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Show PITCHERS OF TODAY ARE ONLY GAMBLERS Simply Throw Ball to Plate and Take a Chance. Ideas on pitching, rather the reasons for the lack of it, vary. Joe Tinker was never a pitcher, but played left end of the Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance combination. He was the only batter bat-ter that ever consistently hit Christy Mathewson. Tinker believes that the reason there is so much poor pitching Is that the pitchers of today are not students of pitching, but gamblers. By gamblers he means that pitchers just throw the ball to' the plate and take a chance on getting it by the batsman. The general run of pitchers today la far removed from the average of 15 years ago, thinks Tinker. He laughs at the stories of unsuccessful pitchers that they cannot pitch ticause they cannot make the ball breal!, and points to Sam Jones, Howard Ehmke, George Dauss, George Uhle and a few others to refute that alibi. These pitchers surely succeed In making It break. There are in baseball today too many "ten-cent" heads. That is what Tinker thinks. Players do not give thought to their work. This does not 1 refer only to the pitchers, but to catchers, infielders and outfielders as well. Tinker recalled the game of 20 years ago. Players had to be drilled thoroughly in the minors before the majors ever considered them. Any time they made a mistake they were subjected to unmerciful criticism and then had to take it. That was part of the game to take It and not commit the same error a second time. Today the recruits come into the majors without with-out the schooling that recruits used to have and they are above criticism. They simply refuse to stand for it. To sum it all up, the trouble with baseball today In Tinker's opinion, is j that too many of the players are pitifully piti-fully stupid. |