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Show TWr"r 'wv Wtw s w w fr mwrr www rwwwwww & The Art of Pitching Control C ! J 1 ! EVER lms a ptclicr uccn suc i I ce.ssful in the big leagues, amoug b I the multitude of teams and sins ,1 "I m j .' I 1 covered by the term semi-profes- . i sional ranks or on an amateur , T team without control. No man u f hi ever become a star lacking this com- i ' aodity of baseball. It is as essential to J I the art of pitching as the tick is to the i I watch. I "He's got everything, but can't put 4 I them where he wants "em," Is the lament -J I of many a bigy league manager as he i& ? looks over a young pitcher and signs his jg L death certificate as far ns the "four j5 " hundred" of the game goes He means i by this criticism that the young pitcher has the ability to curve the ball aud to 0 j; make it take all sorts of freakish breaks j and jumps, but that he caunot be sure, A I when he lets go of it, whether it is going jj over the plate or over third base, to 1 tj ;; exaggerate a little for the sake of ij emphasis. A twiiler who walks batters constantly is valueless to .1 ball team, be-- be-- cause a smart leader on the other side , f will observe this weakness and Instruct tf,j bu hitteis "to wait him out." This means 'Ji that the batters arc to wait for the pitcher k lo throw balb, which the umphe will 4 ' call, and, If the pitcher lacks the ability , to produce, the men will then continue f'i to walk around the bases and the game ' . will be won without a hit. ', I Therefor, the first thing for a young 0 f md aspiring and perspiring pitcher to ', learn 13 to control the ball perfectly. This a see accomplishment has kept luauy a 1 . pitcher winning games in the big leagues jc lotig after nil his cunning as a curve ball i pitcher aud his speed had vanished. "Vic" i ! Willis, formeily of the Pittsburg club, continued to win in the big league when 4 K his speed was gone and his curcs refused ' k to break with the old sharp jump beciuue Jj i he had made a careful study of the butters J I 'hat he faced aud knew their "grooves." '? X 'l',s liad the uicest control of any man 5 working In the upper Btrutu during his j list two scasoiiB of baseball life, and if a player came to the bat who lie knew . detested a ball on the inside of the plate. h would pilch him Inside balls, and be v ;, sure wjicu the b.'ill left his hand that it j was going inside- Korluuatcl;, the batter w without a "groove" Hans Waguer, the v, (freat shortstop was on thy same club .j ' Uh Willis and he did not hae to pilch against the German. '; Other pltchcis who have lasted In the ;j hlg leagues through their ability to cou- ,J 'rol the hall IwvL' been "Cy" Youug, .j. ' Brcitcnateln and "Kid" Nichols, the lm- )', I ter two bcin0 old timers. Youug, the "1 I marvel of baseball, went through thre diuinct stages as a pitcher. "When "Old cr," then "Voting Cy," first tuc' his i :J kcad through the upper crust he had a 0 , Underfill fast ball with a hop on it thiit f Puzzled the batters. lie deiicndcd largely Jn 'his, and it was hits main pitching ' ' J't'for the first five or six seasons of j hh career. Then followed the war times, I hen STouiig, baited by a larger salary. , Jumped froai the Nat'ional League lute lt :he Auiericau, and many wise manager 4 "J the older organiatioii predicted thai . K louDg 0Uj uoL pjlcn Incii longer, be- cuse he was beginning lo lose his won jj j "rtul speed. "Cy" set about developing ' .Cur Ull, and produced such a puzulei i in hi line that he Was belter tban-ccr I I . JjohU pitching tv as largely ltistruuionUi mating Pittsburg for the world's cham A ploiiship in 1003, when the Pirates were placing the Bostou Americans. As "CyV age and waist measure increased, in-creased, bis curve ball refused to break for him and ho had to fall back ou his control with his speed loug since faded This was the third stage of his career as a big leaguer. And he remained and won games for four jcars in the big league on Iiis control alone, combining it with his accurate knowledge of the batters' weaknesses. Therefore ic is cudent that any player who expects to be n successful pitcher must have control of the ball. This can be obtained only by work aud cannot bo taught by correspondence school methods any more than fust nid to the injured principles or the ait of ruuning an automobile auto-mobile can. The skeletou of a formula can be supplied aud if tho young pitcher works diligeuDj along its lines lie should be able to "put them where he wants 'em." The first suggestion is to get some boy or young man not latctl ns so bright a star in the sut to which the young pitcher belongs, as he is himself, and induce him' to don a catcher's milt. Then let the incipient pitcher back him up against a good broad barn or some other natural backstop and plant a plal in front of him. Pitch nothing but htiaight balls to the catcher and devote all energies to getting the ball high on tho inside, low on the inside, or high on the oliUide or low 011 the outside. Then, about once lu eveiy five or six