,transcriber's ,notes ,misspelled words have been corrected4 ,these are identified by symbols in the text and are shown immediately below the paragraph in which they appear4 ,details and other notes may be found at the end of this text4 ,illustration3 ,acme ,,george ,,herman ,,ruth ,,babe ,,ruth',s ,own ,book of ,baseball ,by ,,george ,,herman ,,ruth ,a4 ,l4 ,,burt ,,company ,publishers ,new ,york ,published by arrangement with ,g4 ,p4 ,putnam's ,sons ,printed in ,u4 ,s4 ,a4 ,,babe ,,ruth',s ,,own ,,book ,,of ,,baseball ,copyright1 #aibh by ,george ,herman ,ruth ,by arrangement with ,christy ,walsh ,illustration3 ,knickerbocker ,press logo ,made in the ,united ,states of ,america ,,contents ,,chapter ,i ,,page ,the ,baltimore ,river front--,street corner baseball--,days at ,st4 ,mary's--,the first contract--,a word of advice from ,brother ,gilbert--,the big leagues at last--,the climb upward--,aid from team-mates--,a #gj1jjj contract--,looking back #c ,,chapter ,,ii ,baseball like a battle--,two big divisions1 offense and defense--,what they are--,old-fashioned defensive play--,the shift to modern offensive baseball--,great defensive teams of history--,some pitching marvels--,pitching the keystone of defensive play--,offensive stars of today #ai ,,chapter ,,iii ,pitching the keynote of defense--,the pitcher's job--,why young pitchers fail--,control as a pitching factor--,how to obtain control--,alexander the old master--,shocker gets by on 8nothing0--,shawkey gives a few words of advice to 8rookies0--,practice counts most #cb ,,chapter ,,iv ,studying the batter--,shocker a marvel--,his system--,pennock's style of pitching--,his pitching rule--,hoyt weighs in with advice--,pitching to weakness and strength--,playing the comers--,mixing them up--,quinn a bluffer--,how ,hoyt uses his fast one #dd ,,chapter ,v ,the pitching motion--,how ,zahniser betrayed his curve ball--,ruth's tongue gets him into trouble--,sherry ,smith catches runners off first base--,hinkey ,haines' experience--,slow ball pitching--,why it is valuable--,the type of hitters who are fooled by slow stuff--,experience counts--,fielding aids pitcher #eg 8,hinkey ,haines10 replaced with 8,hinkey ,haines'0 ,,chapter ,,vi ,what makes the curve balls curve--,the fast ball--,the 8hook0--,freak deliveries--,the spit ball--,the screw ball--,its purpose--,the knuckle ball--,rommel and ,pipgras use it best--,curve ball pitchers who have made baseball history--,fast balls that are tricky--,a few yarns of pitching greatness #ga ,,chapter ,,vii ,the infield--,the greatest play of the #aibg world series--,joe ,dugan pulled it--,lazzeri spikes ,pirate guns--,great second base combinations--,the double play--,the snap throw to base--,great arms in baseball--,travis ,jackson gets ,jake ,daubert's goat--,casey ,stengel tells one--,what to look for in infield play #ib ,,chapter ,,viii ,playing the outfield--,the kid idea--,stars who have scintillated in the outfield--,great outfielders of all time--,their methods of play--,what the outfielder needs--,what he must look out for--,playing the hitter--,making the throw--,some great outfield plays--,sam ,rice's great catch--,harry ,hooper1 the old master #ajf ,,chapter ,,ix ,the catcher--,his importance in the game--,directing the play--,famous batteries of other days--,how the catcher can make or break a pitcher--,handling high fouls the catcher's toughest job--,john ,grabowski's great play that resulted in a change of rules--,holding men on bases--,the snap throw to first--,signs and what they are--,ray ,schalk the master #aba ,,chapter ,x ,team play--,what it is--,what it means--,signs and how they operate--,the pitch-out--,backing up the throw--,the cut-off play--,how it was invented--,the coaches1 and their duties--,miller ,huggins puts one over--,the ,mc,graw coaching system--,a world series episode--,the old practice of signal stealing--,how it operated--,out-of-date now--,dangers of signal stealing #ace ,,chapter ,,xi ,cobb is game's greatest natural hitter--,is master of style--,a few ,cobb yarns--,swing hitters and choke hitters--,importance and weakness of each style--,gehrig's hitting style--,what makes him great--,willie ,keeler's motto--,the value of waiting--,correcting batting faults #adi ,,chapter ,,xii ,hitting style--,naturalness at the plate--,simmons' freak batting stance--,joey ,sewell has ideal stance--,the ,ruthian swing--,how it develops power--,selecting the proper bat--,timing an important factor in hitting--,how to improve timing and swing #aff ,,chapter ,,xiii ,hits are valuable only in so far as they score runs--,levsen pitches two hit game and loses--,real test of hitting is ability to smack ball when hits mean runs--,the danger of 8tightening up0--,hitting slumps and how to overcome them--,bunting1 its value and use--,great bunters and how they operated--,the bunt attack and how it is put over #ahj ,,chapter ,,xiv ,waiting 'em out6--,frank ,chance puts one over--,jamieson smacks the first one--,not always easy to wait--,trying to outguess the pitcher--,the intentional pass--,putting on the hit and run play--,eddie ,collins a master at it--,huggins expresses an opinion #aie ,,chapter ,,xv ,the batting order--,the kid idea--,getting the most out of hitting strength--,the lead-off man--,combs and ,waner are good--,no reason why pitchers shouldn't be good hitters--,a few examples--,heaviest hitters bat third and fourth--,that's the scoring position #bji ,,chapter ,,xvi ,team work counts--,the hit and run1 and when to use it--,the squeeze play--,urban ,shocker puts it over great--,a bit of advice on base running--,great base runners the game has seen--,schang pulls a good line on ,cobb--,the slide an important feature of base running--,spiking no longer done--,the story of how spiking began #bbd ,,chapter ,,xvii ,huggins a psychologist--,how he put it over on the ,pirates in the world series--,baseball superstitions--,mc,graw turns one to advantage and wins an important series--,college men in baseball--,what they have contributed to the game--,ball players who make good outside of baseball--,zane ,grey once a professional--,billy ,sunday and ,governor ,tener #bdj ,,chapter ,,xviii ,the men who play--,what they are like off the field--,mere human beings like other people--,the road trips--,days in the hotels--,fads and fancies--,koenig an expert pianist--,hoyt a great reader--,huggins a financial student--,shawkey a great hunter--,baseball1 with them1 not a game but a business--,the men who play are business men #bec ,,chapter ,,xix ,how the average fan looks on professional baseball--,it is a business but a short lived one--,why publicity hurts sometimes--,keeping a physical edge--,the value of training--,what it takes for success in baseball--,a few rules for the young player #bgj ,,chapter ,,xx ,some baseball laughs--,the 8battles0 with the umpire--,tommy ,connolly puts over a fast one on ,bob ,veach--,joe ,dugan's comeback at ,jack ,scott in the world series--,bozeman ,bulger's colored umpire story--,charley ,o',leary weighs in with one--,sam ,jones tops it--,a laugh on ,rube ,lutzke #bhd ,glossary of baseball terms #bii ,,babe ,,ruth',s ,,own ,,book ,,of ,,baseball ,,chapter ,i ,the ,baltimore ,river front--,street corner baseball--,days at ,st4 ,mary's--,the first contract--,a word of advice from ,brother ,gilbert--,the big leagues at last--,the climb upward--,aid from team-mates--,a #gj1jjj contract--,looking back4 ,my earliest recollections center about the dirty1 traffic-crowded streets of ,baltimore's river front4 ,crowded streets they were too1 noisy with the roar of heavy trucks whose drivers cursed and swore and aimed blows with their driving whips1 at the legs of kids who made the streets their playground4 ,and the youngsters1 running wild1 struck back and echoed the curses4 ,truck-drivers were our enemies3 so were the coppers patrolling their beats1 and so too were the shopkeepers who took bruising payment from our skins for the apples and the fruit we 8snitched0 from their stands and counters4 ,a rough1 tough neighborhood1 but ,i liked it4 ,there in those crooked winding streets ,i staged my first fight1 and lost it1 ,i think4 ,there too ,i played my first baseball4 ,there ,i learned to fear and to hate the coppers4 ,perhaps it was there1 too1 that ,i learned to control my pitches4 ,for tossing over-ripe apples1 or aged eggs at a truck driver's head is mighty good practice--although ,i don't recommend it to the boys of today4 ,many people thought ,i was an orphan4 ,i wasn't4 ,my folks lived in ,baltimore and my father worked in the district where ,i was raised4 ,we were poor4 ,very poor4 ,and there were times when we never knew where the next meal was coming from4 ,but ,i never minded4 ,i was no worse off than the other kids with whom ,i played and fought4 ,i don't know how ,i happened to be sent to ,st4 ,mary's school4 ,as a matter of fact it wasn't so much a school as it was a home where kids like me could be cared for and trained and taught as they should be4 ,all ,i remember is that ,i was a loose jointed1 gangling dirty-faced kid in knee pants playing in the street1 where one day a round-faced pleasant little man in clerical garb came over to talk to me4 ,i thought he was a priest and ,i called him ,father1 and tipped my cap when ,i spoke to him4 8,not ,father10 he said1 smiling1 8,just ,brother--,brother ,gilbert40 ,then he told me that ,i was to go with him1 that ,i would be given a fine home and taught things that would make me into a useful citizen4 ,i didn't want to go4 ,i liked the freedom of the street2 liked the gang of youngsters ,i played with and prowled with4 ,but ,i went4 ,for a while ,i wasn't happy4 ,i missed the crowds1 and the dirt1 and the noise of the street4 ,i missed the other kids4 ,i even missed the policemen and the beatings that came from the shopkeepers when we were unfortunate enough to fall into their clutches4 ,as ,i look back at it now ,i realize that ,i must have been a real problem to the ,brothers4 ,but ,brother ,gilbert stuck with me4 ,i owe him a lot4 ,more than ,i'll ever be able to repay4 ,it was ,brother ,gilbert who finally struck upon the thing to hold my interest and keep me happy4 ,it was baseball4 ,once ,i had been introduced to school athletics ,i was satisfied and happy4 ,even as a kid ,i was big for my years1 and because of my size ,i used to get most any job ,i liked on the team4 ,sometimes ,i pitched4 ,sometimes ,i caught1 and frequently ,i played the outfield and infield4 ,it was all the same to me4 ,all ,i wanted was to play4 ,i didn't care much where4 ,as ,i grew older1 ,brother ,gilbert encouraged me more and more4 ,at sixteen ,i had developed into a pretty good catcher and was beginning to hit pretty well4 ,i was tall and skinny in those days1 and from some of the pictures that still hang on the walls over at school ,i guess ,i must have been about as funny looking a kid as ever got a trouncing for cutting classes to go fishing4 ,there were a lot of fine men connected with the school in those days4 ,in addition to ,brother ,gilbert1 there was ,brother ,mathias4 ,what a friend he was1 as ,i found out during #aibd and #aibe when things were breaking bad and ,i needed friends as ,i never had needed them before4 ,then there were ,brother ,albin and ,brother ,paul--men whom ,i still see frequently and who never fail to send me letters of congratulation every time ,i do something worth while4 ,these men are among the very few people who call me ,george4 ,to the rest of the world1 and particularly to the baseball fans ,i'm 8,babe0 and have been ever since ,i broke into baseball4 ,to the members of the ,yankee ball ,club ,i'm 8,jedge40 ,that's a name that ,benny ,bengough tacked on me some two or three seasons ago1 and it has stuck4 ,but to the ,brothers down at ,st4 ,mary's ,i'm ,george1 and always will be4 ,it's a funny thing1 incidentally1 how many times a year ,i get letters asking me how ,i got my nickname4 ,some of the newspaper boys made a pretty good yarn out of it one time4 ,they said that when ,i was a little kid ,i always wanted to play ball with bigger boys1 and when they wouldn't let me play ,i'd cry and howl until ,i had the whole neighborhood disturbed4 ,the big boys1 according to his story1 nicknamed me 8,baby0 because ,i cried so much1 then shortened it to ,babe1 as kids will4 ,it's a shame to spoil a good yarn like that1 but as a matter of fact the story is all wrong4 ,a man named ,steinam1 who was coach of the ,baltimore ,orioles when ,i joined the club in #aiad1 gave me the nickname4 ,the first day ,i reported at the clubhouse he said1 8,well1 here's ,jack's newest ,babe now40 ,and the name has stuck4 ,i've been 8,babe0 ever since and ,i suppose ,i will still be 8,babe0 when ,i'm an old1 old man with wobbly legs and long whiskers4 ,they tell another story about the way ,i happened to get into league baseball1 too4 ,according to some of the newspaper men1 the brothers at school tried me out at everything in the world4 ,they had me doing work in the garden1 and they tried me out at carpentry4 ,they had me try bookkeeping for a while1 and about everything else they could think of4 ,but ,i couldn't seem to get the hang of any of them4 ,finally 7and don't forget this is a newspaper yarn and not a confession7 ,brother ,gilbert sent for ,jack ,dunn1 owner and manager of the ,baltimore club4 ,dunn came over and according to the story ,brother ,gilbert got him off to one side and said3 8,jack1 ,i've got a young fellow here that ,i want you to look over4 ,i don't know that he's a ball player1 but ,i'm sure he must be4 ,they say every boy can do something well and ,i've tried this youngster at everything else4 ,it must be he's a ball player40 ,true or not1 you've got to admit it's a good story4 ,as a matter of fact ,brother ,gilbert was responsible for me getting a chance4 ,he used to coach our baseball team1 and he liked the way ,i did things4 ,lots of times he would point me out as an example to the other boys1 as a baseball player you understand1 and finally1 when ,i was eighteen he wrote a letter to ,jack ,dunn telling him about me and asking ,jack to come around and see for himself4 ,now baseball managers don't usually look for prospective players on schoolboy teams4 ,and ,i imagine if ,st4 ,mary's hadn't been convenient and handy ,jack wouldn't have paid any attention to the letter4 ,but it was only a few steps from his office to the school and he had nothing else to do so he came over4 ,i'll never forget the day ,brother ,gilbert called me over and introduced me to ,jack4 ,i was flabbergasted4 ,i hadn't known about the letter and the idea of shaking hands with a real professional baseball man was almost too much4 ,jack was mighty good to me and talked for quite a while about baseball4 ,finally he got me into a uniform and out in the yard4 ,he had me pitch to him for a half hour ,i guess1 talking to me all the time1 and telling me not to strain and not to try too hard4 ,i was a pretty fair pitcher in those days if ,i do say so myself1 and at the end of a half hour ,dunn called a halt and went into the office with ,brother ,gilbert4 ,in about a half hour they called me in and ,brother ,gilbert explained that ,mr4 ,dunn thought ,i would make a ball player and wanted me to sign a contract with the ,baltimore ,orioles4 ,since ,i wasn't yet of age1 ,brother ,gilbert explained1 ,mr4 ,dunn would take out papers as my guardian and would be responsible for me when ,i was away from the school4 8,how about it young man10 ,dunn asked me1 8do you want to play baseball80 ,i guess ,i must have come near falling over in my excitement4 ,did ,i want to play baseball8 ,does a fish like to swim or a squirrel climb trees8 ,i didn't even pause to ask questions4 8,sure10 ,i said1 8,i'll play4 ,when do ,i start80 ,but ,brother ,gilbert stopped me4 8,wait a minute1 ,george10 he said1 8this is a serious business4 ,boys play baseball for fun1 but you're a man now and you're taking a man's job4 ,you know playing professional baseball isn't like playing on the sandlots4 ,you'll find the men on the ,baltimore team know a lot more baseball than you do4 ,and it won't be easy4 ,besides10 he added1 8,i want you to understand all the arrangements4 ,mr4 ,dunn has agreed to pay you #fjj for the six-months season4 ,that's approximately #be a week4 ,will you be satisfied with that80 ,looking back now of course1 six hundred dollars doesn't look like much money4 ,but that day1 there in the school office1 it sounded like a fortune4 ,and twenty-five dollars a week6 ,why ,i'd be as rich as ,rockefeller1 ,i thought4 ,and for playing baseball6 ,i never even hesitated4 ,if ,brother ,gilbert expected me to do any serious thinking he certainly got a disappointment that day4 8,sure1 ,i'd like it10 ,i said1 and said it fast too1 for fear ,dunn might change his mind4 ,and so it was arranged4 ,a contract was drawn up1 and ,i signed it4 ,then ,i beat it out of doors to tell the rest of the boys4 ,in the years that have gone by ,i've had a lot of thrills4 ,i got one when ,i pitched my first world series game4 ,i get one every time ,i hit a ball over the fence and ,i got a big one that day last fall when ,i hit my sixtieth home run and broke my old record4 ,but none of these could compare to the thrill that came the day ,i paraded out to the playground and told the rest of the boys that ,i was signed to a contract--a real1 honest-to-goodness professional baseball player6 ,less than two years ago ,i sat in ,colonel ,ruppert's private office in ,new ,york and signed my name again--this time to a three year contract calling for #gj1jjj a year4 ,the newspaper boys were on hand1 and the photographers1 and the whole baseball world made a great ado about this signing4 ,but honestly1 that new contract for the largest salary ever paid a ball player didn't give me half the kick ,i got that afternoon back in #aiad when ,i signed with ,jack ,dunn to play ball with the ,baltimore ,orioles at #be a week4 ,speaking of that last contract signing1 reminds me of a good laugh ,i had at the expense of the newspaper boys4 ,there were a couple of dozen of them sticking around when ,i signed1 some of them fellows who had been traveling with the ,yankees for several seasons2 fellows whom ,i know intimately and well4 ,yet in their stories1 every one of them wrote about me signing that contract with my left hand and some of the papers even ran pictures showing me signing left-handed6 ,how they managed it ,i don't know--for as a matter of fact ,i write with my right hand now1 and ,i always have4 ,i'm left-handed in everything else ,i do1 but when it comes to writing ,i'm just as right-handed as any right-hander you ever saw4 ,it just goes to show that people take a lot of things for granted4 ,they don't observe things closely1 particularly things about which they feel confident4 ,most of the rest of my story everyone knows4 ,i went with the ,orioles and was fortunate enough to make good4 ,in fact ,i never for a moment thought that ,i wouldn't4 ,i don't believe ,i was cocky and ,i don't believe ,i was any fresher than the average rookie who gets a chance to sign a contract--but ,i was confident4 ,i played for ,jack ,dunn for a month and at the end of that time he raised my contract six hundred dollars more1 just doubling the original amount4 ,at the end of the second month he added another six hundred4 ,and right here let me say one thing4 ,i've heard a lot of talk and read a lot of stuff in the newspapers about club owners being tightwads and all that sort of thing4 ,if they are ,i have never discovered it4 ,in my baseball experience ,i've found them fair at all times1 always willing to pay a man what they considered he was worth4 ,never in my life have ,i ever been a serious hold-out1 and never have ,i had any very bitter salary arguments with my owners4 ,of course ,colonel ,ruppert may be an exception4 ,many people tell me he is4 ,and he is the only man ,i've had to do business with since ,i've been in the big-money class4 ,but he certainly has been fair and square always1 in all his dealings with me4 ,the tip-off on that is the fact that it took us less than twenty minutes to agree to terms in #aibg1 when ,i signed my last contract4 ,in #aiad ,jack ,dunn sold me to the ,boston ,red ,sox4 ,i was in the big leagues sure enough4 ,i've never been back to the minors since4 ,in #aiad1 after ,i reported to the ,red ,sox ,i got into four ball games4 ,not many1 but a start1 at least4 ,the next year ,i was in forty-two4 ,since then ,i've never been in less4 ,going to the ,red ,sox was a great break4 ,in those days the ,red ,sox were as much kings of the baseball walk as the ,yankees are today4 ,then ,i was on the same club with ,bill ,carrigan1 one of the finest chaps ,i ever knew1 and one of the best coaches of young pitchers there is in the game4 ,with the ,red ,sox ,i really began to learn a little baseball4 ,we had a great pitching staff in those days4 ,joe ,wood1 ,dutch ,leonard1 ,ernie ,shore1 ,hugh ,bedient1 ,george ,foster--what an array that was6 ,and chaps1 all of them1 who not only know how to pitch themselves1 but fellows who could teach others as well4 ,joe ,wood was so good as an instructor1 in fact1 that he's still at it--coaching baseball up at ,yale where ,i see him quite often4 ,a young fellow couldn't have been with a better outfit to learn the game4 ,while ,i didn't realize it at the time1 ,i was learning some real baseball from two other fellows on the club1 too2 learning lessons that were to help me a whole lot later on4 ,these two were ,harry ,hooper and ,tris ,speaker4 ,i've always maintained1 and ,i still believe1 that ,harry ,hooper was one of the greatest outfielders who ever lived4 ,as a defensive player ,i believe he rated even higher than ,tris ,speaker1 and that's going-some4 ,it was from these two that ,i learned a lot about