Show Baseball 1 1951 Hard on Pitchers By GRANTLAND RICE RICE- RICE RICE- VETERAN pitcher was talkIng talking talk talk- A ing lug about the troubles trials tribulations and woes that attack modern pitchers In the old days he said up to 1920 pitchers were throwing a comparatively dead ball Frank Baker earned his nickname of at run Home-run Ba Baker er with nine home runs one season Gil Hodges of the Dodgers already had nine this season season sea sea- son Eon before the first month was over Today a flock of ballplayers hit from 20 to 50 home runs a year So the pitcher cant can't afford afford afford af af- af- af ford to give good hitters a look good ing ball They must work for the corners corners corn corn- ers high and low Also there are too many short fences or walls where a pop fly is good for fora P a home run Theres another Grantland Rice matter that works against modern pitching In the old days most of the good pitchers completed completed com corn most of their games They were allowed to give up a few hits bases on balls and runs But today its litS different After a hit and a base on balls the bull pen gets busy At least two relief pitchers are hard hardat at work Somebody comes from the bench to talk it over with the pitcher pitch- pitch er The pitcher knows that one more hit or one more pass means his days day's work is over I 1 know what that feeling isYou Is I You Tou begin tightening up You j- j start steering the ball bail or tryl trying trying try- try I ing to steer it Anyway all your l J i confidence is gone How lIow many times this season have you seen one team use from four toI to I 1 six pitchers It happens a lot i i Youre You're In a rough spot when yon you know yo you cant can't afford toI to I make one more mistake Alex Alex- 51 ander under Mathewson l Johnson j I Young etc never had to face situations like that It might be whispered however that Alexander Matty etc had a much clearer idea of where the plate is located than most of the modern bunch Alexander rarely gave anybody a good ball to hit The same was true of ot Mathewson until Matty got well ahead Knowing he had to work in 40 or more games he always saved his arm when he had a good lead Now the outfielders can get in the game hed he'd tell tel you For example in 1908 Ed Walsh I worked in 66 games winning 40 i and saving 10 iti others Matty worked in well over 5 50 games winning 37 and saving eight or ten others When he pitched that play off game Q 1 tin 1908 1903 against the Cubs he could just about lift lilt his armS arm j S a h L v Taking Out the Gamble Everything connected with racing is supposed to be a gamble It doesn't quite work out that way With the big purses thrown onto the scene the art or science or luck of breeding has brought an investment in investment investment in- in vestment angle to the turf that is sound enough for many breeders to follow w with th a smile For example you can take the breeding farms of George Wideners Widener's Elmendorf Farm and Dale Shaffers Shaffer's Coldstream Stud at Lexington K Ky An excited statistician has figured figured fig fig- tired it out that in recent years these two breeding centers have i sold yearlings These horses I won a total of an average of each Their aggregate selling price we are informed was an average of each This is isan isan isan an average of some per horse profit for the buyer which in bulk is a handsome dividend and encourages future sales For many years Calumet through purses purses a and n d sales passed a or more rate each year car We have an Idea that no one stable will reach or come close to reaching the million dollar mark in 1951 Owner Jack Amiel has already lifted nearly from the Derby Great Rush won close to in the Maturity Stakes but this stable wont won't win very much more Certainly Mr Amiel has no vision of a big clean cleanup Jimmy Jones finally got another win out of Coaltown but Citation blew another start You feel almost the same way about Citation as you do about Joe Louis You remember great years and then to see these two brilliant ex- ex champions floundering Both at their peaks were rated with the best in the game Now both have lost stature and prestige by their closing efforts to handle time No one can handle time except the sun Even clocks and calendars wear out Natural Hitter Just what is a natural hitter I lance once asked Johnny Mize I guess you just like to swing a abat abat bat he said I know I always did I learned to follow the ball I with all the my eyes way Johnny Mize was never a fast or oran oran oran an active man He had a bad knee when he came to the Cardinals was sent to the Reds and came back to the Cardinals Ee He was supposed to tobe tobe tobe be through with wilh league big-league baseball back In 1935 That was 16 years ago But heres here's the Demorest Demon Demon De De- mon back under the Big Tent in 1951 swinging one of the most dangerous dangerous dangerous dan dan- bats in the game The chances are that an odd collection collection collection col col- col- col lection known as Mantle Morgan and Mize will have quite a bit to say about the Yankees continued success success suc sue cess this season |