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Show SPITBALL 'IS DYING A Mil. DEMI Many of 1 he Big Leaguers Are Discarding the Saliva Specialty. Tribune Special Sporting Service. NEW YORK. Sept. 11. Arguments for and against the merits of the spltball will probably nover be extinguished as long as the freak delivery Is In vogue, and the cause- Is still alive for debate. Clarke Griffith of the Cincinnati Reds recently became entangles in an argument argu-ment on the saliva specialty. The Cincinnati Cin-cinnati manager, when In the American league, was a strong supporter of this stylo of pitching, but a scason'3 experience experi-ence in tho National league has altered Ills views considerably on the subject. ?uffi1'! cntcrtalnB the opinion that the spltball Is o0 per cent less popular this year than last. While there have been ireriuont rumors during recent seasons that tho moguls of the big leagues would try to sweep the "saliva style" of pltc.h-r'.,(?,?F. pltc.h-r'.,(?,?F. t,,c' baseball map by loglslatlon, Oriflith s belief is that this sort of drastic dras-tic action will be unnecessary. VJ'V; sn!t,jall is dying :i natural death." said the Red's leader, "and within two vears t me it will bo entlrolv forgcitcn. All pitchers, five years ago, wero 'spltball 'splt-ball crazy- especially the youngsters. The first thing they would trv to master would he the 'saliva.' Many promising KMi'l Snored curves and speedy, straight balls altogether. A few succeeded, but hundreds ruined their arms nnd sunk into oblivion.' According to Griffith's ideas, the pitching pitch-ing department in tho National league Is. on the whole, far superior to the twirling machinery in the American, and ho added add-ed that t has always been that waj He claims this state of affairs easily is accounted ac-counted for. when records show that fully i.-. per cent of the twlrlers In tho American Ameri-can league are disciples of the spltball. where, on the other hand, saliva fllncers are fev and far between In the National. J he statistic s of the present season, according to Griff, show that twirlcrs In the American league as a rule got late starts which the Reds' manager claims was directly duo to the spltball. "It Js harder to get control over the spitter .l.JLn,n ,nny othcr ball," emphasized the Old I' ox." "I think there will bo les3 splltcr ar-nfi ar-nfi nf. scas0 dinn over," added Griffith. Grif-fith. 1 he catchers are all out uga'nst t and the Inficlders also dislike it. as it Sr.a.,?,r.?vonl,nl,ve n&alnat fast fielding." Griffith pointed out another disadvantage disadvan-tage to the use of the "spitter." He says it prolongs games to the detriment of the sport. Batters spend more time up at the plate trying to cope with the spitter" than any other brand of pitched balls. One will notice this if a record s kept of the foul balls. Tho "spitter'' is a big time stealer, which alone is responsible re-sponsible for the extraordinary length of games In the American league this season. Griffith, no doubt, has the correct line of dope on the subject, and his statement state-ment that the use of the "spitter" is beeomlng less popular everv dav with twirlcrs makes It appear that It "is certain cer-tain to be forgotten a few years hence. t |