playing the outfield1 and it was their coaching and their example which made it easy for me to switch to the outfield later on when ,i joined the ,new ,york club4 ,in the ,red ,sox days ,i didn't think much of becoming a slugger4 ,i liked to hit4 ,all fellows do4 ,there isn't a man in baseball today who isn't happiest when he's up there at the plate with a stick in his hand4 ,but it was pitching which took my time in ,boston4 ,and one of the proudest records ,i hold to this day is that of having pitched the most consecutive scoreless innings in world series play4 ,and another accomplishment of those ,boston pitching days which still makes me grin every time ,i think of it1 occurred in a game ,i pitched in ,detroit4 ,in that game1 in the ninth inning with nobody out and the ,red ,sox holding a one-run lead1 ,i struck out ,bob ,veach1 ,ty ,cobb and ,sam ,crawford in a row4 ,no home run in the world ever brought a greater kick than that4 ,as to my home run hitting--well1 ,i suppose ,i get a hundred letters a season asking me about my first home run4 ,to tell the honest truth ,i don't remember exactly when ,i made it1 or who was pitching at the time4 ,i suppose it's all written down in the records somewhere1 but ,i'm honest when ,i say ,i don't remember4 ,i know it was sometime in #aiae4 ,during my playing days in ,boston ,i made a lot of friends and liked the place a lot4 ,when ,i was sold to ,new ,york ,i left with a great deal of real regret4 ,even now when ,i go back to ,boston for a series it's just like going home4 ,i don't believe ,i have any more real friends any where1 or any more boosters1 than ,i have up there at ,fenway ,park where ,i started my big league career4 ,i went to ,new ,york in #aibj and ,i've been there ever since4 ,i hope ,i can remain there and finish my big league career with the ,yankees4 ,new ,york has been mighty good to me4 ,like all young fellows1 ,i've made mistakes4 ,several times ,i've got away on the wrong foot4 ,once or twice ,i've been in bad with the baseball authorities4 ,i've figured in rows with the umpires and fights with fans4 ,but those days are over4 ,i know better now4 ,tommy ,connolly1 the umpire1 and ,i hold one joint record4 ,the last time ,tommy was forced to kick a player out of the ball game was back in #aibb4 ,i was the player4 ,tommy has had a clean record since that day4 ,so have ,i4 ,that's the last time ,i have had a serious run-in with an umpire4 ,during the years that ,i've been in the big leagues1 stories have been printed about me that were complimentary--and a lot of things have been said which weren't exactly compliments4 ,i've had my ups and my downs1 and there have been times when it looked as though my baseball career was over and finished4 ,in #aibe when ,i collapsed in ,asheville1 during the spring training trip1 a lot of people figured ,i'd never put on a uniform again4 ,that sickness taught me a lesson4 ,it was my own fault4 ,i took life easy all winter1 put on a lot of fat and overweight1 then tried to boil and fast myself into shape in a couple of weeks4 ,it can't be done4 ,all through the years though1 from first to last1 ,i've had one lot of friends who have stuck by me4 ,that's the kids4 ,i'm proud of my record in baseball1 and ,i'd be ungrateful to say otherwise4 ,every time ,i drive in a run1 every time ,i hit a ball over the fence or hear the cheers of the bleacher fans ringing in my ears ,i get a great kick4 ,i suppose ,i always will4 ,the first year ,i broke into baseball ,i got one fan letter--and that one was from ,brother ,gilbert4 ,last year there were #bj1jjj letters in my mail1 from every part of the globe and every state in the ,union4 ,i had a letter from a ,brahman priest in ,india1 and ,i had a letter from a condemned man in a ,cuban jail4 ,i had a letter from an eight year old boy in ,germany and another from a college professor in ,japan4 ,to answer them all would be impossible4 ,but ,i like to get them4 ,seems to me as though they're part of my pay4 ,but ,i'm not kidding myself4 ,the 8razz-berries0 are just as easy to collect as the cheers4 ,the people who cheer me from the stands or write me letters aren't interested so much in ,babe ,ruth as they are in something else4 ,they're interested in baseball4 ,all ball players realize that sooner or later4 ,what a game it is6 ,no wonder a fellow gets a kick out of being in it and part of it4 ,no wonder we're proud1 all of us1 to be ball players6 ,,chapter ,,ii ,baseball like a battle--,two big divisions1 offense and defense--,what they are--,old-fashioned defensive play--,the shift to modern offensive baseball--,great defensive teams of history--,some pitching marvels--,pitching the keystone of defensive play--,offensive stars of today4 ,you know a game of baseball is like a battle4 ,one outfit digs in behind the barb wire of good pitching and great fielding and the other side tries to shell them loose with a barrage of base hits4 ,just like war1 it's a battle of defense against offense and the best organization wins4 ,if you happen to be a baseball fan who reads the newspapers you've probably noticed that before a world series or any other big series the writers always print long stories of comparisons between individual players4 ,they point out that ,lou ,gehrig1 for instance1 will hit a ball further and harder than ,joe ,harris1 but that ,pie ,traynor can go farther to his left than ,joe ,dugan4 ,that's interesting--but so far as doping out the winner of the series is concerned1 its bunk4 ,and it always gives the ball players a laugh4 ,for ball players know that it isn't individuals who count4 ,it's the way a team plays as a whole1 that determines its offensive power or its defensive strength4 ,smart ball players and smart managers consider offense and defense as units knowing that it takes nine men to do the fielding and nine hitters to make up a batting order that will score runs4 ,that's where ,miller ,huggins is a smart guy4 ,hug doesn't worry about the other fellow1 and he won't let his players worry4 ,before we went into the world series last fall the boys were sitting around the clubhouse punching the bag and 8barbering0 a little about what we might expect in the series4 ,shawkey and ,shocker and ,pennock had been discussing the ,pirate hitters and how to pitch to them when ,mark ,koenig broke into the conversation4 ,mark is a nervous1 high strung fellow who takes his baseball mighty seriously4 8,i guess this ,wright is quite a whiz10 he remarked4 8,they tell me he can go a lot further after a ball than ,i can4 ,and ,traynor is getting a lot of play too at third4 ,i wonder if ,joe and ,i will be able to hold our own with them40 ,hug overheard him4 8,listen10 ,hug said1 and it was one of the smartest remarks ,i ever heard4 8,you fellows don't need to worry about the ,pirates4 ,in baseball all a fellow has to do to win is to drive in a few runs and then field well enough to keep the other fellow from scoring as many4 ,i'm not a darn bit interested in whether ,wright is a better shortstop than you are1 ,mark1 or whether ,lou or ,tony are better men than they have4 ,we've got just nine men to play the nine positions4 ,good or bad1 they're the ones who have to do the job and all the worry about the other fellow don't help a bit4 ,our job is to make the most of what we have and the ,pirates be durned40 ,now1 if you know a better philosophy for baseball than that1 go to it6 ,i don't4 ,the ideal baseball team1 of course1 would be one that was equally good on defense and offense and perfect in both departments4 ,but teams like that don't exist4 ,and my experience has been that the team which is particularly strong offensively is apt to be a little weak on defense and vice versa4 ,it's up to the manager or the ,captain to make the most of what he has in the way of material1 and he naturally builds up the department in which he is strongest even if he has to weaken the other department a bit to do it4 ,baseball has changed a lot in the last ten or fifteen years4 ,i haven't been sticking around the big leagues as long as ,ty ,cobb and ,eddie ,collins and some of those fellows1 but ,i've been around long enough to notice the change4 ,and it hasn't been in one club or two clubs either1 but in the whole game4 ,when ,i first broke in baseball was a defensive game4 ,the pitchers and fielders had all the best of the argument1 and a two run lead could be cashed in most any time4 ,what an array of pitchers there was in those days6 ,walter ,johnson was in his prime then1 and ,alexander1 and ,rube ,marquard and ,eddie ,plank4 ,and those boys could pitch1 believe me4 ,they had everything it takes to make a great pitcher1 and in addition they were permitted to rough the ball1 use trick deliveries and do anything else they could think of to make a hitter's life miserable4 ,and besides that the ball they used in those days was dead into the bargain4 ,i guess that period is what you would call baseball's defensive age4 ,and naturally with the big leagues playing defensive ball the sand lotters and the amateurs took it up too4 ,kids in those days dreamed of becoming great pitchers and hitting was just a matter of course4 ,even hitters like ,wagner and ,lajoie had to play second fiddle to the ,mattys and the ,browns1 and though a fellow like ,cobb might be a marvel1 folks kept their eyes on the pitchers4 ,even now before a world series you find a lot of the experts predicting that 8pitching will win the series40 ,and1 all other things being equal it will4 ,but the fact is that the statement is a throw back to the old defensive age when pitching was the big thing in baseball and everything else could run for ,sweeney4 ,the change from defensive to offensive play came gradually4 ,john ,mc,graw was one of the men who was most responsible4 ,there's one cagey hombre1 that ,mc,graw4 ,he's always just a couple of jumps ahead of the other fellow when it comes to thinking1 and he's always looking for something new and unusual to pull4 ,i've had my run-ins with ,john and once or twice when we were playing the ,giants in the world series ,i've wanted to sock him in the nose1 but he's a baseball wizard just the same4 ,and while all the other managers were going nutty over defensive play and making themselves bald trying to dope out ways to develop and aid their pitchers1 ,john took counsel with himself and decided that what baseball needed was more action4 ,so he went in for hitting and base-stealing1 and the first thing the rest of the managers knew ,john was stealing a pennant right out of their laps4 ,while other fellows were content to string along with the old fashioned sacrifice with a man on base1 ,john took a gambling chance with the hit and run1 and the steal4 ,instead of sending hitters up to the plate with orders to 8,wait 'em out10 ,john would pat a fellow on the back and say3 8,go up there and lay on that onion4 ,knock it a mile4 ,you're better than he is40 ,and how the fans liked it6 ,they had been watching pitching perfection for so long that they craved a change1 and given a taste1 they began to yell for more hitting and more action4 ,other managers began to copy ,mc,graw's style1 too1 and it wasn't long before they passed rules limiting pitchers on trick stuff4 ,they did away with the spit ball and the emery ball and the other freaks4 ,they built a little more life into the ball and they ordered umpires to use new and clean balls as much as possible4 ,the boys began smacking the fences with long drives1 outfielders began playing with their backs to the wall and infielders had to move back on the grass or have their legs torn off with hot drives4 ,and that's the story of how baseball's era of defensive play passed into history and offensive play became the main factor in the game4 ,at least that's the way it seems to me--and most of the changes have taken place since ,i first put on a big league uniform4 ,right here1 too1 let me say that ,i've been a pretty lucky fellow in that respect4 ,in the old days when defense was the big thing1 ,i was a pitcher and a pretty good one if ,i do say it myself4 ,and when things switched over and hitting became the rage ,ed ,barrow1 then managing the ,red ,sox1 turned me into an outfielder and gave me a chance to 8take my cut0 with the rest of the sluggers4 ,so ,i got a break going and coming4 ,you can't beat that6 ,a lot of folks1 and particularly the older fans1 still think that the old style was best1 and they sit around and pine for the good old days when 8,pitchers were pitchers instead of throwers10 and teams had to fight for one run instead of 8getting 'em in clusters40 ,maybe they're right ,i'm not arguing the matter one way or another4 ,i'm just trying to point out that baseball1 as a game1 can be divided into two big departments4 ,one is defensive play4 ,that's the business of stopping the other fellow1 and it includes pitching1 fielding1 throwing and the inside strategy that makes two putouts where one grew before4 ,the other is offensive play and that's simply the matter of your own attack--hitting1 base-running1 stealing1 etc4--the business of scoring runs4 ,both departments are necessary4 ,and baseball strategy1 when you come down to it1 is simply making the most of your strength in these two departments4 ,right now the fans demand emphasis on offensive play4 ,and what the fans want they get4 ,they like plenty of hitting--so modern baseball is built around the slugger4 ,some day perhaps public sentiment will switch back the other way1 back again to the old days of pitching battles and low scores4 ,if it does you'll see a return to the old style in a hurry and there will be new ,mathewsons and new ,browns springing up to take the place of the ,speakers1 the ,cobbs1 the ,gehrigs and the ,hornsbys of the present slugging era4 ,as concerns the fine points of the two styles1 there's plenty of room for argument4 ,managers build their ball clubs from the material they have available4 ,if they have too much defensive strength1 then they have to make defense their specialty4 ,if1 on the other hand1 they have plenty of offensive power1 then they must build such a club and make their defense a secondary thing4 ,but to get back once more to cases instead of generalities4 ,take the time to go over the baseball records and you'll find the great teams of history excelled in one department or the other4 ,they can be classified either as defensive teams or offensive teams4 ,the greatest defensive team of all time1 ,i guess1 was the ,chicago ,white ,sox of #aijf4 ,those boys hit so little that whenever a player got a two-bagger he wrote home about it1 and if they got more than four hits in a game ,commy threw a banquet in their honor4 ,but just the same they won a pennant and a world series1 and the reason they won was that they were so good defensively that they managed to hold the other fellows to even fewer runs than they got4 ,they had great pitching4 ,i never saw them1 but the old boys are still talking about ,ed ,walsh1 ,frank ,smith1 ,doc ,white1 ,nick ,altrock and the rest of that famous outfit4 ,and along with their pitching they had wonderful fielding strength plus baseball brains4 ,and brains is one of the biggest assets in defensive play4 ,a fellow can stand up there at the plate and take his cut without any deep thinking1 but to play the field properly a fellow has to have something besides curly hair above his shoulders4 ,he's got to know his onions4 ,the old ,athletics were another great defensive team1 too4 ,i've played against them and ,i know4 ,but coming as they did1 at the time when baseball was changing--they had real offensive strength too4 ,just the same it was the fine pitching of fellows like ,combs and ,bender and ,plank1 plus the high class work of that million-dollar infield that made them one of the greatest teams of all time4 ,despite the swatting power of ,baker1 ,mc,innis1 ,collins and the rest ,i still figure that they class as a defensive rather than an offensive team4 ,among modern teams1 the ,washington ,senators of #aibd rate as one of the best defensive teams1 combining fine pitching with some corking work in the infield and outfield4 ,you'll go far and look plenty before you'll find a better infield combination than ,bucky ,harris and ,roger ,peckinpaugh put up that year1 for instance4 ,when it comes to great offensive teams ,i'm just cocky enough to believe that the ,yankees of #aibg were the best ever4 ,believe me that outfit of ours could hit and score runs4 ,the records tell the story--and there are mighty few hitting records that we didn't shatter to bits4 ,incidentally there's another place where ,i've had to argue with my good friend ,john ,mc,graw4 ,john maintains that the old ,baltimore ,orioles were one of the great offensive clubs4 ,and he rather has me there4 ,john saw both the ,orioles and the #aibg ,yankees while ,i wasn't taking much interest in baseball at the time the ,orioles were good4 ,under the circumstances ,i'll have to take his word for it--but ,i'll never admit that the ,orioles packed a greater wallop than the ,yankees last year4 ,i don't think it's possible4 ,the ,detroit ,tigers1 winners of the ,american ,league pennant in #aijg1 #aijh and #aiji1 were a great offensive club4 ,they had ,cobb and ,crawford and ,mc,intyre and ,jones and big ,schmidt--all of them hitters4 ,and as an offensive club they stood out in an age when defensive play was considered quite the thing4 ,real hitters those fellows1 and they have proved it during the years that have followed1 with the now-bald ,tyrus still able to stand up there at the plate and hit with the best of them1 despite the weight of more than #bb years of baseball activity4 ,discussion of great offensive teams would not be complete without some mention of the #aiab-aiac ,giants--the team that was responsible for the gradual swing from defensive to offensive play4 ,there was a team that was great offensively1 not so much on account of its hitting power1 but because of its cleverness in base-running4 ,old-timers still maintain that the ,giants team of that era literally 8stole0 the pennant4 ,they were masters at base running in an age when base running was a real art4 ,perhaps ,i've rambled a bit through these pages4 ,the point ,i want to make and leave strong is simply this4 ,baseball1 as a game1 is divided into two great divisions4 ,one is offense1 the other is defense4 ,they are equally important1 but in building up a ball club it is very seldom1 indeed1 that you can find men equally proficient in each department4 ,consequently most managers determine in which department they are best1 and they make their playing plans along that line--weakening one department a little perhaps1 in order to strengthen the other4 ,and at the present time baseball is going through an offensive era with hitters holding the edge and the science of steal and sacrifice playing second fiddle to brawn and power and wallop4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,pitching the keynote of defense--,the pitcher's job--,why young pitchers fail--,control as a pitching factor--,how to obtain control--,alexander the old master--,shocker gets by on 8nothing0--,shawkey gives a few words of advice to 8rookies0--,practice counts most4 ,pitching is the most important single item in the defensive play of any ball club4 ,but ,i mean real pitching1 not just throwing4 ,i guess there isn't a kid in the country but at some time or another dreams of being a great pitcher4 ,and here's the first thing for him to remember4 ,pitchers--real pitchers--learn early that their job isn't so much to keep opposing batsmen from hitting as it is to make them hit at someone4 ,the trouble with most kid pitchers is that they forget there are eight other men on the team to help them4 ,they just blunder ahead1 putting everything they have on every pitch1 and trying to carry the weight of the whole game on their shoulders4 ,the result is that they tire out and go bad along in the middle of the game1 and then the wise old heads have to hurry out and rescue them4 ,i've seen a lot of young fellows come up1 and they all had the same trouble4 ,take ,lefty ,grove over at ,philadelphia1 for instance4 ,there isn't a pitcher in the league who has more speed or more stuff than ,lefty4 ,he can do things with a baseball that make you dizzy4 ,but when he first came into the league he seemed to think that he had to strike every batter out as he came up4 ,the result was that he'd go along great for five or six innings1 and then blow4 ,and he's just now learning to conserve his strength4 ,in other words1 he's learning that a little exercise of the noodle will save a lot of wear and tear on his arm4 ,owen ,carroll1 the ,holy ,cross star1 who went to the ,tigers1 is another of the same type4 ,ownie was a whiz in college1 but when he got up into the big show he found out that there was something more to pitching than just breezing that fast one past4 ,it took him a whole season to get wise1 and he is just now beginning to develop as a real pitcher4 ,he's getting smart4 ,you see when a kid pitcher starts out he tries to carry the game himself4 ,then when he finds out that he's being hit a little he tries to bear down harder and harder4 ,and the more he bears down the worse he gets4 ,i broke in as a pitcher and ,i was like all the rest of the beginners4 ,and ,i couldn't understand why that fast ball didn't fool the big league hitters like it had the kids back at school4 ,i had another bad fault1 too4 ,i wouldn't accept advice and how ,i managed to blunder along is more than ,i can understand4 ,the boys are still telling a story about me that always gets a laugh even if it isn't very complimentary4 ,in the #aiah world series we 7the ,boston ,red ,sox7 were playing the ,chicago ,cubs1 and they had ,leslie ,mann and ,max ,flack alternating in the outfield4 ,i was slated to pitch