| Show BASEBALL IS NOT THE GAME CAME IT WAS VAS IN THE OLDEN DAYS Pitchers Are Not What They Used to Be Nor Are Good Hitters to Be Found on Ev Every ry Team By William Abbott NEW YORK Feb eb 28 The Tho fans are asked to believe that base running has slumped that present day pitchers have fallen down on the Job that heavy batting batting batting bat bat- ting Is dying out and so BO on What's wrong with baseball anyway Nothing quickly batted back John B. B Foster s secretary of tho the Giants' Giants club and andone andone andone one of the best posted authorities on the national pastime when asked his opinion if it baseball has really deteriorated In 1917 1817 under war conditions baseball scored a new mark for popularity de declared declared de- de dared Secretary Foster No sport un under under under un- un der similar conditions ever was so at at- at There Thero have b been en variations Inthe in inthe inthe the game itself but It would seem these changes have only made baseball more Interesting Yes It is absolutely absolute true that base running has slumped This Is not du to a poor crop of base stealers but rather to an unfair advantage enjo enjoyed d b by the pitchers which Is directly attributable to unsatisfactory umpiring S Pitchers nowadays are allowed to get got getaway getaway awa away with what we In baseball call a a. ahalt half halt balk The twirlers now particularly the left handers practically face first base batie when getting ready to deliver the tho ball Men Ien like Rudolph Bender Ruth and Carlson have this trick down to toa 1 II science They pin down the runner so tight that he dare doesn't take a step off the bag Rudolph though a right hander developed developed de de- de a peculiar warming up motion that made him a terror for men on base They couldn't tell whether he ho was going to throw at the plate or over to first For two years every club that Rudolph faced complained about hl his hla unfair style stylo In this way the se secured the whip hand Theres There's more lnore speed on the diamond diamond diamond dia dia- mond now than ever before but it Is simply a case of ot the runners being held too close to the bag Comparing the pitchers of today with the old timers Foster frankly admitted that the twirlers before the baseball war were head and shoulders over the stars now in the game It lt isn't pitching any more sighed Foster as he reminisced back to the old days on the diamond It Is Just throw- throw Ing The real science of twirling has gone pretty well up the creek creele Theres There's no one In the game now who can hold a candle to Keefe and Clarkson They pla played ed the game ganie as ns much with their I heads as their arms They studied carEfully carefully carefully care care- fully every batter and tried to outguess them using a variety of ot curves Matty Matt was vas the last pitcher we had of this class I The chief trouble with the toda today is that they are too mechanical I They will develop one good curve and then depend almost entirely on it Johnson Johnson John John- Johnson J son and Tesreau rely mostly on th their ir great strength and speed Alexander leans le-ans on his drop curve and so It runs While the pitchers are not what th they i used to be moving the tho rub rubber r back to sixty feet worked to the advantage of tho thA twirlers bec because use the Increase distance allowed them to put more stuff on on- the I ball their curves became much more de de- de This Is one reason why the tha number of batters is decreasing There has been a gradual change Inthe Inthe in inthe the type Of players the last ten or twelve years ears Managers in the old da days s 's preferred preferred pre pre- big men mell Their specialty was hit hitting I ting This class was WElS not fast or exceptionally wonderful tI fielders but they certainly could wallop the ball bail They were the original Swat l Take for instance on the championship Giants of 1889 As an outfielder he was almost Impossible Hed He'd probably aVerage average average aver aVer- age one muff mutt a game But when It came time to bat was a sensation I He could almost knock the cover off the ball type was characteristic of his period Then managers when selecting their players began to switch to a n smaller type It was found the smaller men could coull stand the strain better than the giants and they were much speedier The clubs to toda today today to- to da day taken collectively are much faster than the teams of years rears a ago o. o There were speedy runners and fielders In those d days YS but they were not numerous The change e for speed has made the modern outfields greatly greath superior to the old combinations com corn except only in batting Foster th thought the old time catchers cathers like Ewing Benton Kelly and even Sliver Flint with his badly crip crippled led knuckles could give the present crop many lessons in how to act behind behim the bat Consider also said the Giants Giants' secretary score secre tary who actually played the game gome himself himself him hint self back In the old flays clays that the catchers catch catch- ers now h have havo ve the added advantage of big big- mitts and a lot of protection the old timers didn't possess In my opinion Roger Hoger Bresnahan when he was at his best was WS the last really great catcher the game had Still the game has steadily become more attractive concluded Foster en even though h there have been variations and I maybe rather decided declines in some parts of baseball How to account for this is beyond I rn me I |
