the success
ful pitchers best assets
Lovers of baseball have often asked ma
how I deal with a batsman whom I have
never faced and about whose batting ability
I kow nothing Every seasoned pitcher
has been called on often enough to meet
batters he never saw before and in such
pinches he must rely largely on luck
When I am facing a new batsman for the
first time I pay particular attention to two
things the position he assumes at the plate
and the way he holds his bat If for In
stance he holds his brt well up toward the
middle there isnt much use of sending him
speed Batters of this type are always ready
for speed and they can meet the fastest
ball a man ever throw A low curve on
the inside will do for a Btarter and If
such a batter goes after It and falls to
connect you have his number
The batter who stands back from the
plate with a long bat and a grip near
the end is the one who can send a low
curve Into the southeastern quarter of the adjoining section
While a batter may work hard and overcome a certain weak
mess that does not necesarlly mean that he becomes a great
fitter In centering his energies on overcoming his weakness
Players lose are as
will happen next The catcher may call for a pitch out
that is a ball thrown wide of the batter so that the catcher
can havo a clear throw to second to catch a runner who Is
about to steal The Infielders all see this signal and both tho
shortstop and second baseman leave their positions to assist In
making the play If the pitcher does not pitch out as expected
the batter may hit the ball through the spot left vacant and up
set the whole team Once they lose confidence In a pitcher In
a game It Is very difficult to regain It It Is not thatthey will
JOE TINKER
not support the pitcher On the
contrary it is the fault of the
pitcher who will not give them
a chance If the pitcher
has control everything works
smoothly
If it were true that pitching
is 90 per cent of the strength
of a ball club it would be log
ical to assume that the team
having the best staff of pitch
ers would always win the pen
nant That Is not true
The baseball reader
who pays attention to
records will notice
that the teams which
win the pennants al
ways have several
players who lead In
their respective de
partments And this
does not necessarily in-
cluda the pitchers For Instance the Baltimore club back In
the early nineties won three successive pennants wlfh pitch
ers whose names can scarcely be remembered
The hackneyed cry of What we need is pltchears could well
be changed to What we need is hitters base runners and field
era Without them there can be no pennants
Some of the best pinchers ever connected with professional
baseball have received bumps from sources so humble that
any false esteem they may have held for themselves has van
ished like the snows of last season Cy Young the noblest old
Roman of them all has been beaten by village teams The best
pitchers of the worlds champions not long after they had
trimmed the Cubs were beaten by the unknown Cuban teams
they faced during their late barn storming trip They pitched
good ball the kind of ball that would defeat any team If It
came to a matter of whole seasons record but luck the one
thing above all others that makes baseball the thrilling and
perfect game it is decreed otherwise There are times you see
when all the science and all the outguessing in the world will
not avail
I shall never forget a trimming I got
from a village team in Michigan Just
after we had defeated the Athletics for
the worlds championship in 1905 Frank
Bowerman and I went on a hunting trip
As soon as the natives of Franks home
town Romeo Mich knew that I was
his guest they came and begged us to
do the battery work for the Romeo club
In a game they were to play with the
club representing the adjoining
town We agreed and I am afraid that
our willingness cost a lot of honest
Romeo villagers everything except their
family plate The thought of defeat
never entered their minds any more
than It entered ours but the little rival
towns club came over to Romeo and
gave Messrs Bowerman and Mathewson
fresh from their big league triumphs a
touch of high life that they never forgot
They beat us 5 to 0 and I guess they
are celebrating it to this day I dont
know just how they managed It be
cause I was in perfect trim at that time
EH jb
HONUS WAGNER
I had everything as we say in professional circles and they hit
everything I had I didnt mind It much myself but I felt sorry
for poor Bowerman Ho had to keep on living there and I
didnt
The real test of a pitchers ability arrives when the oppos
ing team gets men on bases His responsibility is Increased
while his freedom of pitching motion is restricted He must
watch the base runner constantly and at the same time must
iiiiifrnB
SHERWOOD MAGEE
of Philadelphia
deliver the ball to the batter with the
least possible swing of the arm In
other words he cant wind up Some
pitchers find it difficult to get aa
much speed curve or accuracy with