one game and the first time up ,mann socked me for a base hit4 ,when ,i went back to the bench ,bill ,carrigan1 our manager1 called me over to give me some advice4 8,that fellow ,mann is a tough hitter against left handed pitching10 ,bill said4 8,the only thing to do is loosen him up a bit4 ,the next time he comes up to hit dust him off6 ,drop him in the dirt6 ,maybe that will stop him60 ,i promised ,bill ,i would do it1 and went on about my business4 ,meantime the ,cubs had sent ,flack in to replace ,mann1 and when ,max came up to hit ,i promptly turned loose a fast one that flattened him4 ,when ,i went back to the bench ,i was feeling pretty proud of myself4 8,well10 ,i said1 8,i guess ,i showed that guy ,mann a thing or two1 didn't ,i80 ,i thought ,carrigan would explode4 ,he cussed me up one side and down the other4 ,and ,i don't blame him4 ,can you imagine a pitcher not even knowing the difference between hitters and hitting ,max ,flack in the ribs thinking all the time that he was making ,leslie ,mann a victim8 ,but it just goes to show how careless young pitchers can be1 and it's typical too of the thousand and one things which inexperienced pitchers will do to get in bad4 ,the first thing any pitcher has got to develop--the biggest single item in his whole stock of trade--is control6 ,don't let anyone kid you about it4 ,the curve and the fast one are important2 the change of pace and the other trick deliveries are great--but they're not worth a plugged nickle unless you have control to go with them4 ,and by control ,i don't mean the ability to put the ball over the plate somewhere between the shoulders and the knees1 either4 ,i mean the ability to hit a three inch target nine throws out of ten4 ,i mean the sort of control that lets you put that ball in the exact spot you want it1 and to play a corner to the split fraction of an inch4 ,i've seen a lot of good pitchers in my day4 ,that gang ,i broke in with up in ,boston was a pretty fair outfit4 ,and there wasn't a man in the lot who didn't spend hours on end getting control4 ,ernie ,shore could just about drive a nail at sixty feet and ,dutch ,leonard was just as good4 ,when they pitched they didn't guess where that ball was going4 ,they knew4 ,in the #aibf world series when ,alexander struck out ,tony ,lazzeri in that crucial inning and won a championship a lot of fellows raved about ,alex's great curves4 ,let me tell you a little secret4 ,alex threw ,tony just one curve ball in all those pitches4 ,and the ball that ,tony fanned on wasn't a curve at all4 ,it wasn't even a fast one4 ,it was a half-speed ball that cut the corner of the plate within a half inch of the spot ,bob ,o',farrell called for4 ,no sir1 the thing that fanned ,tony ,lazzeri that day and the thing that cost the ,yankees a world championship was ,grover ,alexander's uncanny control4 ,he was putting that ball right where he wanted it1 on every pitch4 ,and the fellow who was up there at the plate with a bat on his shoulder felt like a sucker4 ,for he knew that the balls were so bad he couldn't hit them squarely1 yet they were good enough that they were sure to be called strikes if he let them go4 ,i know4 ,i stood up there4 ,and ,i felt like a sucker along with the rest of the boys4 ,of course there aren't many pitchers who have the control that ,alex has4 ,alex is a tall1 loose-jointed easy-going chap who refuses to become excited4 ,just to see ,old ,pete out there on the mound with that cocky little1 undersized cap pulled down over one ear1 chewing away at his tobacco and pitching baseballs as easy as pitching hay1 is enough to take the heart out of a fellow4 ,i've got a hunch that if ,alex suddenly found himself on the moon1 he'd just grin1 pull his cap over his ear1 and keep on chewing4 ,he's that kind of a chap4 ,nothing rattles him4 ,urban ,shocker is another one who makes good control take the place of a lot of other things4 ,shocker is a mighty smart hombre out there on the mound1 believe me4 ,time was when he used to have a good assortment of 8stuff0 too--but now1 as he gets older1 he's losing a lot of the 8swift40 ,and his 8hook0 doesn't break any more1 it just bends a little4 ,but ,shocker has got two things that most amateur pitchers lack4 ,he has control--and he's got a lot of knowledge up there under that old baseball cap of his4 ,and the two get him over many a rough1 tough spot1 believe me4 ,as ,i said1 the first thing any pitcher has to get to become something besides a 8thrower0 is control4 ,and there's just one way to get it--that's by constant practice4 ,some day when you're out at the ball park during fielding practice1 watch the pitchers warming up4 ,you'll see them all out there playing toss1 old timers and youngsters alike4 ,but if you watch closely you'll see one big difference4 ,the young fellows are just throwing--loosening up their arms and getting the kinks out of their muscles4 ,but the old fellows6 ,they're pitching to a target with every ball they throw6 ,watch the fellow who is warming them up4 ,you'll see him hold his glove up as a target on every pitch ,sometimes he holds it over one corner of the plate1 sometimes over the other4 ,sometimes he holds it low and sometimes high4 ,but always the pitcher is in there trying to hit the mark--and if he happens to be on form he'll do it twenty-nine pitches out of thirty4 ,if he can't1 then he's still a long way from a pitcher4 ,i've seen ,shawkey pitch to a target for an hour at a time1 perfecting his control4 ,he doesn't pitch hard1 and he doesn't strain his arm with a lot of 8stuff40 ,he just pitches away at that old mark4 ,and other players on the club do the same thing4 ,our fellows1 most of them1 are veterans4 ,they've been around4 ,they know what it's all about4 ,and they know just how important control is4 ,walter ,johnson is another pitcher who was great on control4 ,he had to be4 ,if ,walter had been wild with that fast ball of his1 a hitter wouldn't have dared to stand up there4 ,it would have been murder4 ,but you never heard fellows complain about hitting against ,walter4 ,you might not be able to see them1 and he might make you look like a sucker when he sent that fast ball whizzing past your shoulders like a bullet4 ,but always you could dig in there at the plate knowing deep in your gizzard that whatever else happened1 he wouldn't 8bean0 you4 ,for every time he pitched he knew right where that ball was going4 ,he had to4 ,if he had been inclined to wildness with all that speed1 there isn't a catcher in the business could have caught him4 ,believe me the catchers are the fellows who suffer when a pitcher is wild4 ,in one game down ,south last year1 when ,hug was trying out his young pitchers1 ,johnny ,grabowski was so bruised and battered that he had to take a four day rest4 ,those kids had him diving in the dirt and jumping in the air4 ,they had him running to the right and hopping to left and when the game was finished he had big blue bruises up and down both shins1 on his arms and in about every other spot on his anatomy that didn't happen to be covered with pads4 ,believe me1 ,johnny is one boy who knows the importance of control all right4 ,yet some other pitchers1 like ,matty or ,coombs1 or ,herb ,pennock--fellows who have a lot more 8stuff0 on the ball than any youngster--are what the catchers call 8rocking chair pitchers40 ,which means that their control is so good that you could sit in a rocking chair and catch them4 ,to be a good pitcher you've got to have a lot of things4 ,you've got to have a fast ball with a 8hop40 ,you've got to have a good curve to mix in with the fast one to make it effective4 ,you've got to have a change of pace--for it takes a change of pace to throw a batter off balance and keep him from peppering that curve or fast one against the wall4 ,then you've got to have pitching knowledge--the sort of knowledge that comes from experience1 and study and hard work4 ,it takes more than a sturdy pair of shoulders to get by in the big leagues these days4 ,but first you've got to have control1 for that's the ,a1 ,b1 and ,c in the pitcher's alphabet4 ,the greatest curve ball in the world isn't worth a thin dime if you don't know what to do with it4 ,the 8swift0 of ,walter ,johnson would be worthless to a chap who couldn't get the ball over the plate4 ,control1 that's the system4 ,and control isn't a gift that is born to a man4 ,it's the result of hard1 hard work and long hours of practice4 ,and in striving for control there are these things to remember4 ,first of all you've got to develop a smooth1 easy1 pitching motion4 ,overhand1 side arm or underhand it doesn't make any difference4 ,the best one is the one that is easiest and most natural4 ,and you can't afford to strain4 ,the moment a pitcher starts to strain--8bearing down0 we call it in baseball--he becomes wild4 ,the first rule of golf which says 8make your swing easy and natural1 and don't press10 could well be named as the first rule in pitching1 too4 ,after that one's mastered there's time enough to start work on the other details of curve and fast one4 ,after all1 the whole thing can be summed up in a little story of an incident that happened in training camp two years ago4 ,hug had a lot of young pitchers in camp that year and he appointed ,bob ,shawkey as a sort of advisory coach4 ,the kids were all anxious to make good and the minute ,bob would show up they'd start calling him to watch their curves or take a look at their trick stuff4 ,bob stood it awhile without comment4 ,finally he called the gang together4 8,now listen1 you fellows10 he said1 8,i've looked at curved balls until ,i'm cockeyed and ,i've watched fast ones until my eyeballs ache4 ,now you fellows line up there and try throwing at that backstop4 ,after you've learned to hit that we'll put up a barrel and maybe in a week or two some of you will get good enough to throw a ball over the plate4 8,when you get that good1 then ,i'll be glad to talk to you about pitching4 ,until then ,i'm too busy to be bothered40 ,which may sound a little hard boiled1 but if you were a baseball man you'd understand4 ,shawkey wasn't talking through his hat at all4 ,he just knew his onions1 that's all4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,studying the batter--,shocker a marvel--,his system--,pennock's style of pitching--,his pitching rule--,hoyt weighs in with advice--,pitching to weakness and strength--,playing the comers--,mixing them up--,quinn a bluffer--,how ,hoyt uses his fast one4 ,one day last summer ,i happened to be standing by the news stand in the hotel lobby in ,detroit when ,urban ,shocker came along4 ,he stopped to kid with me a bit1 then turned to the attendant4 8,got any ,chicago papers80 he asked4 ,the attendant handed him two papers4 8,that all you got80 ,shock persisted4 ,the attendant pulled out three or four more and finally furnished a complete set of all the morning and evening sheets for the day4 ,shocker took them1 then asked for ,cleveland papers as well4 ,he got these too1 bought a cigar1 and walked toward the elevator with a stack of papers under his arm that would choke a horse4 ,the news stand man watched him curiously1 and turned to me when ,shocker finally had disappeared4 8,there's a funny guy10 he commented4 8,every day that egg is in town he comes over and buys newspapers from other towns4 ,and he doesn't want just one--he wants 'em all4 ,wonder what he does with 'em80 8,maybe he's saving them to paper his garage10 ,i suggested1 and the news stand man laughed and forgot4 ,as a matter of fact ,i knew all the time what ,shock had wanted of the papers4 ,so did the other fellows on the club4 ,fellows who travel around together on a ball club year after year get to understand each other pretty well4 ,you know each other's little peculiarities too1 and after a while you learn to know just about what a chap thinks or does or believes4 ,ever since ,shocker joined the ,yankees he has been known as a 8newspaper hound10 and he's gradually getting the other pitchers the same way4 ,for ,shocker wanted those newspapers for a definite reason4 ,he bought them for a purpose1 and this is it4 ,every one of those papers have sports pages which ,shock studies carefully4 ,in ,detroit he bought ,chicago and ,cleveland papers because these were the towns where we were to play next1 and the box scores of the teams in those towns told him a story4 ,day after day he pores over the box scores and newspaper accounts like a school kid over a lesson4 ,he notices which men on the opposing lineup are hitting and which ones are in a slump4 ,he notes how they go against opposing pitchers--and being a veteran and well acquainted with the styles and types of the various pitchers1 he can then get a pretty good line on what sort of pitching they are hitting4 ,here's the way he works4 ,suppose we're playing ,cleveland in a day or two4 ,now everyone knows that ordinarily ,george ,burns and ,joey ,sewell are dangerous hitters1 and that ,rube ,lutzke and some of the other boys are not so hot with the stick4 ,but ,shocker1 studying the box scores day after day1 comes around the clubhouse with a different report4 8,well10 he'll say1 8,i notice that ,burns went hitless against ,zachary the other day4 ,up three times for a horse-collar4 ,guess ,george is having a tough time with slow balls these days4 7,zachary1 we all know1 is a slow ball pitcher47 ,quinn beat him too a week ago4 ,maybe we better try ,george out on slow ones this trip40 ,or perhaps he'll call attention to the fact that ,rube ,lutzke1 normally a weak hitter1 is having a spurt and is getting a lot of basehits4 ,perhaps he'll come up with information that ,luke ,sewell 7usually a corking thrower7 has been a bit wild on his throws to second base for a few days or it may be some other trick information that he gleaned from the box scores4 ,but it's all mighty valuable in the daily business of winning ball games4 ,the point of course is that to become a good pitcher a man must make a close study of opposing batsmen--and ,shocker is one of the closest students you'll find in the game today4 ,pitching after all1 is about one-third arm work and two-thirds head work and the fellows who stick around longest are the pitchers who let their head take over the burden as much as possible4 ,year after year you see pitchers like ,alex and ,jess ,haines and ,george ,uhle and ,dutch ,ruether and ,shocker out there winning ball games4 ,you don't think they still have the fast breaking curve and the hop on their fast one that they once had1 do you8 ,no sir6 ,they're getting by on knowledge1 making their experience and their observation pay dividends4 ,good pitchers realize that every hitter who steps up there at the plate has a 8groove40 ,that's a particular spot where he likes to see the ball come4 ,and the pitcher who pitches down the groove--8,down his alley0 the boys say sometimes--is inviting trouble4 ,but every batter up there at the plate1 no matter who he may be1 has a weakness too4 ,it may be a fast ball inside or a curve ball low and outside4 ,it may be anyone of a dozen different things1 but the point is that somewhere there's a weak spot1 and the good pitcher is always looking for it4 ,herb ,pennock is another smart pitcher and one day1 riding along on the train1 ,i heard him explain his pitching theory to a lot of young fellows4 ,it was short and simple1 but it was #ajj percent correct4 8,get that first one over the plate10 ,herb advised4 8,then after that1 make the hitter swing at his weakness and your own strength60 ,what ,herb meant was simply this4 ,every pitcher has one particular ball that he can pitch a little better than anything else in his assortment4 ,herb's best ball1 for instance1 is an overhand curve that swishes up to the plate and breaks down and out4 ,hoyt's best pitch1 on the other hand is a fast ball4 ,if you know anything about fast balls you know that they hop as they reach the batter4 ,hoyt's fast one is a little different4 ,it doesn't hop1 it jumps--that is it rises1 and as a result is particularly effective4 ,now the point is this4 ,you watch ,hoyt and ,herb when they're pitching and get a batter in the hole where he has to hit4 ,suppose he has two strikes and one ball for instance3 or a three and two count4 ,or suppose the hit and run is on and the pitcher knows that the batter is going to hit the next one4 ,right there you'll see ,herb coming in with that overhand curve or ,waite with his fast one4 ,in other words as long as the hitter is going to swing1 and they know it1 they'll see to it that he's swinging at the best they have and not at a cripple4 ,that's good pitching judgment4 ,and by reason of good control they send that 8best bet0 zipping along to the batter's weakness--inside1 outside1 high or low as the case may be4 ,of course there are a few hitters like ,cobb and ,hornsby who have no real weakness4 ,they hit anything1 anywhere4 ,one of the best laughs ever enjoyed in baseball was brought about by the young pitcher who walked into the clubhouse one day and announced very seriously that he had been studying the situation and at last had discovered ,ty ,cobb's weakness4 8,boy1 if you have you're a wonder10 one of the veterans said4 8,what do you think it is80 8,well10 the rookie replied1 8so near as ,i can figure it out he has only one real weakness--that's a base on balls60 ,when a pitcher faces a hitter of that type1 there's only one thing to do4 ,give him the best you've got1 and don't make them too good4 ,if you can make him hit at a bad ball the chances are he won't hit it squarely4 ,and if he refuses to hit and gets a base on balls it's well to remember ,whitey ,witt's old wise crack and laugh it off4 ,whitey walked over to an opposing pitcher one day after ,i had walked four times in a row3 8,that's the way to pitch10 he agreed4 8,better four balls for one base than one ball for four bases anytime60 ,the smart pitcher is always trying to make the hitter swing at a bad ball4 ,fellows like ,shocker and ,pennock and ,alex can play those corners to the width of a gnat's eyebrow4 ,in all the innings ,alex pitched against the ,yankees in the world series ,i don't believe he threw two balls 8down the middle40 ,and when he did the batter was so surprised that he couldn't swing4 ,and don't think that those corner pitchers don't get on a hitter's nerves after a while4 ,they do4 ,i guess ,i've looked over as many bad ones as any man in the business in my day and ,i know4 ,there's nothing more annoying in the world than to step up there at the plate and watch a pitch come floating up big as a balloon but too close or too far out to hit4 ,you can see that it's going to cut the corner1 but you know that if you swing the chances are #ge out of #ajj that you'll foul it off1 or pop it up or roll one to the infield4 ,and if you let it go you know durn well it will be called a strike4 ,after watching pitching of that sort through seven or eight innings you reach the state where you'll swing at anything--which1 of course1 is just what the pitcher wants you to do4 ,one of the hardest things for the inexperienced pitcher to learn is when to take things easy and when to bear down4 ,the greatest success of such pitchers as ,matty and ,three ,finger ,brown was their ability to judge pace--to take things easy when they had a chance1 and then have plenty left to bear down when they had to4 ,you know one strike out with the bases full and two down is just as valuable as three strikeouts in a row with nobody on and a lot easier4 ,fans and pitchers new to the game are apt to judge pitching effectiveness by the number of strikeouts and the scarcity of hits in the box score4 ,but the smart pitcher doesn't pay any attention to these things4 ,he takes the slant that it's runs which win ball games and his idea to keep the hits from coming in the pinches4 ,in my experience ,i've seen pitchers touched for ten or twelve hits and still pitch shutouts4 ,and ,i saw little ,emil ,levsen of ,cleveland hold the ,yankees to two hits1 and lose his game #b to #j4 ,of course the fans think the twelve hit pitcher is lucky1 while they moan about ,levsen's bad luck4 ,but the facts of the matter are that one pitcher had something when he needed it1 and the other fellow failed after some great pitching1 simply because he didn't have the strength left to pull out of a pinch4 ,and after you see things like that happen a dozen times a season you come to the conclusion that good pitching is pitching that prevents runs1 regardless of base hits4 ,another common fault with young pitchers is that they overwork a certain delivery4 ,perhaps they have a curve ball that's particularly good1 or a fast one4 ,the tendency is to keep using that pitch all the time4 ,and take it from me1 if you keep using the same thing long enough the hitters will get wise1 no matter how deceptive the delivery may be4 ,waite ,hoyt has a theory that he advances in all the ,yankee confabs4 8,let 'em see that good one once in a while just so they will know you have it1 then put it back in the case until you need it0 is ,waite's idea4 ,hoyt1 as ,i said before is a fast ball pitcher4 ,yet ,i've seen him go through a whole game and pitch only eight or ten fast ones in the entire nine innings4 ,he simply uses that fast one for bait4 ,he shows it to the hitter now and then to let him know that the fast one is still there1 then he goes ahead with his curve and half-speed stuff4 ,the hitter gets set for a fast one that never comes1 and pops out on half-speeders that catch him off balance4 ,of course1 ,waite has to use the fast one every now and then to keep them guessing1 but it's the other stuff that really does the business4 ,after all1 successful pitching is pretty much a matter of keeping the hitter off balance4 ,as long as the man at the plate can't get set1 he'll never tear the cover off a ball or break any