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Show WARMING UP BIG ITEM TO HURLER. One of Most Vital Points to Pitcher's Success. One of the performances most vital to pitcher's success Is the stunt of getting warmed up properly Just before be-fore the start of the game. Too many pitchers look lightly upon the task. To the careless type of pitcher, the warming up Is merely A matter of going through a certain routine rou-tine to limber up his arm. To the student, stu-dent, it Is of a more serious nature, as he never falls to go about It systematically sys-tematically and scientifically. The pitcher who warms up in a haphazard fashion neglects his control entirely. Perhaps, on the last half dozen pitches he tries to get ills curve and fast one over the center of the plate. Isn't It reasonable to suppose that If he makes an effort to get every pitch over during the llmberlng-op period, his control will be much better from the beginning! There Is a certain type of pltchet that finds the first and second Innings Grover Cleveland Alexander. like stumbling blocks In his path. If he can get by the first two rounds, he can steady down and go the route. Bull players on the defense would much rather see a clean base hit made otT their pitcher than the gift of a base on balls. "Keep ahead of the batter," Is the constant advice of major league Inflelders to wildly Inclined In-clined pitchers, which Is a plea to keep the batter In the hole. Ty Cobb often requested some of his pitchers to warm up with a batsman standing at the plate, In order to induce in-duce better control. The old custom of worming up without a batsman, Is all right if the pitcher endeavors to put the ball In spots through the strike aren. Otherwise he Is tossing opportunity oppor-tunity to the winds. The great pitchers, like Johnson, Alexander and Vance, attempt to get the bull over the plate during the warm-up period. About fifteen or twenty minutes should be taken Tor this Important task, In accord, of course, with the pitchers' limitations. If he Is a speed bull pitcher, he hould start slowly till his arm Is thoroughly loosened, before using high speed. In the case of a slow-ball nr meillnm-snped worker, there Is less danger of Injuring the arm, and therefore, only the minimum amount of time Is necessary In which to pre pare himself. Try to get every ball over. Control first; then the other ' pitching essentials will follow rapidly. I : |