the short arm motion as they do with
their usual swing This affects some
pitchers mentally as tho curtailment
of physical effort prevents them from
concentrating their mind on the man
at the bat At the sametlme the base
runners and frequently the coach
ers are constantly trying to annoy
them To protect Himself
the pitcher must try and de
tect some action on the part
of the base runner which will
indicate when he is going to
attempt to steal the next
base In this he Is mate
rially assisted by the catch
er Once the pitcher or the
catcher discovers when the
runner Is going to start the
remedy is simple Frequent
throws to the base will pre
vent the runner from getting too much of a lead and when
he does start the ball Is pitched out of reach of the bat
ter so that the catcher can have a clear throw to second
While the pitcher Is watching tho base runner he knows
that the base runner Is also watching him in an effort to as
certain whether the ball Is to be delivered to the plaw or to the
base Thereforevno preliminary movement on the part of the
pitcher must betray his intentions
George Van Haltren the famous base runner of his day
once told me that he could tell to a cer
tainty when certain pitchers were going to
deliver the ball to the batter This en
abled him to get a running start and many
times the poor catcher was blamed for
ajlowlng a stolen base when In fact the
pitcher was unconsciously at fault John
McGraw manager of the Giants spends
several weeks each season In
teaching his young pitchers to
overcome that kind of a weakness
The tremendous popularity of the
national game its popularity is grow
ing every year means that in he
years to come there will be hundreds
of baseball stars where there are doz
ens now Every healthy boy has it in
him to become a good ball player
though he may never care to follow
the pastime professionally Being a
professional player myself I may be
over fond of the game to which I owe
so much but I can think of many oth
er callings and many other pastimes
that a boy might better shun Base
SAM CRAWFORD
cf Detroit
ball Is always played out In the sunshine where the air Is pure
and the grass is green and there is something about the game
or at least I have always found it so which teaches one how
to win or lose as a gentleman should and that la a very ftnr
thing to learn
DONT NEGLECT YOUR KIDNEYS
Kidney troubles are too serious to
neglect Slight ailments are often
fore runners of dangerous kidney ill
ness and should be treated without
TveryPlelVTC
TillsAS
wry SA
r5pYixifi
T lvi V
delay J L
Richardson Red
Key Ind says
My back ached
as though it
would break I
IS without Intense
In pain My
ney3 were in
such bad shape
that it was nec
essary to- draw
the secretions The doctors said I
was beyond help I began the use
of Doans Kidney Pills and gradually
Improved until completely cured I
have not had the slightest trouble
since
Remember the name Doans
For sale by druggists and general
storekeepers everywhere Price 50c
Foster Mllburn Co Buffalo N Y
SOMETHING ELSE
The Professor An ordinary brick
will absorb a quart of water
The Pugilist Then my brothers no
brick
The Professor What do you mean
The Pugilist He never absorbed
that much water in his life
THREE CURED OF ECZEMA
When a child I suffered eight
years with eczema I could not sleep
at night and had sores all over my
chest We - had doctors and none
could do any good until my mother
saw the advertisement of the Cuti
cura Remedies In the paper We used
the Cutlcura Soap Ointment and
Resolvent and they cured me of
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I knew the Cutlcura Remedies would
do their work They had sores all
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face and in back of the ears so that I
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washed their heads and bodies with
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as the driven snow Cuticura Soap
and Ointment also cured my children
of ringworm I would not be without
the Cutlcura Remedies They are
wonderful Signed Mrs Violet
Cole 26 S Redfield St Philadelphia
Pa Oct 29 1910
Cutlcura Soap and Ointment are
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Australia Rich in Libraries
Victorias Australia five hundredth
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tion are read to the greatest extent
general literature and history receive
a good deal of attention
Sheer white goods in fact any fins
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the goods Try Defiance Starch and
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He Was Innocent
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What have you been doln asked
Johnny with a grin Harpers Month
ly
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Real happiness is cheap enough
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Tell the dealer you want a Lewis Singla
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A halting speech may be the result
of a lame excuse