fences in the outfield4 ,that's the reason a slow ball is so effective4 ,there's nothing about a slow ball to fool any one4 ,most of them don't curve1 and a lot of them don't even wobble4 ,but they do throw a hitter off stride4 ,when ,joe ,bush was in form1 he was one of the great change of pace pitchers4 ,joe threw with four distinct speeds4 ,he had a fast one1 a half-speeder1 and a couple of varieties of slow pitches4 ,and all thrown with the same motion4 ,when you'd get set for his fast one he'd cross you up with a slow one2 or if you were looking for the slow one the chances are the half-speeder or fast ball would be on you before you could get your bat around4 ,i've seen a lot of curves and a lot of fast ones2 ,i've looked over a lot of trick deliveries of one sort and another and ,i've hit against pitchers who were supposed to have a lot of stuff4 ,but after all those years ,i've about decided that control and a change of pace are the biggest assets a pitcher can have1 and curve balls be durned6 ,and ,i do know this4 ,a curve ball may bother an ordinary hitter1 but if a man is a really good hitter it's the old change of pace that causes him more trouble than all the freak deliveries in the world4 ,the whole secret of a successful change of pace is motion4 ,good pitchers throw their fast ones and their slow ones with absolutely the same motion4 ,they have to--for hitters and coaches are constantly on the lookout for some little move that will betray the pitch before it comes4 ,of all the pitchers in the leagues ,i don't know one who has a smoother1 easier motion than ,sam ,jones1 now with the ,washington ,senators4 ,sam is what we used to call 8a motion picture pitcher40 ,his delivery is smooth1 easy and graceful and he doesn't vary a bit in anything he throws4 ,old ,jack ,quinn of the ,athletics is another man who has a delivery that's a pippin4 ,jack isn't so easy to watch as ,sam4 ,he pitches with more jerk and more effort4 ,but as a bluffer he is in a class by himself4 ,jack is one of the few remaining spit-ball pitchers4 ,and he bluffs that spitter on every pitch4 ,yet he doesn't actually throw it once in six times4 ,simply goes through the motions and then crosses up the hitter with something entirely different4 ,but to consider the whole thing briefly4 ,after you've learned control you've taken the first step toward pitching4 ,now all you've got to do is develop a curve ball1 a fast one1 and a change of pace4 ,learn to mix them up to keep the hitter off balance4 ,perfect a motion that's smooth and easy and deceptive4 ,study batters1 until you know their hitting style1 their little peculiarities and their weakness and strength4 ,then1 after all that1 you're ready to start in on the business of pitching4 ,,chapter ,v ,the pitching motion--,how ,zahniser betrayed his curve ball--,ruth's tongue gets him into trouble--,sherry ,smith catches runners off first base--,hinkey ,haines' experience--,slow ball pitching--,why it is valuable--,the type of hitters who are fooled by slow stuff--,experience counts--,fielding aids pitcher4 ,when ,i hear the boys talking about pitching motions ,i always think of ,paul ,zahniser1 who used to pitch for ,washington and the ,red ,sox4 ,all the time ,paul was in the big leagues he was a 8cousin0 of mine4 ,that's what we call pitchers who are easy to hit4 ,every time he pitched against us ,i knew ,i would get two or three hits--and so did he4 ,but he never knew why4 ,now that he's back in the minor leagues again ,i can tell the secret4 ,i got hits off ,paul because ,i always knew just what he was going to pitch4 ,zahniser had a ,walter ,johnson motion4 ,that is he lifted his arms above his head before he delivered the ball4 ,and after ,i faced him once or twice ,i noticed that on his fast ball he raised his hands far above his head4 ,when he was pitching his curve ball his hands went only as high as his eyes4 ,naturally ,i knew what was coming before he ever threw--and ,i was all set4 ,most pitchers have some little habit in pitching that gives them away4 ,and sometimes it takes a long time before they discover what it is1 and correct it4 ,a lot of them never do4 ,take ,herb ,pennock's overhand curve ball for instance4 ,opposing hitters can always tell from ,herb's motion just when that overhand curve is coming4 ,fortunately for ,herb that particular curve is such a good one that they can't hit it even when he 8telegraphs0 it4 ,i had a habit of my own like that in my pitching days4 ,and ,i never knew it until ,i had stopped pitching and had started playing the outfield4 ,then some of the boys tipped me off4 ,it all happened one day when we were riding along through ,indiana on a ,western trip4 ,the boys had been playing cards all morning and along about noon interest in the game began to lag and they started talking baseball4 ,sherry ,smith had beat us the day before1 and there's a baby who has a real pitching motion4 ,naturally the boys talked about ,sherry and in the course of the conversation ,i started in to kid some of our pitchers4 8,why don't you guys get a motion like ,sherry's80 ,i asked ,pennock1 8then you'd be real pitchers4 ,there's one fellow who doesn't telegraph everything he throws40 ,wallie ,pipp laughed4 8,listen ,big ,boy10 he said1 8let me tell you something4 ,you try to kid these other fellows and you did more telegraphing in your pitching days than any of them4 ,that curve ball of yours was a breeze60 ,and then ,wallie proceeded to tell me that whenever ,i pitched a curve ball ,i stuck my tongue out of the corner of my mouth--a dead give away4 ,and everybody in the league knew it except me6 ,imagine that--a pitcher for four or five seasons1 and still telegraphing a curve ball every time ,i threw one4 ,it just goes to show that a pitcher can never be sure of himself4 ,and ,i know ,wallie told me the truth that day--for since ,i've stopped pitching ,i've had a dozen different players tell me the same thing4 ,and one day just for fun ,i tried it out4 ,i did a little pitching before the game and sure enough1 every time ,i went to pitch a curve ball1 that tongue came sticking out6 ,naturally no one tipped me off until after my pitching days were over4 ,another place where a pitcher needs a good motion is in holding a runner on first base4 ,and there again1 is a thing that comes only from practice4 ,some fellows never get it4 ,i've seen ,carl ,mays work for a half hour at a time practicing throws to first base1 and trying to perfect a throw that started the same as his regular pitching motion4 ,ed ,walsh was a wonder at picking men off4 ,and all left handed pitchers can develop a move pretty easily4 ,that's because as they stand on the rubber they face naturally toward first and can get the ball over with a flip4 ,the best man ,i ever saw at picking a man off first base was ,sherrod ,smith1 the old left hander with ,brooklyn and ,cleveland4 ,there was one chap it wasn't safe to take a five foot lead on4 ,he'd pick you off almost before you knew what happened4 ,which reminds me of ,hinkey ,haines and a thing that happened to him4 ,when ,hinkey came to the ,yankees from ,penn ,state ,college he had a reputation for speed on the bases4 ,and he deserved it too4 ,he was as fast as any man in the league4 ,so one day in ,cleveland when ,sherry was working against us and the game was tight1 ,hinkey was sent in to run for ,schang4 ,hinkey trotted down to first base4 ,charley ,o',leary was coaching and before play started ,charley walked over and warned ,hinkey3 8,now watch that guy10 he said1 8,he's tough4 ,he'll pick you off if you take any lead4 ,don't go more than three feet off the bag40 ,hinkey nodded that he understood and ,charley walked back to the coach's box4 ,it's not more than two steps from the bag1 but before ,charley reached there he heard a yell4 ,between the time he had finished warning ,haines and had walked back to the coacher's box1 ,sherry had nipped ,haines4 ,and caught him flat footed too4 ,that play cost us a ball game--but we all had a laugh on the bench just the same4 ,for there wasn't a man on the club who at some time or another hadn't been a victim of the same play4 ,what a motion old ,sherry has4 ,there isn't another pitcher in the league who can even come close to it4 ,after a man has been pitching for a time he just naturally picks up certain tricks of the trade--little things that have nothing to do with the physical side of pitching but have a lot to do with making a man a finished performer4 ,for instance1 suppose your club is one run ahead or tied toward the end of the game4 ,the first man up singles4 ,the next fellow comes to the plate and you know he is going to sacrifice4 ,what do you do8 ,it's a question that has many an amateur pitcher guessing--but the old-timer doesn't even hesitate4 ,no matter who the hitter is1 or what type hitter he may be1 the wise pitcher pitches high and fast4 ,and here's why4 ,when a man is bunting he uses a stiff arm motion1 and pushes the ball4 ,with a motion of this sort it's hard for him to reach a ball shoulder high effectively1 and still keep control of bat and ball4 ,you can prove that in a minute4 ,pick up a bat1 with hands well separated as if to bunt1 and then try and hit an imaginary ball that's on line with your shoulder and just over the inside corner of the plate4 ,see how awkward you feel and how hard it is to reach the given spot effectively4 ,with a pitch of that sort the hitter seven times out of ten will foul off the pitch1 or will pop up a little fly that can be gathered in by the pitcher or catcher4 ,better still there's a fifty-fifty chance that he will miss the ball entirely4 ,as ,i said before that's a little trick of pitching that becomes a habit with the old timer pitcher4 ,it's one of the little things that a man learns by experience4 ,there are others too4 ,for instance the pitcher must always work in conjunction with his infield and outfield4 ,a hitter is up--say a left hand hitter who naturally hits to right field4 ,the infield and outfield know this and they naturally shift their position to handle a ball hit in that direction4 ,once shifted1 then it's up to the pitcher to see that he makes the hitter send the ball to the right side of the diamond4 ,and nine times out of ten the method is identical4 ,they pitch inside to a left hand hitter and outside to a right hand hitter4 ,if they want to make sure the hitter hits to left field1 the system is reversed4 ,naturally there are exceptions--but these are individual cases4 ,and individual hitters are classified by pitchers after a few turns around the league4 ,in late years slow ball pitching has come to be particularly effective4 ,that's because there are so many free-swinging hitters1 and men of this type are apt to be thrown off balance by slow stuff4 ,but just the same the smart experienced pitcher knows that a certain type of hitters cannot be fooled on slow stuff4 ,perhaps ,i can show best what ,i mean by an actual illustration4 ,earl ,combs1 the ,yankees' center fielder is a tough man on a slow ball4 ,the pitchers know it4 ,and here's why4 ,earl1 though a left handed hitter1 hits naturally to left field4 ,which means that he swings late on the ball4 ,that is1 instead of hitting out in front of the plate he hits at the back4 ,naturally if he has a ball properly timed it will go to left field4 ,now suppose you throw him a slow one4 ,what happens8 ,perhaps he's expecting a fast one and swings for such a pitch4 ,instead of hitting to left field1 the lack of speed on the ball permits his bat to come further through and he hits to right4 ,but the point is that he isn't fooled by the slow stuff4 ,he hits it anyway4 ,when ,earl first came into the league a lot of the boys tried pitching slow balls to him4 ,but they have quit it now4 ,it's too dangerous4 ,seven times out of ten ,earl hits that slow one right on a line through the box and a pitcher has to duck quick or get his head torn off4 ,back in #aibe when ,early was breaking into the league1 he sent three pitchers to the hospital in less than a week4 ,he broke ,paul ,zahniser's ankle1 he cracked ,joe ,bush's knee and he smacked ,tom ,zachary on the wrist4 ,and each time it was a slow ball he hit4 ,so far as a hitter of the ,combs type is concerned a pitcher can use slow stuff for only one thing4 ,that is to make him hit to right field4 ,but you can't expect to fool him4 ,with a hitter of my type for instance1 it's quite different4 ,i am a free hitter and ,i 8pull0 the ball4 ,in other words ,i swing fast1 with a full1 free motion and hit the ball out front4 ,unless ,i know a slow ball is coming and time my swing accordingly1 ,i miss the slow one simply because my swing is timed to meet the ball out front and ,i complete my swing at a slow one before the ball ever reaches me4 ,all of which1 again1 is just one of the tricks of the trade that a pitcher learns by experience4 ,and there are hundreds of other little stunts that are part of the pitching profession--stunts that can't be taught or explained4 ,they're just little inside pointers that a man must pick up for himself4 ,but they're the things that mark the difference between a good pitcher and an average one2 between a veteran and a rookie4 ,perhaps you've noticed that our really great pitchers are fellows who have been sticking around for several seasons4 ,a kid may come right up from the sticks and make good as an infielder or an outfielder4 ,a lot of them have done it4 ,eddie ,collins did4 ,so did ,frankie ,frisch1 and ,george ,sisler1 and ,tony ,lazzeri and a half hundred others that you could mention4 ,but it's very seldom indeed that a pitcher can do it4 ,even the ,mattys and the ,browns1 the ,pennocks and the ,vances and the ,alexanders had to stick around for several seasons before they finally came through4 ,and it wasn't because they didn't have plenty of stuff1 either4 ,it was simply because half of pitching is learning and practicing these little tricks of the business2 simply because fifty percent of pitching success is due to pitching knowledge and these things are learned only through long weeks and months of experience4 ,it's just as ,joe ,wood used to say when he was in his prime1 8,the best curve ball in the world isn't worth a plugged nickle until you learn what to do with it--and most fellows never do learn4 ,that's why there aren't very many good pitchers around loose these days40 ,another thing that the average kid pitcher overlooks is fielding4 ,and fielding is a mighty important part of a pitcher's business4 ,a pitcher who can't field bunts and slow rolling balls down the base line won't last a season in the big leagues4 ,allan ,sothoron is an example of that4 ,when ,allan came into the ,american ,league he had as much stuff as any pitcher ,i ever looked at ,and for a few weeks he went great4 ,then one day some smart player tried to bunt on him1 and ,allan kicked the ball all around the infield trying to pick it up4 ,it wasn't three days until every club in the league knew about his weakness1 and they proceeded to bunt him right back to the minors4 ,he couldn't field--and three times out of five when a hitter laid one down that ,allan had to handle he would either kick the ball around until the runner reached first base1 or else in his hurry he'd throw to the stands4 ,but ,i'll say this for ,sothoron4 ,he knew his weakness as well as anyone4 ,he went back to the minors and the night he left he came around to say goodbye to his buddies4 8,listen you eggs10 ,allan said1 8,i'll be back here in a year or two4 ,and when ,i do ,i'll be able to field a ball40 ,he made good too4 ,once he went back to the minors he started to work on fielding4 ,he would get out and handle bunts for hours at a time1 and he even changed his whole pitching motion4 ,and a couple of years ago he came back again4 ,his first time out the gang tried the old bunt stuff and ,allan handled seven straight bunts without a bobble4 ,after then the fellows knew that their little trick was all up4 ,allan ,sothoron had got wise4 ,he had learned to field4 ,the best fielding pitcher ,i ever saw1 ,i think was ,george ,foster of the old ,red ,sox4 ,george was sure death on any ball hit to his territory4 ,in three seasons ,i don't believe ,i saw him make a single error4 ,he could grab them along the third base line1 and he could go over and dig them out at first4 ,more important than that he had a quick underhand throw like an infielder4 ,urban ,shocker is one of the best fielding pitchers of the present day4 ,eddie ,rommell of the ,athletics is a fine fielder to4 ,eddie's fielding ability comes natural4 ,he loves to play ball and when he's not pitching he likes to get out and work around the infield4 ,he does a good job of it too4 8,rommell0 replaced with 8,rommel0 ,pitchers who are bad fielders usually can correct their fault by a shift in pitching style4 ,nine times out of ten they are bad fielders simply because they are off balance when they finish the pitch1 and they can't shift to go after a ball4 ,the important thing to remember is that the body must follow the throw when pitching4 ,otherwise the pitcher isn't able to move out of the way of the ball when it's hit back at him4 ,now and then of course1 a ball is hit back so fast that the pitcher hasn't time to move4 ,but nine times out of ten it's the pitcher's own fault if he is hit by a batted ball4 ,he simply isn't shifting his feet right4 ,if you watch a pitcher like ,herb ,pennock you'll see that at the finish of his pitch he is balanced forward on his toes1 with his weight evenly distributed on both feet4 ,the same motion of his arm that sends the pitch winging across the plate1 pulls his body into fielding position without effort4 ,the minute the ball leaves his fingers he is set to field anything that comes his way4 ,and the result is that when ,herb is pitching we have nine fielders out there to stop a batting attack4 ,no one else has to do ,pennock's work4 ,he does it himself4 ,that's another reason why he's a great pitcher4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,what makes the curve balls curve--,the fast ball--,the 8hook0--,freak deliveries--,the spit ball--,the screw ball--,its purpose--,the knuckle ball--,rommel and ,pipgras use it best--,curve ball pitchers who have made baseball history--,fast balls that are tricky--,a few yarns of pitching greatness4 ,when amateurs get together to talk about pitching there's always a lot of conversation about curve balls4 ,most of it is bunk4 ,in the old days when pitchers were allowed to use resin1 to rough the ball and to pitch dirty1 black battered balls the curve meant something4 ,for in those days the smart pitcher1 taking advantage of all conditions1 could produce some fearful and wonderful 8hops0 on every pitch4 ,given the opportunity1 modern pitchers could do the same thing4 ,give a fellow like ,hoyt or ,lyons or ,alexander a ball that has been roughed a little4 ,they'll show you plenty4 ,and it's easy enough to understand4 ,air friction on the surface of the revolving ball is the cause of a curve4 ,and it doesn't take any master mind to know that a rough surface creates more friction than a smooth hard surface4 ,when ,i broke into the big leagues most pitchers were cheating a little4 ,i don't say that as a knock at the pitchers4 ,perhaps it would be better to say that they took advantage of every opportunity--and there were plenty of opportunities4 ,one of the pet stunts in those days was to load the seams of a ball with dirt to give it added weight on one side4 ,another popular stunt used to be to work the seams either with finger nails or with some foreign substance like resin or wax4 ,that would tend to raise the seams of the ball a little1 thereby giving a better grip at that particular spot4 ,but the biggest advantage the pitcher had was the fact that umpires permitted them to pitch dirty1 battered balls4 ,after a ball has been battered into the dirt a few times1 or better still1 has been fouled off against a concrete stand1 there will be rough spots on the surface4 ,and these rough spots are a pitcher's magic4 ,they not only give him a purchase at the start of his pitch1 but they offer resistance to the wind as the ball travels to the plate as well4 ,after all1 the theory of curve ball pitching is simply to apply added friction to the ball on the side to which you want it to curve4 ,on a curve that breaks down1 the friction is applied from underneath at the time the ball leaves the pitcher's hand4 ,an outcurve finds the friction 7the wrist snap7 applied on the outside1 a fast ball on the inside1 etc4 ,a pitcher ought to be able to throw a ball that would break up to the batter4 ,a fast ball delivered straight overhand with an upward rotation1 would do that4 ,there's one curve though that doesn't work out1 simply because the law of gravity overcomes the friction4 ,the result is that a ball delivered overhand with friction from the top comes as near being a straight ball as any a man can throw4 ,as a matter of fact1 there is no such thing as an absolutely straight ball4 ,every ball that is thrown veers a little bit off its course1 either from friction or from the force of gravity4 ,now and then a pitcher will come along who has enough speed and enough of a grip to give a fast ball an 8upward0 hop4 ,waite ,hoyt's fast one is that kind4 ,and that's why ,waite's fast ball is particularly effective4 ,but it isn't an upward curve4 ,just a slight rise at the end that ball players call a 8,hop40 ,ever since baseball became a popular game the newspaper boys have written stories about freak curves developed by this or that pitcher4 ,you still hear about ,matty's 8fadeaway10 about ,joe ,bush's 8fork ball10 about the 8screw ball0 and the 8knuckle0 ball and a dozen other freaks of pitching4 ,as a matter of fact there isn't a whole lot of difference between these so-called freaks