Show WHEN CATCHER MAKES MISTAKE THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS IT BY OSCAR STANAGE MO MONROE O La March 27 There ar are three bree essentials tom i L i- i e 4 They are Knowledge of the batters quick thinking and anil a a. good arm Of the three knowledge of tho the batters is the most important Study your hitters Find out their weaknesses Discern their strong points Watch them all the time Do Donot Donot Donot not let them cross you Into thinking they are arc weak on a certain point when they are not A man cannot break into an organization organization or or- and become a star catcher in a Low few weeks or months Experience is necessary He must watch the batters bat batS batters at every opportunity He lIe must listen liston to the tho advice ice of older ohler catchers He must watch their actions And above all aU he must work against making mak wak in lag ing the same same mistake twice When a catcher makes a mistake the whole world knows it Not only a game came but a pennant may depend on the catchers catcher's ability to call for fur the right pitch in in a pinch Take your time but do not seem deliberate Do no not hurry yourself into making bad throws Yet at the tho same time do not tarry too lon lone to make a perfect peg Watch the tho batters to learn what they are expecting Experience will teach you when a man is i set for a curve e and aud when he is set for a straight fast ball baU When Whon you catch the tho knack of just what the batter expects catching catching- is made doubly easy casy and the pitchers pitcher's burden is considerably les los Study your pitchers When you OU work workout workout workout out with them before the tho game find out just what their strong point is A pitcher may be strong on a fast straight ball one da day and the following follow follow- ing ml day lay might be just as strong on a curve Learn what his daily tendency is And depend on hi his strength for that game Do quick thinking When you yon are in a pinch call for the thing tho the I opposition least expects If your I pitcher has bag been throwing fast balls or I curve balls seemingly in preference switch I Cross the batters and nine times out I of ten you will catch them napping Mix up the pitches Do not depend on one ono form of but as I have said place your principal dependence in thO the pitchers pitcher's str strong ng point Do Dodt t put your pitcher in a hole bolo by calling for pitch The rhe pitching pitchin task is hard enough without increasing it Experience E will tell teU you when to call for a waste hail ban I Watch the base haae runners when you ou want to break up the tie hit hit and Never Nevel watch the tho batter The fhe base runners cannot but give giveaway giveaway away tho the sign n. n The batter will seldom drop it The Tho base runner instinctively will set himself after t taking a slightly longer on er JeD lead leai from front the sack and if you YOua watching a ch n him closely you JOU can define bj lu luo intentions It is a sort of intuition this catching catch catch- ing iDe- business Half of the battle is outguessing outguessing out out- guessing tho the other fellow and when experience ex cx- teaches you ou that the catching catching catch catch- ing job iob has been made easier caSler Hide your signals when there are runners on t the bases ases And J in particular lar Jar hide them when there is JS a runner on second baseI base baso I have found that pa pawing passing over the of giving in tho the si signals with the thc fiD fingers is the thc best host means Incans of the opposing players i l when any an- anare are on basses Last season I used a R. body motion to convey mr my meaning to the pitcher and and my mr signals si were so BO intricate at ti times nes that my own pitcher r had difficulty in understanding mc me meIn In one game ame in Philadelphia last summer Summers crossed me five times in one inning Even he lie couldn't understand understand under under- stand what I was calling for So what chance chanco would an opposing player have bave I And lastly watch vatch the other catch catch- ers ens All of them are arc good men or they wouldn't be playing You can learn something from them And do not any opportunity |