pitches, practice .1 "groover." which is a straight one right over the middle of the plate. It is a bad ball to pitch and only used by successful pitchcry when .the batter has them in the "hole," which means that the hitter lms three balb aud no strikes. To some batters it Is foolish lo "groove" a ball even when the situation is very pressing, aud many Wise pitchers prefer to walk n heavy hitter nnd take ' chance on the ucxt batter, "layiug it over for him." The catcher should alao act In the capacity ca-pacity of uiurire. coach nnd hitter. Lie must be fair in his judgmc-nt of balls, so that tho pitcher will get the benetit of an honost opinion on his pitching "Now, this fellow." stiys the catcher us the imagluary batter steps up lo the plate, "cau't hit a low one over the in- .sldc. Let's see you slip one through thcie," Then the pltchor tries to put the bull over the Inside corner aud keep it about the height of the average patter's knees, the low line for a strike. I "You got that one loo good,"' comments the catcher as he toses thp ball back. I "He would probably havo pickled it to 'the fence. Now tr. it aguin " So I he pitcher continues to practice I until he can get the ball over the inside and low. After pitching to a catcher Tor Uome time, let him install a dummy bat-;'1t, bat-;'1t, who is to step a a regular hitter j would, but must not bit the ball. Thit J dummy batter gics a pitcher a line 'l oU exactly the sort of a situation he faces it in a game, and he can gauge better the sjwr.y to throw the ball find can tell wher t'he Is getting them inside or outside 01 - over the plate. "Hubo" Marciuard, the sensationa ; southpaw of the GianLs, is a splcndic r example of a man who is a manufacture star through diligent application to lh 1 art of gaining control. Whcu Marqiian - Brat came to the Giants, in IMS, hi was announced as the man for whom , $11,000 had been paid, then a fubulous t price to give for a ball player. Manjuard ; started in a few games in the latter part of the season of 100S, and he lacked con- trol. He hit men and walked them and got the bases so full of runners that he lost all his self-possession and was help- ; less in the box. The newspapers clamored for his release, and the spectators hooted f him whenever he appeared on the held, derisively calling him the $11,000 "lemon." 1 ( "That boy's got everything except con- j trol," declared McGraw, the Giants' man- ( ager, and a groat judge of ball plajers, 1 after looking Marquard over. j Then McGraw went and got "Wilbert 1 Robinson, the old catcher of the Bnltl-, moro team and a man famous for belug able to develop young pitchers. ' 1 Mobhie." said McGraw, "this guy's got ' everything 111 the world on tho ball, but ; he lacks conttol. I hate to let him go because some other fellow will make a j great pitcher out of him and he will be winning ball games from mo some day. Will you come South with the club and see what ou can do with him':"' - "Uobbie" came Souih and he brought , with him a home plate made out of a thin 1 board which was carried easily. Kach ; morning Marquard and Kobinson could , be seen in some sqcluded corner of the . held at Mnrlin Springs, working always for control Robinson, with tho porlablo'i home plale, would pick the spot und drop! the scenery, which was the home plate. I, Marquaid would pace out the correct dis-j, tauce and they would go to it. ! ' "Now this guj Is a high ball hitter,"!, Robnibon would begin. "Don't try to put ( nil jou'vu got on the hall, 'Rube.' Keep,, out of that hole. Get the first one over andkeep the odgc on him," "Rube" would wind up and let go. "That's the way to cross them," Robin-sou Robin-sou would ( ommciil. ' Or if ihc pitch had been bad he would Miy. "Now gn e us a straight one where you , wnr.t it. You've got too much atufl. Don't ne it all That was the trouble with (he last one. It broke away down below the batter's kuees." For two .ve-irs Marquard went through ' this course in obtainiug control and the ability lo put the ball where he wauled ( it, studying the batters from the bench jaild learning their "grooves." The result its that the Giinls have a pitcher now who Is the sensation of baseball. H has no bigger curves than he had the first day he went into the box at the Polo Ground, perhaps not as big. but he has control. If a jouug pitcher can get a mil 11 like Robinson to coaqh him, he is i particularly lucky. "Robbie" does not i abuse and discourage a young pilcher, but 'jhe "kids" him along and gives hiin con- fidence in himself. When Ames, of the Giants, is discouraged, "Robbie" will say 1 lo him when they are both under the : I shower: J "It looked to me as if you were getting that curve of yours over better out there i' to-day, 'Red.' Lets tiy It out in practice : to-morrow. If you gel that cuno breaking break-ing right none of them will stop you." j Ames then begins to think about, hi I curve and gew confidence lu it. and studies 1 Its babita and eccentricities and "uucs It to j advontagc nfter he has rehearsed -with j Uobinsou and the dummy batter. B JOHN N. WHEELER. |