and the ordinary curves of the ordinary pitcher4 ,except perhaps that they break a little more quickly or a little wider4 ,most of them break down4 ,that's natural enough and easy to understand4 ,for the pitcher who pitches overhand or side-arm1 the 8drop curve0 is the natural curve4 ,for in pitching that one he gets assistance from nature4 ,he has the law of gravity on his side to start with4 ,naturally friction aided by gravity will produce a bigger1 wider curve than friction that is working against the law of gravity4 ,most of the 8freak0 deliveries have been developed because of some hunch on the part of the pitcher4 ,for instance1 in my pitching days1 the balls we used had printed on them the trade mark and the name of the league president4 ,it was my hunch that this ink on the side of the ball gave just an added atom of weight to the printed side4 ,consequently in pitching a curve ball ,i was careful to hold the inked side of the ball on the side that ,i wanted the curve to break4 ,a foolish notion1 perhaps1 but one that ,i always followed4 ,in the course of a season ,i get a couple of hundred letters from kids1 ,i guess1 asking me to explain the difference between the various trick curves4 ,that's a tough assignment--for1 as a matter of fact1 they're all of them pretty much alike4 ,take ,matty's 8fadeaway10 ,bush's 8fork ball10 the screw ball1 the spitter and ,wilcy ,moore's famous 8sinker40 ,they all break down4 ,they all look much alike as they come zipping up to the plate1 and about the only difference is the speed with which they come up4 ,the theory of the spitter is simple enough4 ,the ball is wet on one side4 ,naturally that makes a slippery spot which reduces friction and gives added speed to the opposite side where friction is applied4 ,all spit balls break down1 but by turning the wet spot one way or the other the pitcher can make the ball break in or out as he desires4 ,a curve ball from a right hand pitcher1 breaks out to a right hand batter usually4 ,matty's fadeaway was a pitch which broke in and down to a right hand hitter4 ,in other words it had the same break as a spit ball1 but was a 8dry0 pitch4 ,the chief difference between the so-called 8screw ball0 and the spitter1 as ,i see it is that the screw ball can be thrown only overhand1 while the spitter can be thrown overhand or sidearm4 ,neither pitch can be used by an underhand pitcher4 ,the side-arm spitter is by far the more difficult to handle4 ,allan ,russel1 the old time ,yankee pitcher who was later with the ,washington ,senators1 was the most successful side-arm spit ball pitcher ,i ever knew4 ,allan could break that spitter where he wanted it and since he threw it with the same sweeping side-arm motion with which he delivered his fast ball1 it was doubly hard to gauge4 ,most of the pitchers in the league today have a screw ball of some sort or another4 ,george ,pipgras1 the youngster who made good with the ,yankees last year1 has as good a one as any--though ,george's knuckle ball is even more effective than his screw ball4 ,the screw ball like most other pitches1 was developed by necessity4 ,after ,chesbro and ,ed ,walsh made the spit ball famous1 all the pitchers in the sticks began working to duplicate it4 ,spit ball pitching was the rage for several seasons4 ,but there were lots of complaints4 ,catchers complained because they said most pitchers couldn't control their spitter and it was therefore a hard ball to catch4 ,and the infielders kicked because a sloppy wet ball was hard to handle and frequently caused wild throws4 ,heine ,mueller1 one-time ,giant and ,cardinal outfielder can testify to that ,i guess4 ,a spit ball cost ,heine his job with the ,giants and sent him back to the minors4 ,it happened last summer when ,heine was playing the outfield in a game which ,burleigh ,grimes was pitching4 ,grimes is an old-fashioned spit ball pitcher1 and he wets the ball plenty4 ,the hitter got hold of one of ,burleigh's spitters and sent it on a line to ,heine's sector in center field4 ,heinie had been warned about that sloppy ball and he wasn't taking any chance4 ,he grabbed the ball and deliberately wiped it dry on his shirt while a runner scored from third base4 ,and now ,heine is back down in the minors1 still trying to figure out what to do with that sloppy ball when he gets hold of it4 ,anyhow1 the kicking against the 8spitter0 became so loud and strong that the commission finally ruled it out4 ,they decided that spit-ball pitchers already in the league would be permitted to go ahead and use it but that new fellows coming in would have it barred4 ,naturally the newcomer began looking around for something to take its place and as a result the screw ball was developed4 ,i don't know who was the first to use it4 ,a lot of pitchers claim the credit--but regardless of who happened to be the father1 most of the boys have taken it for their own now4 ,the spit ball1 of course1 is being used less and less4 ,there are not more than a half dozen spit ball pitchers left in the two leagues4 ,urban ,faber1 ,urban ,shocker1 and ,jack ,quinn still use it in our league4 ,burleigh ,grimes is the leading exponent of the 8spitter0 remaining in the ,national ,league4 ,and these fellows are coming along to the end of their string4 ,another three or four seasons and there probably won't be a spit ball pitcher left in the majors4 ,the knuckle ball is another so called 8trick0 delivery that sounds a lot more dangerous than it really is4 ,the knuckle ball is a slow ball1 that comes floating up to the plate without rotating4 ,and lacking that rotation to keep it on a line1 it wobbles from side to side4 ,not far of course1 but just enough to throw the hitter off his stride4 ,it isn't the sort of ball that will fool a hitter enough to strike him out--but it's a devilish1 tantalizing sort of pitch that you're apt to pop up into the air1 or drive into the ground for an easy infield out4 ,eddie ,rommel was the first man ,i know to develop a knuckle ball to the point where he really used it as his 8ace40 ,eddie used to toss 8knucklers0 until he had the hitters blue in the face and he soon got a reputation as the king of the knuckle ball pitchers4 ,but like the rest of the legitimate pitches1 it was soon grabbed by the other pitchers and knuckle balls are common things around the league today4 ,and good as ,eddie is1 ,i think ,george ,pipgras of the ,yankees has the best knuckle ball in the business4 ,george's knuckler is particularly good too because he has something that ,eddie never had4 ,george has a good fast one to mix up with it--and after all1 the real success of any pitching depends upon the pitcher's ability to mix up something else with it4 ,the thing that fools a hitter is not the knuckle ball or the screw ball in itself so much as it is having it come floating up there when he expects a fast one or a curve4 ,at times like that it's really tough6 ,of course1 when all is said and done1 both the knuckle ball and the screw ball are forms of slow ball pitches4 ,take ,herb ,pennock for instance4 ,herb has developed a screw ball in the last few years and he uses it entirely as a change of pace pitch4 ,it has only been in the last ten or twelve years that the slow ball has come into real prominence4 ,pitchers threw them before that4 ,matty had a good one and so did a lot of the old time pitchers4 ,but in those days when hitters were of the choke type and free swingers were uncommon1 the slow stuff didn't go over so big4 ,anyhow1 in those days1 all the trick stuff was permitted and the slow ball wasn't so badly needed4 ,but in this day and age a slow ball--8change of pace0 the boys call it--is a mighty big factor with most great pitchers4 ,i don't know who was the first pitcher to develop a slow ball4 ,they were throwing them when ,i came into the league and long before that1 ,i guess4 ,but the best slow ball ,i've ever looked at was the one thrown by ,ray ,collins1 a big1 burly left hander who used to pitch for the ,red ,sox4 ,ray threw his slow one with the same identical motion that he threw his fast one and it would come floating up there to the plate without so much as a single revolution4 ,no kidding1 a fellow could almost count the stitches on the ball as it came up4 ,and control6 ,say that ,collins had better control of his slow one than most fellows have of their fast ones4 ,he could put that ball right where he wanted it always4 ,i saw him strike ,ty ,cobb out three times in one game with it1 and when a pitcher fans ,ty on a slow ball he has to be good4 ,ordinarily ,ty will knock a slow ball right down some infielder's throat4 ,collins had a funny way of throwing one too4 ,he would hold the ball with his thumb and little finger1 leaving the three middle fingers sticking straight out in the air and not touching the ball at all4 ,telling about it makes it sound as though it would be easy to tell just when the slow one was coming1 but it wasn't4 ,for ,ray wouldn't lift those three middle fingers until the very instant he let the ball go4 ,waite ,hoyt is the only pitcher that ,i know of in baseball today who throws his slow stuff the same as ,collins did4 ,most of the boys throw knucklers--that is1 they double their fingers under and get a grip on the ball with their knuckles4 ,but ,waite uses ,collins' old system of gripping the ball with the thumb and little finger and leaving the three middle fingers extended4 ,like ,collins1 too1 he conceals his pitch well and unless he wants you to see them1 you never get a glimpse of those three fingers until the ball is on the way4 ,waite goes ,collins one better though1 sometimes4 ,for frequently when he is pitching he'll let those three fingers show as though he had made a mistake4 ,the batter seeing them1 thinks a slow one is coming1 and gets set for it4 ,then1 just as he is about to release the pitch ,waite tightens up his grip and sends a fast one zipping through1 catching the hitter off balance and making him look mighty foolish4 ,i've seen him do it a lot of times4 ,and when he's having a particularly good day1 with all his stuff1 he's apt to pull the stunt a dozen times in a single ball game4 ,and get away with it too4 ,goose ,goslin is one of his pet victims for that sort of pitching4 ,the greatest trouble with a slow ball for the average pitcher is that it is mighty hard to control4 ,it is pitched with practically no grip on the ball1 and anytime you try to throw a ball without gripping it you're in for trouble4 ,a lot of pitchers1 and good ones too1 have had to work on a slow ball for years and years before they finally got what they wanted--and even then they're a little bit afraid to use it in a pinch because they don't always know where it is going4 ,of course the whole secret of a slow ball is in the fact that it doesn't spin or rotate4 ,it's that failure to spin which makes it travel slowly and wobble on its way to the plate4 ,and it's that thing1 too1 which makes it tough to hit4 ,for a ball that doesn't spin will never take the 8,english0 from the bat4 ,hitting a real slow ball is like hitting at a bean bag1 or a sack of mush or something like that4 ,pitchers1 for the most part1 can be classified into three divisions4 ,there are fast ball pitchers4 ,these are the pitchers who depend for the most part on a fast ball to carry them through4 ,then there are 8curve ball pitchers0 or pitchers who use curves to get past the rough spots4 ,and finally there are what the boys call 8mix-up pitchers40 ,these are fellows who mix up a curve with a fast one4 8,change of pace0 pitchers ,i guess you might call them4 ,from my experience in baseball ,i would say that there were more fast ball pitchers than any other kind4 ,walter ,johnson1 when he was in his prime1 was the best example of a fast ball pitcher you could find4 ,walter didn't fool around with curves and he didn't go in for slow stuff4 ,he simply zipped them past so fast that a batter couldn't get his bat around4 ,lefty ,grove of the ,athletics and ,rube ,walburg and ,dazzy ,vance are fine examples of fast ball pitchers4 ,so is ,charley ,root of the ,cubs1 who made such a great record as an 8iron man0 last season4 ,of course these fellows have curve balls too4 ,and good ones4 ,grove and ,walburg both have curve balls that break fast and wide1 and they have the added advantage of getting almost as much speed on their curve balls as they do on their fast ones4 ,but just the same they look on their fast ball as their best bet--and always come through with it when they're in a hole4 ,a lot of experts maintain that a 8fast ball pitcher0 will last longer than a curve ball pitcher4 ,they point out that throwing a fast ball isn't as much strain on the arm as a curve4 ,which is probably true4 ,still a lot of fellows who were fast ball pitchers originally1 have developed into curve ball pitchers once the hop on their fast one began to leave them4 ,walter ,johnson is a fine illustration of that4 ,in the last few years ,walter has been depending on curve balls and a change of pace more and more--and its only occasionally that he sends that old 8speeder0 zipping through there the way he used to4 ,herb ,pennock is an example of a good curve ball pitcher4 ,herb has plenty of other stuff1 too1 but his curve ball is his one big bet4 ,it's the ace up his sleeve4 ,jess ,haines of the ,cardinals is another chap who depends upon his curve ball to get him out of trouble4 ,so does ,johnny ,morrison who used to be an ace with the ,pirates4 ,the mere fact that a chap has a good curve ball1 however1 doesn't make him a great pitcher4 ,the best curve ball ,i ever saw was thrown by a fellow who couldn't even make the big league grade1 and perhaps never will4 ,that was ,walter ,beall1 who came up to the ,yankees a few years ago1 but is back in the minors again now4 ,beall could make a baseball sit up and sing bass1 no kidding4 ,his curve broke down1 and ,i'll swear he could break it three or four inches4 ,but he never knew whether it was going over the plate or down the left field foul line--and a curve ball isn't worth a nickle unless the pitcher has control4 ,maybe some day ,walter ,beall will get control4 ,when he does1 look out for him4 ,he'll be a wizard4 ,bob ,shawkey is another one who was almost strictly a curve ball pitcher4 ,bob had that curve of his fooling batters for a good many years before old ,dad ,time finally got him4 ,maybe throwing curves is hard on the arm1 but it never seemed to bother ,bob much4 ,his career was a pretty long and active one1 before he finally came to the end of the trail4 ,the 8mix-up pitchers0 include such players as ,ted ,lyons of the ,white ,sox1 ,george ,uhle of the ,cleveland ,indians1 ,waite ,hoyt of the ,yankees and ,grover ,alexander of the ,cardinals4 ,these are fellows who mix up fast ones with slow ones4 8,change of pace pitchers0 ,i guess would be another name for them4 ,hoyt and ,lyons can throw curves of course4 ,if they couldn't they wouldn't be in the league4 ,but they don't use them often--and usually when they do come up with a curve they keep it outside or inside1 where it can't be damaged4 ,for real effectiveness they depend upon a change of pace4 ,to be a good mix-up pitcher1 you've got to have a corking fast ball as well as the slow stuff4 ,urban ,shocker1 in the days when he was with the ,st4 ,louis ,browns1 was a pitcher of that sort4 ,and what a tough baby he was too4 ,but of late years ,shock has lost his fast one and now he's getting by on his knowledge1 plus pitching stuff that includes slow1 slower and slowest4 ,tom ,zachary of the ,washington ,senators falls into about the same class4 ,but don't think that this classification is absolute4 ,just remember that the fast ball pitchers all have a curve if they need it and the curve ball boys are apt to cross you up with a fast one anytime4 ,these ,i have outlined are the pitches most commonly used by big league pitchers4 ,so far ,i have made no mention of the trick or freak pitches that come and go with the individual4 ,in this list come ,eddie ,cicotte's famous 8shine0 ball2 the emery ball developed and used by ,russell ,ford1 the famous old-time ,yankee pitcher1 and all the other specialties of certain pitchers4 ,the less the average pitcher knows about these1 the better off he is4 ,for they are barred now and an attempt to use them will only get a fellow into trouble4 ,there's no trick in pitching an emery ball4 ,once the emery is applied and the ball roughened the greenest pitcher can make the ball do all sorts of queer stunts4 ,and with a little practice he can learn to control and use such curves4 ,but don't do it4 ,it doesn't pay4 ,as for the others4 ,well there's ,wilcy ,moore's 8sinker10 for instance4 ,that is a fast ball that falls away from the plate4 ,cy can't tell you himself how he pitches it4 ,it's just natural with him and so far as ,i know there's no one else in baseball who pitches a ball quite like it4 ,its effectiveness of course is due to the fact that it sinks away as the hitter swings with the result that he tops the ball and drives it into the ground4 ,if you watch ,cy pitch sometime you'll notice that there are always a great many infield putouts in his games4 ,that's the result of the sinker and a mighty puzzling thing it is the first time you face him1 too4 ,very frequently a pitcher will make a ball 8sail0 when he pitches it4 ,that usually is due to some unobserved roughness on the cover and is just as apt to be harmful as it is helpful4 ,now and then however a pitcher will come along with a natural 8sailer40 ,he doesn't know himself where he gets it or how4 ,it just happens4 ,in my pitching days ,i had little hop on my fast one1 despite the fact that ,i was a fast ball pitcher4 ,but ,i did have a natural sailer4 ,as ,i said before ,i used to think that this was in part due to the added weight given the ball by the trademark stamp1 and in pitching ,i was always careful to turn the ink in the direction ,i wanted the ball to break4 ,chances are1 though1 that this didn't have anything to do with it at all4 ,i'm inclined to think now that it may have been because ,i gripped the ball very loosely even when pitching my fast one4 ,a lot of fellows will argue that the success of a fast ball depends on the grip and that the fellows with the best fast ones1 grip the ball tight4 ,maybe that's right1 but ,i had a pretty fair fast one1 and ,i used a loose grip always4 ,i always managed to get a little 8sail0 on the fast one but there were times when ,i got more than others4 ,i'll never forget a game ,i pitched in ,detroit one day4 ,my fast one was going great that day and ,i had the ,tigers swinging blind4 ,finally ,cobb came up4 ,billy ,evans was umpiring and on my first pitch ,billy called for the ball and threw it out4 8,that one sailed a foot60 he said4 ,the next pitch was a strike and ,cobb called for the ball that time4 8,he's doctoring that ball10 ,ty complained4 8,that one sailed eighteen inches40 ,billy threw that one out4 ,i pitched a third ball and they both squawked1 and that one was tossed out too4 ,all told ,i pitched six balls to ,ty on that one turn at bat4 ,and after each pitch ,billy tossed the ball out of the game4 ,on the sixth pitch ,ty struck out4 ,boy1 maybe you think he wasn't sore4 ,he walked out past me when the inning was over4 8,you're cheating out there you big bum10 he said4 8,no one can make a ball sail like that unless he's doctoring it4 ,but ,i'll find out about it and when ,i do ,i'll run you right out of the league40 ,as a matter of fact ,i wasn't cheating4 ,i was just as puzzled as ,ty4 ,and to this day ,i don't know what made those balls sail4 ,they broke so wide that ,bill ,carrigan who was catching1 had to hop all over the plate to get them4 ,and ,i never had so much 8sail0 before or since4 ,it was just one of those things4 ,i don't know why or how ,i did it4 ,it just happened4 ,baseball is like that and the longer you play the game the more you realize it4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,the infield--,the greatest play of the #aibg world series--,joe ,dugan pulled it--,lazzeri spikes ,pirates' guns--,great second base combinations--,the double play--,the snap throw to base--,great arms in baseball--,travis ,jackson gets ,jake ,daubert's goat--,casey ,stengel tells one--,what to look for in infield play4 ,in the #aibg world series there were a lot of plays that stood out4 ,one of the prettiest plays ,i ever saw was ,joe ,dugan's fielding and throw of a slow bunt down the third base line in that final game4 ,but by that time most of the fight had been taken out of the ,pirates anyhow1 and ,joe's contribution was just one more to a long list of breath-takers4 ,one of the most important plays of the series so far as its after effect was concerned1 came in the first game1 and ,tony ,lazzeri was the boy who pulled it4 ,the details1 as ,i remember them1 were about like this4 ,george ,grantham1 a sweet ball player and a mighty fast man on the bases1 was first up to open the inning4 ,he worked ,hoyt for a base on balls and the stage was set for a sharp ,pirate attack4 ,joe ,harris1 one of the best of the ,pirate hitters1 followed ,grantham at the plate and he signalled ,grantham for the hit and run4 ,just as ,hoyt drew back to pitch ,grantham leaped for second and ,joe ,harris smacked the ball squarely on the nose4 ,lazzeri had leaned toward second with the pitch and was starting as if to cover1 but caught himself in time4 ,with perfect timing he scooped up the ball and tagged ,grantham out as he tore for second4 ,then with the same motion he shot the ball to ,gehrig and ,harris was doubled at first base4 ,so far as actual play was concerned the play was good and snappy1 but not spectacular4 ,but it was a death blow to the ,pirates just the same4 ,for when that play was pulled it showed them that we had an infield that could click under pressure1 and a second baseman who knew what to do in the face of a hit and run attack4 ,right off the bat it made the ,pirates doubtful about their best attacking method1 and when a bit later ,tony pulled the same play they were thoroughly convinced4 ,the point is that second base is the pivot of all infield play4 ,give any ball club a second baseman and a short-stop who can work together in perfect harmony with each knowing the other's style and methods and you've solved four-fifths of the infield troubles right there4 ,by that ,i don't mean that the second baseman and the shortstop must be stars4 ,there are mighty few real stars there1 or elsewhere4 ,but there are some mighty sweet ball players--and the minute you get two who can work together you've got a rare combination4 ,as a matter of fact the best pair ,i ever saw around second base weren't in the big leagues at all4 ,they were ,neil ,ball and ,clyde ,derrick1 and they were playing with the ,baltimore ,orioles when ,i broke in4 ,ball had been a star at one time1 but when ,i knew him his career was about closed4 ,old time fans will remember him4 ,he's one of the few big league players who ever made a triple play unassisted4 ,as for ,derrick1 ,i don't think he ever gained any great fame4 ,just the same though1 playing together1 they were a great combination4 ,one seemed to know1 always1 just what the other would do--and ,i've seen them field and throw balls without even looking1 they were so confident that the other would be there to make the play4 ,their best stunt was going over back of second base to field balls that looked like sure base hits1 and no matter which one went after the ball1 the other was right on hand to keep it winging on its way4 ,just how important that second base combination is1 can be shown by the fact that #ii percent of the teams that win pennants are strong in that department4 ,they may be weak elsewhere3 they may have only fair pitching or poor outfielding1 or maybe a weakness at first or third or behind the bat--but almost always you find them with a great combination at second and short4 ,from what the old-timers tell me1 ,joe ,tinker and ,johnny ,evers must have been about as great as any of them4 ,i never saw them working together1 but they had to have something to be remembered through all these years4 ,of the big league combinations ,i have seen1 there are three or four that stick out in my mind4 ,barry and ,collins of the old ,athletics were one pair4 ,eddie was the master mind of that outfit1 and he continued to shine as a second baseman long after ,jack ,barry was through4 ,eddie left the ,athletics to go with the ,white ,sox1 and there he paired up with ,risberg and ,buck ,weaver4 ,there was another great combination4 ,probably no other two men on the club had more to do with the ,washington victory in #aibd and #aibe than ,bucky ,harris and ,roger ,peckinpaugh4 ,peck1 incidentally1 is the best shortstop ,i ever knew1 ,i think4 ,in his prime he could do everything that anyone would ask--and in addition he knew his baseball from front to back4 ,he was smart1 and one of the best points he had was an uncanny ability to size up a play4 ,one of the pet tricks of some smart hitters--fellows like ,cobb and ,collins and hitters of that type--is to fake a swing to draw the shortstop out of position1 and then hit one through him4 ,in all the time ,i have been in the league ,i've never seen ,peck fooled on that play1 and ,i've seen fellows try it a lot4 ,in fact ,i've tried it myself1 and nearly twisted my neck out of joint trying to snap the ball to left field4 ,naturally ,i don't know so much about the ,national ,league4 ,i see those players only in world series games and occasionally during the summer when we have an off day1 but ,i did see enough of the ,giants to know that ,bancroft and ,frisch made a great pair around second4 ,like ,peckinpaugh with ,harris1 ,bancroft was the boy who supplied the quick thinking and ,frankie came through with the smart mechanical stuff4 ,some of the plays that pair pulled against us in the #aibc world series were plain and simple murder4 ,i've never asked ,john ,mc,graw point blank1 but ,i've got a hunch that if you asked him to name the two men on his club most responsible for the ,giant pennants in #aibb and #aibc1 ,banny and ,frank are the players he would name4 ,aside from the mere ability to dig balls out of the dirt1 the most important requirement for a good second baseman or shortstop1 as ,i see it1 is the ability to throw from any position1 and to snap the ball with both speed and control4 ,that's because of the double play4 ,and don't mistake the importance of that two-ply killing4 ,it's the greatest single item in a team's defense4 ,up in the big leagues we always sort of take it for granted that a ground ball to the infield will be one out4 ,but it's the fellows who are in there getting two at a time who really take rank as stars4 ,and double plays aren't easy4 ,the place where most infielders fall down on a double play is in pivoting for the throw4 ,that's where ,bucky ,harris of the ,washington ,senators is a past master4 ,bucky makes his pivot1 tags his man if necessary1 and gets the ball away to first all with the same motion4 ,and on a play of that sort the split part of a second means the difference between a runner being out or safe4 ,in throwing1 the weight1 at the time the ball is delivered1 is on the left foot4 7,that is for right hand throwers and all infielders except first basemen are usually right handed47 ,naturally in making a double play1 if you can touch second with your left foot and throw at the moment your foot touches the bag you can make the play more quickly than if you tag up with your right foot and then have to take a step forward for the throw4 ,watch ,bucky sometime and you'll see that nine times out of ten he tags up with his left foot and goes right on through with his motion4 ,sometimes of course that is impossible1 and then he resorts to a quick1 underhand snap throw4 ,but the other is best1 and he uses it most of the time4 ,the shortstop should have an arm that is nearly perfect4 ,his throws are longer than those of the second baseman1 and usually must be delivered with more speed because he makes his plays deeper and the batter gets a longer start on balls hit to short4 ,everett ,scott1 the old ,yankee and ,red ,sox 8iron man0 was one of the most accurate throwers ,i ever saw in the shortfield4 ,scotty 8trolley wired0 his throws as the boys say4 ,in other words1 he sent them on the same straight line every time1 as though the ball was traveling on some invisible wire4 ,one of the best throwing arms in the league today is possessed by young ,reeves1 a rookie brought up by the ,washington ,senators last year4 ,that kid throws like a bullet and right to the mark4 ,he isn't much of a hitter and ,i'm not sure he's good enough in the field to make the grade1 but he certainly can toss that onion4 ,travis ,jackson of the ,giants is another great thrower4 ,the boys tell a story of a play ,travis made in ,cincinnati the year he broke in4 ,poor old ,jake ,daubert was playing with the ,reds then and he hit a hot ground ball through the box and just inside second base4 ,jake took one look and started jogging to first base4 ,that hit had base hit labeled all over it4 ,but ,jackson went across fast1 grabbed the ball out of the dirt1 with one hand1 then straightened up and sent the ball whizzing like a bullet to ,kelly4 ,daubert was out by half a stride and went back to the bench cussing to himself4 8,what a play10 some of the boys on the bench remarked4 8,there isn't another shortstop in the league could have made it60 8,yeh and nobody but that young fool out there would even have tried it10 was ,jake's reply4 ,one of the toughest plays that either a shortstop or second baseman is called upon to make1 is to go back into the short outfield for high pop flies4 ,taking a ball in front of you is one thing1 but running back to take a fly ball over your shoulder is something else again4 ,some of the boys never do get the knack of it4 ,rogers ,hornsby is one of the fellows who find this a tough job4 ,rog is a great second baseman--one of the greatest of all time--but he can't go after pop flies as he should4 ,he has tried and tried1 and down ,south they tell me he practices by the hour1 but somehow he can't seem to get the hang of it4 ,frankie ,frisch and ,tony ,lazzeri1 on the other hand1 are wizards at this particular stunt4 ,i've seen ,frisch go way over to the right field foul line and come up with the ball4 ,and one of the greatest plays ,i've ever seen in my whole career was pulled by ,frankie ,frisch in the #aibc world series when he went into center field back of second base1 leaped in the air and caught ,ward's pop fly over his shoulder with one hand1 and then whirled and threw to the plate in time to catch ,dugan scoring from third4 ,of all the difficult plays ,i've ever seen1 that one still stands out in my mind as the greatest4 ,people have asked me why it is the second baseman and shortstop go into right or left for pop flies instead of the first or third baseman4 ,the answer is easy4 ,they're in better position to see the ball and the play4 ,if a first baseman goes into right field for a pop fly he has to turn his back4 ,the same with a third baseman on a pop fly to left4 ,but the second baseman or shortstop can run at an angle and still keep their eye on the ball throughout its flight4 ,it's the old1 old story that a man can make more speed running forward than he can backward1 and you've got a better chance of catching a ball that you can see in flight than you have of taking one blind1 over your shoulder4 ,this again is a play that can be perfected only by constant practice4 ,mark ,koenig is a fine example of that4 ,mark is one of those nervous1 high strung fellows who will undergo real agony while standing under a pop fly waiting for it to come down4 ,the first year ,mark was with the ,yankees he kicked pop flies all around the place4 ,he was so bad that once he was hit in the face by a falling ball1 and two or three times he got hit on the chest and arms4 ,but he kept trying--and last season he had so improved himself that he went through the entire season without dropping a single pop fly that he was able to get his hands on4 ,the first requirement of good play at second and short is complete understanding and cooperation4 ,you've got to have a set of signals--we always call them 8signs0 in baseball--that are quickly and easily understood so there will be no mistaking as to who is to cover the bag or take the throw4 ,sometimes of course signs are not necessary4 ,with a man on first base and a natural right field hitter up1 the second baseman naturally plays over and the shortstop covers up4 ,on a left field hitter the play is exactly opposite4 ,those are what we call 8naturals40 ,but there are a lot of other situations that arise when it is absolutely necessary for the shortstop and second baseman to have signs4 ,and it's a lot better if the pitcher1 catcher1 and other infielders know what is happening too4 ,then there's very little chance for a mix-up4 ,another confusing play for the beginner at second base is the handling of a drag bunt or slow roller between first and the pitcher's box4 ,there's no rule for such a play4 ,it's just a matter of practice and understanding between the first and second baseman4 ,if the ball is within reach of the first baseman1 then it's up to the second baseman to cover first and take the throw4 ,otherwise the first baseman holds his bag and the second baseman fields the ball4 ,speaking of drag bunts1 that is one of the greatest weaknesses in the ,yankees' infield play4 ,tony ,lazzeri and ,lou ,gehrig have played tiddle-winks on more drag bunts and slow rollers than any pair ,i ever knew4 ,lou somehow just can't get the knack of judging balls like that and at times he drives ,tony nutty4 ,but he's improving--and in another season or two he'll have the thing down pat4 ,but even the ability to do all the things ,i've outlined above--and do them well--doesn't mean that a man will be a great infielder4 ,there's still that business of 8tagging the runner0 to look out for and that isn't easy at all4 ,tagging a man properly is an art4 ,i've seen some great looking kids come up to the big leagues1 kids who seemed to have everything4 ,but they didn't stick1 because they couldn't 8put the ball on the runner40 ,eddie ,collins is a master in this specialty4 ,eddie always manages to get squarely between the runner and the bag1 and let the runner slide into the ball4 ,a lot of players are spike shy4 ,that is1 they're just a little bit afraid of the spikes as a runner comes sliding into the bag4 ,a spike shy player will never make an infielder4 ,it can't be done4 ,i never knew ,john ,evers in his prime1 but ,i guess ,john must have been a master at putting the ball on a runner4 ,one of the best yarns ,i ever heard ,casey ,stengel tell was about his experiences when he broke in4 ,his first time up he got a hit and a moment later went sliding into second base past ,evers4 ,casey was a fresh rookie and always had something to say4 ,he said it this time4 8,i thought you were such a whiz around that second bag10 ,casey said to ,evers4 8,but ,i was a little too smooth for you1 eh8 ,are you the best they have in this league80 8,listen1 ,rookie0 ,johnny replied1 8the next time you come down here you'd better wear a tin helmet4 ,i'm going to slam that ball right down your throat60 8,and10 says ,casey1 8he did it too60 ,in the old days base runners used to go into the bag with their spikes high intentionally4 ,basemen were considered fair game at all times1 and if the base runner could cut the legs or hands or arms of the basemen he did it4 ,by the same rule the baseman felt free to tag the runner out with a swing to the jaw or any other tender portion of his body4 ,basemen1 too1 in the old days had a little trick of jumping in the air and coming down on the hands and legs of the runner as he slid4 ,those days are pretty much past now4 ,deliberate spiking isn't permitted any more1 and when such things occur in these days it's a hundred to one that it was an accident pure and simple4 ,none the less there's always danger so long as men slide--and always will be4 ,and the good baseman is on his guard4 ,the ability to tag fast and get away has saved many a pair of shins4 ,it's part of the art of infield play4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,playing the outfield--,the kid idea--,stars who have scintillated in the outfield--,great outfielders of all time--,their methods of play--,what the outfielder needs--,what he must look out for--,playing the hitter--,making the throw--,some great outfield plays--,sam ,rice's great catch--,harry ,hooper1 the old master4 ,i can remember as a kid that an outfielder's job was looked upon as a sort of necessary evil4 ,nobody wanted to be a fielder1 and the poorest1 slowest1 littlest fellows in the game were the ones who were chased out to the 8gardens40 ,ring ,lardner or one of the baseball humorists once wrote a wise crack about that same thing4 8,they call it left field10 he wrote1 8because they fill all the other places first and then if there's any one left they send him out there40 ,kids have funny ideas4 ,back in my kid days the fellow who was lucky enough to own a ball or a bat naturally became captain of the team4 ,and the captain always appointed himself pitcher4 ,if we had some stocky1 fat kid in the gang we made him a shortstop on the hunch that balls hit to short were always fast and hard and it took a stocky kid to field them4 ,little fellows were always made into second basemen4 ,maybe that was because ,john ,evers of the ,cubs and ,miller ,huggins of the ,cincinnati ,reds were in their prime then1 and they were small men4 ,and of course playing the outfield was the crowning insult4 ,nobody wanted to go out there--and many a kid fight developed over who had to 8chase flies0 in the outer gardens4 ,as a matter of fact the outfield is a mighty important post in baseball1 and some of the greatest stars the game has known have been outfielders4 ,men like ,harry ,hooper1 ,tris ,speaker1 ,ty ,cobb1 ,eddie ,roush1 ,paul ,waner1 ,goose ,goslin1 ,frank ,schulte and fellows of that type have played a big part in the development of baseball4 ,and outfielders today1 have got to have a lot of ability1 if they expect to hold their jobs4 ,they've got to have speed and be able to get underway quickly4 ,more than any other players on the club1 they must have the ability to judge the flight of a hard-hit ball and do it instantly4 ,they must be able to throw far and accurately1 and above all else they must be able to stand up there at the plate and hit the ball4 ,managers of the big league ball clubs today1 frequently will carry a second baseman or a short stop on his fielding ability4 ,they're willing to sacrifice a little hitting ability for the sake of smooth infield defense4 ,but an outfielder is expected to be a hitter--and if he can't hit he won't last long4 ,so far as actual work is concerned the outfielder has one of the easiest jobs on the ball club4 ,even on a busy day he isn't called upon to handle more than six or eight chances1 and there are scores of games during the course of the season when he never handles a single ball4 ,nor is he called upon to make the quick starts and stops1 the snap throws or the hurried plays that are required of an infielder4 ,the strain isn't so great on his arms and his legs4 ,the result is that the playing life of an outfielder is usually longer than that of an infielder4 ,baseball history proves the statement4 ,eddie ,collins is the only infielder in either league right now1 who has been in the game for fifteen years4 ,there have been several outfielders whose careers covered that long or longer4 ,ty ,cobb1 ,tris ,speaker1 ,zach ,wheat1 ,max ,carey--all of them went well past the fifteen year mark4 ,so did ,willie ,keeler1 ,jimmy ,sheckard1 ,king ,kelly and a lot of the old-timers4 ,outfield play has changed a lot in the last few years4 ,fifteen years ago1 before the rabbit ball came into existence1 and in the era when hitters choked their hits and tried for direction more than distance1 the outfielders ranged close in4 ,they took more chances on a ball going over their heads1 than they do now4 ,and they were called upon to do a lot more throwing4 ,a strong throwing arm was absolutely necessary to an outfielder ten years ago--and many a run was cut down at the plate by a good throw4 ,now1 however1 since the rabbit ball has come into being and hitters are aiming at the fences1 the outfielders play far out and the throwing end of the game is not as important as it once was4 ,the distances are so great that a throw home from most outfield positions is almost impossible4 ,and center fielders in particular have little or no chance to nail their man on a long fly4 ,and by the way1 that explains why managers arrange their outfielders to put the weak thrower in center field1 if possible4 ,don't get me wrong4 ,a great throwing arm is still a mighty helpful thing to an outfielder4 ,but not so necessary as it used to be4 ,a fellow with a weak arm can hold a job these days4 ,fifteen years ago he would have been turned loose4 ,there are some mighty sweet throwing arms among the big league outfielders today4 ,bob ,meusel of the ,yankees1 has one of the greatest arms in the business4 ,i've seen ,bob make a running catch in left field and then throw to first base for a double play4 ,that's real throwing4 ,and with ,bob playing left field1 there are mighty few runners will score from third base on a short fly to left4 ,he's caught so many of them that they're all scared now4 ,they don't even try to take a base on him4 ,harry ,rice1 the little outfielder who used to be with the ,browns and is now with the ,tigers1 is another boy who can whip that ball around4 ,so can the ,waner brothers of the ,pittsburgh ,pirates4 8,pittsburg0 replaced with 8,pittsburgh0 ,this subject brings up a rather interesting point4 ,a lot of folks figure that my pitching experience has helped me in making throws from the outfield4 ,personally ,i don't think so4 ,the pitching throw is entirely different from the outfield throw4 ,the pitcher uses a snap motion to give the ball a 8hop40 ,the outfield throw is long and smooth and easy4 ,it has more of the full arm and less of the wrist than a pitching throw4 ,one of the fellows who has managed to get by in big league baseball despite a weak arm is ,eddie ,brown of the ,boston ,braves4 ,i'm told ,eddie can't throw a lick--and opposing teams all know it4 ,but playing in center field he finds little occasion for real throwing1 and he always has the aid of his infield in making a relay4 ,and what he lacks in throwing power he more than makes up in his ability to 8go get 'em0 and to slam that ball on the nose4 ,john ,mc,graw tried an interesting experiment a few years ago when he had ,george ,kelly at first base and some indifferent throwers in the outfield4 ,on fly balls that required a play at the plate ,john would send ,kelly scampering into the outfield to relay the throw4 ,i've seen him go chasing all the way from first base to deep short to help ,irish ,meusel get the ball back1 and it wasn't at all unusual to see him stepping out to short center to grab a throw from ,jimmy ,o',connell4 ,kelly had and still has one of the greatest throwing arms in the business4 ,the ,yankees know it and how6 ,one of the greatest plays ever pulled in a world series was pulled by this same ,kelly in #aibc4 ,joe ,dugan was on third base and ,i was at bat4 ,i got hold of a fast ball and sent it down the first base line a mile a minute4 ,it looked like a two bagger sure4 ,but somehow ,kelly managed to get over to the ball and knocked it down with his gloved hand4 ,that ball rolled about three feet away but he was after it like a flash1 and then without even straightening up he shot the ball to ,frank ,snyder at the plate in time to get ,dugan trying to score from third base4 ,nobody but ,kelly could have made that play4 ,that was one instance where a great throwing arm meant a ball game--for that single play beat us out4 ,the boys were whipped the minute it was pulled4 ,i've seen a lot of great outfielders come and go since ,i've been in the big leagues4 ,i saw ,ty ,cobb when he was in his prime--though ,ty never was as great a defensive player as he was a hitter4 ,he's one star who was hampered by a rather weak arm1 and he had a weakness on ground balls too4 ,tris ,speaker was right at the top of his game when ,i broke in too--and ,tris at his best came mighty near being the daddy of all fly-chasers4 ,but ,i think there's one man in my experience who was even better than ,cobb and ,speaker4 ,he comes about as near being the perfect outfielder as any man ,i ever saw4 ,and that was ,harry ,hooper1 the great ,red ,sox outfielder who finally ended his career with the ,chicago ,white ,sox4 ,harry ,hooper had everything4 ,he could hit1 he could field and he could throw4 ,i never saw a man who could go back on a ball as well as ,harry4 ,most outfielders1 when a ball is hit over their head1 run sideways in an effort to keep their eye on the ball all the time4 ,but not ,harry4 ,he would take one squint1 then turn his back and run to the place where the ball was headed4 ,and in all his career ,i don't believe he misjudged a half dozen balls4 ,few outfielders can do that4 ,following a fly ball in flight and catching it is one thing4 ,but turning your back at the crack of the bat and running at top speed1 then turning in time to grab the ball out of the air is something else again4 ,harry could come in on a ball too1 with the best of them4 ,coming in to take a ball at the shoe strings1 of course1 was ,tris ,speaker's best stunt4 ,there was no one quite in his class1 but ,harry came pretty close4 ,and if ,speaker was a little heavier hitter--he certainly was no better than ,hooper in a pinch4 ,hooper and ,speaker were playing together in ,boston when ,i broke in1 and with them was ,duffy ,lewis4 ,what an outfield6 ,perhaps not the best of all time1 but one of the best4 ,duffy rated right along with the other two4 ,a funny fellow was ,duffy ,lewis4 ,one of the pleasantest1 squarest1 friendliest fellows in baseball1 he had more friends than any player ,i ever knew4 ,he had a fad for dress too--and he certainly was the clothes horse of the league4 ,his neckties used to be the envy of everyone on the circuit1 and ,i never saw him when he didn't look as though he had just stepped out of a tailor shop4 ,there are a lot of well-dressed men in baseball4 ,waite ,hoyt is a regular tailor's model and ,clarence ,rowland and ,billy ,evans1 the umpires1 were the 8glass of fashion0 and the 8mould of form10 as the style experts call it4 ,bill ,veeck of the ,cubs is another neat dresser1 and ,bob ,meusel always looks like the advertisements of what the well-dressed man will wear4 ,but none of them had anything on ,duffy ,lewis4 ,he was old ,kid ,fashion himself4 ,speaker1 ,lewis and ,hooper taught me about everything ,i know about playing the outfield4 ,they were students of the game always1 and mighty few tricks of the outfielding trade ever got by them4 ,i've heard them1 sitting around the clubhouse in ,boston1 go right down the list of ,american league hitters and tell where each one hit1 and why4 ,they weren't content to know that ,joe ,judge1 for instance1 was usually a right field hitter4 ,they wanted to know where ,joe hit a fast one and a slow one1 what he did with a high ball outside or a low one inside1 and they always insisted on knowing just what the pitcher was going to do with each ball he pitched4 ,that's the most important part of an outfielder's business4 ,too many amateurs figure that all an outfielder has to do is go out there and chase flies4 ,but the real outfielder studies the hitters as closely as does the pitcher4 ,they shift with every man who comes to the plate1 moving in and back and to and fro like a lot of policemen looking for a riot4 ,one of the best men in the business today at judging a hitter is ,max ,carey1 the old ,pirate captain1 now with the ,brooklyn ,robins4 ,max has lost a lot of his speed1 and the old throwing arm isn't what it used to be1 but he can still judge a ball before it is hit with the best of them4 ,and it keeps him out there playing regularly while a lot of other fellows1 faster and better mechanically1 are picking up splinters on the bench4 ,of course there are a few general rules4 ,a left hand hitter for instance is apt to be a right field hitter1 while a right hand hitter is more apt to hit to left or center field4 ,with a fast ball pitcher working1 outfielders as a rule1 play a little further back than when a slow ball pitcher is working4 ,but these rules are not iron-bound1 and the good outfielder never sticks too close to such rules4 ,he views the hitter as an individual and studies his individual style1 knowing that two men who hit in much the same fashion may still hit to opposite fields4 ,one of the best all around outfielders in the business today is ,al ,simmons of the ,athletics4 ,he has a peculiar fielding style4 ,simmons takes a long loping stride when running1 and from the stands it doesn't appear as though he covered much ground4 ,but when you've hit a few out his direction and seen him gallop across after them1 you realize your dope is all wrong4 ,al is squatter and heavier than the average outfielder too4 ,if you pay particular attention you'll find that most outfielders are of the greyhound type--slim1 with long legs1 and inclined to 8skinnyness40 ,bob ,meusel and ,earl ,combs of the ,yankees are of this type4 ,ty ,cobb used to be1 though in recent years he is filling out and putting on weight4 ,sam ,rice of the ,washington ,senators--a whale of an outfielder in his prime1 ,kenny ,williams of the ,boston ,red ,sox1 ,eddie ,roush of the ,giants1 ,max ,carey of the ,brooklyn club all are of that general type4 ,though of course there are exceptions4 ,for instance ,i've been playing the outfield for some years1 and no one can say ,i have a boyish form4 ,and then there's ,al ,simmons1 mentioned before1 and ,hack ,wilson of the ,cubs and ,bob ,fothergill of the ,tigers4 ,round1 tubby fellows all of them4 ,but they get their speed in spite of their weight1 not because of it4 ,one of the greatest outfielders the game has known in recent years is ,johnny ,mostil of the ,white ,sox4 ,johnny is one of the fastest men after a fly ball ,i ever saw4 ,he made a catch off me in ,white ,sox park a couple of seasons ago that was a heart-breaker4 ,the ball was hit far over his head to the center field wall4 ,he turned his back with the crack of the bat and sped at full tilt to the wall1 then turned and took the ball with a leap4 ,naturally he crashed into the concrete and how he held it is more than ,i can figure4 ,but he did--for one of the greatest outfield plays ,i ever saw1 and one that robbed me of a home run4 ,two other great outfield plays stand out in my mind1 of all ,i have seen4 ,one was made by ,bib ,falk of the ,white ,sox4 ,he was playing left field at the ,stadium and with ,joe ,bush up as a pinch hitter4 ,bib played well back and over toward center4 ,joe hit a line drive over third base and down the foul line4 ,bib came in fast1 made a last dive for the ball and caught it as he was sliding along on his stomach4 ,he took the ball with the gloved hand1 not more than two inches off the ground1 and then turned a complete flip-flop across the cinder path4 ,his face and both arms were cut with the cinders and when he came to the bench he was covered with blood4 ,but he held the ball4 ,the other outstanding catch ,i remember was ,sam ,rice's play on ,earl ,smith's long liner in the #aibe world series--a play which won the game for the ,senators and came near starting a baseball war4 ,you probably remember how it all happened4 ,the ,pirates were a run behind with two out and two on when ,earl hit this one4 ,it had home run labeled all over it and was headed squarely for the temporary bleachers in center field4 ,but ,sam came tearing across1 made a dive and took the ball just as he tumbled over the low railing and into the crowd4 ,there's still a lot of argument as to whether or not he held the ball4 ,but the umpires said he did and ,i'm willing to take their word for it4 ,anyhow it was a great performance4 ,hitters1 of course1 are always trying to cross up outfielders4 ,now and then they get away with it4 ,one of the best laughs ,i ever had in my life was at the expense of ,charley ,jamieson1 the ,cleveland left fielder1 and a good one too4 ,over in ,cleveland the outfield plays me entirely to right4 ,the right fielder moves back to the wall1 close to the foul line4 ,the center fielder goes over to the right field wall in right center and the left fielder swings around to deep center4 ,that leaves left field wide open4 ,this particular day ,i saw ,jamieson way over in center and decided to try and push the ball to left4 ,uhle was pitching and whether he was attempting to cross me up or simply made a mistake ,i don't know4 ,anyhow he pitched inside and ,i got a perfect drive down the third base line4 ,it looked like a three bagger sure1 but the sight of ,jamieson tearing across that field on his little short legs as if somebody was chasing him got to me4 ,i was laughing as ,i left the plate and ,i was laughing as ,i turned first base4 ,so were the fans and the rest of the ,cleveland club4 ,it was a lot funnier to see than it was to tell about1 and ,i got laughing so hard that instead of reaching third base ,i only got to second4 ,i've seen outfielders crossed up a lot in my day1 but ,i never saw one as completely fooled as ,jamie was that time--and how he ran1 trying to get back into left field and grab that ball6 ,which is just about the story of outfielding except this4 ,catching fly balls1 judging them for height1 distance and direction is simply a matter of practice4 ,even the best outfielders after a winter's lay off1 look foolish on fly balls when they start to work in the spring4 ,you've got to chase them1 and chase them1 and then chase them some more4 ,practice and practice alone will do it6 ,and if a man isn't willing to practice hard and long he better stick out of the outfield4 ,otherwise he's apt to get one in the head some day and be carted to the hospital4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,the catcher--,his importance in the game--,directing the play--,famous batteries of other days--,how the catcher can make or break a pitcher--,handling high fouls the catcher's toughest job--,john ,grabowski's great play that resulted in a change of rules--,holding men on bases--,the snap throw to first--,signs and what they are--,ray ,schalk the master4 ,the most important player in the ball game1 so far as keeping the team working together and directing defensive play is concerned1 is the fellow with the mask and the protector back of the plate4 ,you don't hear a lot about the catcher4 ,mostly the cheers are for the other fellows4 ,by the very nature of his job he can't be sensational4 ,just a hard-working1 plugging ball player4 ,but without a good catcher it is mighty tough going1 believe me4 ,two things in particular make the catcher a man to look out for4 ,in the first place he's the one who directs the pitching1 giving signals to the pitcher as what to pitch and when1 and where4 ,of course with an old1 experienced pitcher this isn't so important4 ,for the old-timer1 having had a chance to study the hitters1 knows as much about them as the catcher himself4 ,and frequently the pitcher will 8shake off0 the catcher's signal4 ,that is1 he will change the catcher's signal for one of his own4 ,but with kid pitchers the catcher is the works4 ,he can make them or break them4 ,catchers like ,johnny ,kling of the old ,cubs1 ,roger ,bresnahan of the ,giants1 ,muddy ,ruel of the ,senators and ,ray ,schalk of the ,white ,sox deserve as much credit as the pitcher himself for a well pitched game4 ,fellows like that do more than simply catch the balls that are thrown by the pitcher4 ,they pitch right along with him1 steadying him when he needs steadying1 boosting him up when encouragement is needed1 and making his way easy as possible always4 ,that's real catching when a man does that4 ,of course there are some ball clubs where the work of the catcher is entirely mechanical4 ,the ,giants are an example of that4 ,john ,mc,graw has long held that he would do the thinking for his ball club4 ,he gives the signs and calls for the pitch4 ,his catchers do what they're told1 and call for the pitch as ,mc,graw himself signals4 ,sometimes it works out well and sometimes not so well4 ,but ,mac is perfectly frank about it4 8,you do as ,i tell you1 and ,i'll take the blame for whatever happens10 he says4 ,and he does it1 too6 ,in the world series between the ,yankees and the ,giants ,snyder1 ,gowdy and ,smith1 who did the ,giant catching1 used to turn toward the bench for their signal on every pitch4 ,we used to kid them about it a lot--but ,mac never let up4 ,though it did seem to me he gave ,gowdy a little more leeway than he did the other two4 ,now and then ,hank would be permitted to do his own thinking4 ,but then ,gowdy was an old1 experienced man who knew the ,mc,graw system from top to bottom4 ,ordinarily though1 the catcher is given free rein and is responsible for the signs and the pitches4 ,on our club for instance1 ,hug now and then in a tight place will give the catcher instructions--but for the most part he lets them play their own game4 ,the second important job of the catcher outside his mechanical work is to boss the defensive play4 ,a lot of people have never realized it1 but if you take a good look at the diamond you'll realize a peculiar thing4 ,that is this4 ,the catcher is the only man on the club so placed that every single play occurs before his eyes4 ,the pitcher has five men working behind his back4 ,the second baseman can't see the outfield4 ,the first baseman can't see right and center field and he has only a partial view of left field and third base4 ,but the catcher1 by reason of his position facing the play1 sees them all--and is in a position to direct the play of the others4 8mechancal0 replaced with 8mechanical0 ,on an infield fly it is the catcher who calls the man to take the ball2 on an attempted steal it is the catcher who is in position to warn the others4 ,he has to have his eyes open all the time1 and a team that has poor catching is handicapped from the start4 ,so far as a pitcher is concerned1 good catching means everything to him and poor catching means his ruination4 ,that's true even of veteran pitchers4 ,no matter how much natural stuff a pitcher may have he can't pitch well unless he has absolute confidence in his catcher4 ,and certain pitchers and catchers work together so long that the pitcher is lost pitching to any other man4 ,mathewson and ,myers were such a team4 ,matty always pitched to ,myers and despite the fact that ,bresnahan was a great catcher1 he and ,matty never were able to team up successfully4 ,roger on the other hand could handle ,bugs ,raymond like a whiz1 while ,myers was lost with ,bugs' pitching4 ,baseball history is full of famous batteries4 ,brown and ,kling of the old ,cubs were a great pair4 ,so were ,walsh and ,sullivan of the famous old ,hitless ,wonder ,white ,sox4 ,lou ,criger and ,cy ,young worked together perfectly for a good many years1 and ,johnson and ,street rode to fame together with ,walter's fast one4 ,after ,gabby left the big leagues ,eddie ,ainsmith took up the burden and for a long time it was ,johnson and ,ainsmith who figured in the announcement of the batteries4 ,i almost called it the umpire's announcement4 ,it's a funny thing how people accept a false statement as fact1 simply because of long repetition4 ,even the newspaper boys tell in their yarns about the umpire announcing the battery4 ,as a matter of fact the umpire doesn't announce the batteries at all4 ,a long time ago the umpires were the announcers1 but in the last fifteen years the various clubs have employed professional announcers to do this work4 ,anyway1 the fans still talk about the umpires announcing the batteries and ,i suppose they always will4 ,once they get an idea they cling to it4 ,for instance when ,walter ,johnson broke into the big leagues he was a fast ball pitcher and even to this day ,walter's fast one is the subject of many a baseball powwow4 ,as matter of fact1 ,walter's fast one has been slowed up for a long time and in its place he has developed a curve ball that's a peach4 ,but they still talk about that fast one and the curve is seldom mentioned1 except by the players themselves4 ,believe me1 we know the difference4 ,frank ,snyder1 the old ,giant and ,cardinal catcher1 now manager of the ,houston club1 was the victim of just such publicity4 ,when ,frank broke into the league he was called a 8sucker0 on pop fouls4 ,couldn't seem to catch them to save his soul4 ,naturally the word went out that he was weak on fouls4 ,snyder overcame that weakness long1 long ago4 ,right now there isn't a better man on foul flies in either league than ,snyder4 ,but the idea got out1 and in the minds of the fans he's still as much a sucker as the day he broke in4 ,speaking of foul flies--there's one of the toughest things a catcher is called upon to handle4 ,catching a high fly directly over your head is never easy1 and when you're hampered by a mask and protector in addition1 it's twice as tough4 ,in catching a foul fly the catcher must first locate the ball1 then he has to discard his mask and start moving4 ,and always1 you must remember1 he's handicapped by the closeness of the backstop and stands1 and the fact that he's within verbal range of the fans and the rival bench as well4 ,like catching flies in the outfield1 catching fouls back of the plate is entirely a matter of practice4 ,but there's this difference4 ,the outfielder1 facing the play1 can see the ball from the minute it leaves the bat4 ,the catcher doesn't see it at all4 ,he hears it nick the bat and senses that it's somewhere in the air over his head4 ,the pitcher usually yells to him as to its direction and whether or not he can get it4 ,so do the fellows on his own bench4 ,but their voices very likely are drowned out by the fake advice that comes from the rival bench4 ,it's up to him to locate that ball quickly1 and if you think that's an easy job1 just try it4 ,i mentioned ,frank ,snyder and his foul fly weakness before4 ,frank overcame it wonderfully--and did it by practice4 ,he used to go out to the park after the other fellows had gone and get someone to hit high flies for a half hour at a time4 ,gradually he developed his sense of direction and then he started to improve4 ,today he's almost perfect in that department4 ,the greatest bit of foul fly catching ,i ever saw happened in ,philadelphia last season4 ,johnny ,grabowski made the catch1 and wonderful as it was1 it came near costing us a ball game4 ,we were engaged in one of those nip and tuck thrillers with the ,a's4 ,eddie ,collins was on third base and ,ty ,cobb on first when ,al ,simmons raised a foul that was headed for the ,a's dugout4 ,john ran over1 throwing his mask aside as he ran4 ,he bumped into the rail alongside the dugout1 but stuck out his glove for the ball4 ,the impact of the ball carried him right on over the rail and he tumbled head over heels down the incline to the concrete runway some four feet below4 ,everyone thought he was killed--and all the ,a's rushed down to help him1 the doctor among others4 ,when ,john started to get up the ,doc held him down saying3 8,take it easy1 old man1 take it easy4 ,you're all right60 ,meantime while ,john was fighting to get to his feet ,collins trotted home after the catch and ,cobb tore all the way to the plate from first base4 ,those two runs would have whipped us1 and of course we all squawked4 ,it was a play that wasn't covered by the rules1 and after a conference with the other umpires1 ,tommy ,connolly ruled that ,collins' score should be allowed1 but that the other runner would have to go back to third base4 ,grabowski1 he ruled1 had made the catch outside the playing field and had been the victim of unintentional interference into the bargain4 ,but what a catch it was6 ,cy ,perkins1 the ,athletic catcher1 made one almost as good a season or two previously when he tumbled into a field box at the ,yankee stadium4 ,he skidded around on his ear considerably1 and lost a lot of skin1 but he held the ball for a third out that retired the side and eventually won the ball game4 ,one of the prettiest defensive plays a catcher can make is the snap throw to first base to catch a runner4 ,i think a base runner never feels so foolish as when he is picked off first base by the catcher4 ,and some of the boys are experts at it4 ,the best man ,i ever saw at this particular play was ,sam ,agnew1 the old catcher of the ,st4 ,louis ,browns4 ,i don't know whether ,sam invented the play or not1 perhaps he did4 ,but he certainly was an expert4 ,he could snap that ball down there like nobody's business1 and it was a pretty clever and daring runner who got more than two yards away when ,sam was behind the plate4 ,the advantage of such a play1 of course1 is that it saves the pitcher and enables him to concentrate more on his pitching and less on the base runner4 ,luke ,sewell of the ,cleveland ,indians is one of the best present day catchers at snapping a throw to first base4 ,in the course of the season ,luke picks off twenty-five or thirty runners in that way1 and more important than that1 he holds the others so close to the bag that stealing is cut to a minimum4 ,in holding men on bases you know1 or in running bases1 the jump from first base to second is the important one4 ,as the ball players figure it1 a man on first base isn't so dangerous4 ,it generally takes two singles to score him from there4 ,but once he gets on second base he's in scoring position4 ,that's why pitchers and catchers make so much more effort to stop a man from stealing second than they do from stealing third4 ,and that1 too1 is why a catcher who is an expert on the snap throw is a mighty valuable man4 ,benny ,bengough of the ,yankees is another catcher who has the snap throw down pretty well1 though ,i don't think ,benny is as clever at it as ,luke ,sewell4 ,the one thing a good catcher must have is nerve6 ,he1 more than any other man on the team1 must block the runner--and blocking a runner when he's coming in full tilt with spikes threatening takes a lot of real nerve4 ,the old idea used to be that a catcher had to be a big1 strong oversized fellow in order to stand the gaff of holding up a pitcher and blocking runners4 ,that's bunk4 ,some of the greatest catchers in the business are fairly small men4 ,muddy ,ruel of the ,washington ,senators is a little fellow4 ,yet there are few better catchers in the league than ,muddy4 ,i think he's the most accurate thrower ,i've seen since ,i've been in baseball1 and he has the trick of blocking a runner1 too4 ,when you come sliding into ,muddy at the plate you're lucky if you can get even a corner to touch--and if the throw is accurate ,muddy will nail you nine times out of ten4 ,benny ,bengough and ,ray ,schalk are little fellows1 too4 ,so is ,gordon ,cochrane of the ,athletics4 ,cy ,perkins isn't very big either1 and ,mike ,gonzales1 while he's tall and rangy1 is built a good deal like a bean pole4 ,he hasn't much weight4 ,yet they're all mighty good performers1 and disprove the idea that catchers have to be big1 bruising fellows to hold their jobs4 ,one of the things a young catcher has to look out for is getting out of position4 ,the catcher if he's on his toes will back up plays at first base1 so long as there's nobody in scoring position4 ,but a lot of the boys carry the thing a little too far1 and go straying down the third base line to back up plays there4 ,when they do that they're in trouble4 ,heine ,zimmerman1 the old ,giant and ,cub third baseman1 will go down into history as having pulled one of the greatest boners of all time in the #aiag world series when the ,giants played the ,white ,sox4 ,heine1 you may remember1 in the final game chased ,eddie ,collins across the plate with the run that won the game and the series for the ,white ,sox4 ,of course it was a funny thing to see4 ,the big1 lumbering ,zimmerman trying to catch ,collins1 who was as fast a runner as you'll find in baseball4 ,and ,eddie made it better by laughing over his shoulder as ,zim made a wild dive to put the ball on him4 ,and ,heine ,zimmerman through all the years has been the goat on a play that wasn't his fault at all4 ,the real goat on that play was the ,giant catcher1 who1 instead of covering the plate1 came rambling down the third base line1 leaving the path to the plate alone and unprotected4 ,once ,eddie was away1 ,zim had no one to throw to4 ,the catcher was out of position and he could do nothing but take up the chase that was hopeless4 ,the moral of course is plain enough4 ,when there's a possible scoring play on1 it's up to the catcher to stick to that plate like glue4 ,it's his job to protect it--and the minute he starts rambling around the lot he's making a mug of himself and his whole ball club4 ,i've seen a lot of good catchers in my day4 ,bill ,carrigan of the old ,red ,sox1 who was catching when ,i broke into the league and the man who caught the first big league game ,i ever pitched1 was a great one4 ,so was ,eddie ,ainsmith4 ,so was ,steve ,o',neill1 who used to be at ,cleveland1 and is now with the ,st4 ,louis ,browns4 ,steve had real baseball instinct4 ,he was what the boys call a 8smart catcher10 and in his prime he was fast1 too4 ,in recent years he has put on weight and the old legs have begun to buckle a bit4 ,he has lost a lot of his stuff4 ,but he still can think with the best of them1 and he's a mighty good man to have back there when a young pitcher is in the box4 ,i think the best catcher ,i ever saw1 though1 was little ,ray ,schalk of the ,white ,sox4 ,ray had everything4 ,they tell a story to the effect that when ,ray first joined the ,white ,sox1 ,commy wouldn't give him a chance4 8,why you're too little10 ,comiskey said4 8,those big fellows out there will break you into small pieces40 8,that1 ,mr4 ,comiskey10 ,ray replied1 8is my worry60 ,and once in the game he proved that a little fellow is as good as anybody if he knows his stuff4 ,schalk had everything it takes to make a great catcher4 ,he had speed1 and judgment and nerve4 ,he has a great throwing arm1 and he never gets nervous or rattled4 ,and he can hit pretty well too--which is always a good thing4 ,before the old ,white ,sox got mixed up in that scandal they were one of the greatest ball clubs ,i ever saw on the field1 and ,ray was as good as any of them4 ,,chapter ,x ,team play--,what it is--,what it means--,signs and how they operate--,the pitch-out--,backing up the throw--,the cut-off play--,how it was invented--,the coaches1 and their duties--,miller ,huggins puts one over--,the ,mc,graw coaching system--,a world series episode--,the old practice of signal stealing--,how it operated--,out-of-date now--,dangers of signal stealing4 ,baseball always has been and always will be a game demanding team play4 ,you can have the nine greatest individual ball players in the world1 but if they don't play together the club won't be worth a dime4 ,two things make for real team play4 ,the first is players' knowledge of each other that comes from constant playing together4 ,it's this knowledge which is lacking on all young teams4 ,that's why old-timers shake their heads when anyone talks of pennant winning with a team that is made up of young ball players4 ,the second means of whipping play into teamwork is by means of signals--8signs0 we call them in the big leagues4 ,everyone who ever played baseball knows about signs--but there are mighty few amateur clubs that know how to use them4 ,either they go along1 hit-or-miss with no signs at all1 or else they swing to the other extreme and get so many signs that no one can remember them all4 ,lot of folks think that big league ball players have signals for everything they do4 ,that's bunk4 ,as a matter of fact1 a big league ball club has very few signs--but the ones they have they use4 ,take for instance the signal between the catcher and pitcher4 ,i can remember as a kid catcher at school1 using so many signs that we didn't have fingers enough to go around4 ,we had every curve labeled4 ,one finger1 for instance1 would be an inshoot2 two fingers1 an outcurve2 three an outdrop2 four1 a drop2 five1 a fast ball--and after that we'd start in on the other hand and have signals for that one1 too4 ,in big league baseball the catcher and pitcher usually have three signs4 ,one for a fast ball2 one for a curve2 and one for a pitch-out4 ,on a curve ball sign the pitcher may throw a 8hook0 or he may throw a slow one or screw ball4 ,there's no difference made between curves in the big leagues4 ,even a freak delivery like ,wilcy ,moore's 8sinker0 is thrown on a fast ball signal4 ,as a matter of fact1 ,wilcy's fast one is always a sinker4 ,it's a 8natural10 as the boys say4 ,the pitch-out sign is an important one4 ,the catcher who is on his toes is always watching the opponent's bench and the coaches for possible signs4 ,if he thinks the opponents are putting on a hit and run or a steal1 he calls for a pitch-out1 which simply means that the pitcher tosses a ball wide of the plate1 where it is impossible to hit4 ,if he has caught the signal right and the play actually is on1 the base runner naturally is caught flat footed and thrown out4 ,when a catcher knows that the pitcher has great control and can 8come in there0 with the ball whenever necessary1 he uses the pitch-out a great deal4 8,wasting one10 we say4 ,the greatest danger of the pitch-out is that the pitcher will get himself in a hole and possibly walk the hitter as a result4 ,with a pitcher who is inclined to be wild anyhow a pitch-out is a mighty dangerous thing4 ,that's something the catcher will have to figure out as he goes along4 ,very frequently fans1 watching a ball game1 will see a base runner start with the pitch4 ,the batter stands with the bat on his shoulder and the runner is thrown out by a city block4 8,oh what a bum60 the fans say4 8,what a bum60 and they boo and jeer the runner all the way back to the dugout4 ,sometimes of course a runner is caught flat-footed like that when it's his own fault1 and he deserves the boos4 ,but nine times out of ten on a play like that1 you can mark it down that the catcher caught a hit-and-run signal and ordered a pitch-out4 ,being caught wasn't the base runner's fault at all4 ,he was just out-smarted by the catcher4 ,the pitcher and first baseman have a set of 8signs0 for throws to first base in an effort to catch a runner4 ,the importance of such a sign is two-fold4 ,in the first place the first baseman is in a better position to judge the lead a runner takes4 ,and in the second place each knows what the other is doing and has his head up all the time4 ,there's less chance for throws getting away or going wild and letting the runner advance4 ,one of the prettiest plays in baseball is to see a pitcher catch a runner off second4 ,it isn't worked as much as it used to be1 but you still see it occasionally4 ,that is done by means of signals between the pitcher and shortstop or second baseman4 ,that one usually is a word signal1 since the infielders are behind the pitcher who can't1 ordinarily1 turn around to get a glove signal4 ,the infielders watch the lead the runner is taking and if he thinks there is a chance to nab him1 he works the word signal into his line of chatter4 ,then he starts for the bag on the sign4 ,the pitcher1 standing with his back to the play1 gets the signal and starts counting to himself3 8one-two-three60 ,on the count three he whirls and throws direct to the bag1 and by the timing of the count the man covering arrives with the ball set to make the play4 ,it's a play that requires a lot of practice to perfect1 and the count of course has to be varied for different men4 ,the shortstop might be especially fast in getting over1 and in that case the pitcher probably would throw on a 8two0 count4 ,or perhaps he's slow in covering in which case the count might be extended to 8four40 ,the first few times it's tried you're apt to see a few balls go rolling into center field1 but after practice a team can get it down pat and make it one of the strongest plays in their whole defensive list4 ,so far as the pitcher is concerned his part consists simply in this4 8,be sure and get the count right and in turning to throw1 make the throw direct to the bag--don't pay any attention to the infielder4 ,he's supposed to be there40 ,it's important too1 in building team play to have the infielders know what the pitcher is throwing on each pitch4 ,but you don't need signals for this4 ,either the second baseman or shortstop is in position to see the catcher's sign1 and he in turn can tip the rest of the players off to it4 ,urban ,schocker is a wizard on that second base play1 and ,bob ,shawkey is another pitcher who used to pick men off second without missing often4 ,washington uses the play a lot--and they were particularly good at it in the days when ,bucky ,harris and ,roger ,peckinpaugh were the second base combination4 ,these two players have a great sense of timing1 and always seemed able to start for the bag at just the proper moment to make the play1 yet not too soon to tip the base runner off to their intentions4 8,urban ,schocker0 replaced with 8,urban ,shocker0 ,a thing that can make a team look either great or rotten1 is the way they back up plays on balls hit to the outfield4 ,the idea is to get as many men into each play as possible1 in order to prevent a throw from getting away1 and if a club is properly coached there will be four men lined up to protect the throw-in on every hit to the outfield4 ,the shift of the various players1 of course1 depends on where the ball is hit and where base-runners may be at the time4 ,the best way ,i know of to show how shifts are made on throws is by a series of charts4 ,my art work isn't so good1 but what it attempts to show is ,okay4 ,with a single to right for instance1 with nobody on1 you will note that the second baseman moves over and out toward the ball1 the shortstop comes in to cover second1 the third baseman shifts a little to the right of the bag and the pitcher goes over back of third base4 ,on a ball hit to left field where the play is at second the shortstop goes out toward left for a possible relay1 the second baseman covers the bag1 the first baseman moves over toward second and the catcher moves down the first base line4 ,each play has its own shift1 but the important thing is that whenever possible there be four men always in line with the throw1 with the cut-off man always ready to cut the throw and divert it to another base if he sees the opportunity4 ,for instance there's a man on second and a man on first and the hitter singles to right field4 ,naturally the runner on second will try to score on the play1 and the right fielder's first thought when he gets the ball1 will be to throw to the plate and try and cut off the run4 ,the minute the ball is hit the second baseman cuts out to short right1 the first baseman digs in to a spot about ten feet in front of the catcher on a line with the throw-in1 and the pitcher goes around behind the plate to back up the catcher in case the ball goes through4 ,in that case the first baseman is the 8cut-off0 man4 ,he watches the speeding runners1 and he watches the ball4 ,as the throw comes in he senses that it's just a split-second late to nail the man at the plate1 but he sees that there is a chance to get the runner going to third base if he makes the play properly4 ,so1 instead of permitting the throw to go on to the catcher he takes it or 8cuts it off0 as we say1 and whirls to throw to the third baseman and nail the other runner going to third4 ,that's the so-called 8cut-off0 play1 and it can be worked on any sort of hit1 though the cut-off man may be either the shortstop1 the second baseman or the first baseman depending on the play4 ,that particular play1 incidentally1 was invented by ,john ,mc,graw and the late ,hughey ,jennings when they were playing with the old ,baltimore ,orioles1 and it came near revolutionizing baseball4 ,the ,orioles worked it a hundred times in the course of a season1 before the other clubs got wise4 ,and in the #aibb world series ,frisch and ,bancroft made the ,yankees look like suckers on it no less than three times4 ,the whole success or failure of the thing of course1 depends on the good judgment of the 8cut-off0 men who must decide in an instant whether to 8cut-off0 the throw or let it go on through to the plate or the base4 ,in the development of team play the most important man in the business is the coach who watches the scrap from the bench on defense1 and occupies the base line coaching boxes when the team is at bat4 ,it's a funny thing about coaches4 ,when ball clubs first began to send men down the baselines1 there was no idea in mind of using him for giving signs or directing play4 ,he was out there to rag and annoy the opposing players1 and particularly the pitcher4 8,jockeying0 we call it now--or taking the other fellows for a 8ride40 ,some of the things the old-time coaches used to say1 and some of the names they used to call their opponents were terrible4 ,they'd begin with 8,bum0 and 8cut-throat0 and 8,robber0 and go steadily up from there4 ,and if they could get their victim to talking back to them they were more than pleased4 ,for the minute a player begins talking to an opposing coach he's lost4 ,that takes his mind from the game and he's ripe for a killing4 ,the coaches1 out there on the lines1 are the fellows who are in best position to grab an opposing team's signals and tip them off4 ,then they can see the flight of a ball1 and are in a position to guide and direct the base runner4 ,a lot of smart stunts have been pulled on the coaching lines4 ,one of the best yarns ,i ever heard1 was a stunt pulled by ,miller ,huggins when he was manager of the ,cardinals4 ,the ,cards were mixed up in a tough1 tough game1 and opposing them was a young pitcher1 who for that day at least1 seemed to have everything4 ,inning after inning he went along1 setting the ,cards down in order1 until ,hug was almost licked4 ,finally along in the seventh inning the ,cards got a runner to third with two men out4 ,a weak hitter was up and ,huggins1 coaching along the third base line1 knew very well that he couldn't hit4 ,hug was thinking fast1 and as the kid pitcher wound up and started to pitch1 he yelled from the coaches' box3 8,hey you1 let me see that ball60 ,without thinking1 the kid turned and tossed the ball over to ,hug1 who promptly stepped aside and let it roll to the bench4 ,the runner on third scored standing up1 and the ball game was won4 ,right there was one kid pitcher who learned a lesson4 ,from that day on he surrendered the ball to nobody but the umpire1 and then only after strong urging4 ,john ,mc,graw1 of course1 is one of the greatest coaches in the business4 ,john directs not only the important moves of a game1 but all the details4 ,he pulled one on me in the #aibc world series that ,i won't forget for a long time4 ,it was in that wild eighth inning of the final game in which we won the series4 ,art ,nehf had been going great guns for seven innings but in the eighth you may remember1 he developed wildness4 ,he walked three men in a row and finally was taken out and ,rosy ,ryan put in4 ,to make a long story short ,i came to bat with runners on second and third1 one out1 and a run needed to tie or two to win4 ,what a spot to be a hero4 ,but it wasn't my hero day4 ,ryan was curving every ball and after 8whittling10 he carried the count down to three and two4 ,i thought he was going to walk me sure1 and ,i was rarin' to sock it4 ,if ,i ever wanted to hit a ball in my life that was the time4 ,mc,graw stopped the game and came to the edge of the dugout and called ,hank ,gowdy the ,giant catcher over to him4 8,go out there and tell ,ryan to throw this one into the dirt10 he ordered4 8,ruth is so anxious to hit he'll swing at anything40 ,and ,ryan did just that6 ,the ball hit the dirt in front of the plate and ,i swung for a third strike4 ,afterward when ,i found out what ,mc,graw had ordered and how he had crossed me up1 ,i was fit to be tied4 ,but luckily for us1 ,bob ,meusel smacked one for a single and we won the game and the series anyhow4 ,if we hadn't ,i'm afraid there would have been murder done around the ,polo ,grounds4 ,in the old days coaches used to spend a lot of time trying to steal the catcher's signals and tip off the hitters4 ,old ,chief ,bender1 the ,indian pitcher who used to be with the ,athletics1 was one of the best signal stealers in the business4 ,so was ,harry ,davis4 ,and many a time they both helped the ,a's win a ball game by grabbing the other boys' signals and tipping their own hitters off as to whether it would be a 8hook0 or a fast one4 ,but that has gone out in recent years4 ,in the first place it's dangerous business4 ,if a batter is tipped off that a curve ball is coming and he gets set for it1 and then the pitcher sends up a fast one1 the hitter is apt to get his chin torn loose from his undershirt4 ,more than one player has been hit in the head because the coacher thought he had the pitcher's signs and then found out he was wrong4 ,in the present age the chief signal stealing that is tried1 is the effort to discover the batting team's hit and run1 and sacrifice and base stealing signals4 ,those of course1 are valuable things to know1 and if you can grab them successfully you've got two strikes on the other fellow before he ever steps up there to the plate4 ,but the boys are pretty cagey1 and it isn't easy to steal 'em1 anymore4 ,usually a club has five or six different sets of signals1 and they're apt to switch five or six times in the course of a game if they think their opponents are getting wise4 ,and then1 if you think you have the signs and haven't you're in an awful fix4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,cobb is game's greatest natural hitter--,is master of style--,a few ,cobb yarns--,swing hitters and choke hitters--,importance and weakness of each style--,gehrig's hitting style--,what makes him great--,willie ,keeler's motto--,the value of waiting--,correcting batting faults4 ,the greatest natural hitter ,i ever saw is ,ty ,cobb4 ,there may be fellows who can hit the ball further1 and there are other chaps perhaps who may excel him in some particular department of hitting4 ,but for all around class up there at the plate ,cobb stands alone4 ,i never saw ,hans ,wagner nor ,napoleon ,lajoie or the other old-timers who loomed great as hitters4 ,perhaps they were as good as ,ty4 ,some fellows claim they were4 ,but personally ,i don't believe it4 ,i don't believe there ever was another one like ,cobb1 or ever will be4 ,to young fellows1 anxious to learn how to hit1 the best advice ,i can give is simply this3 8,watch ,cobb4 ,study his stance1 his swing1 his timing and his follow-through4 ,imitate him4 ,copy his manner4 ,he comes as near being perfection as any batter in the world40 ,ty and ,i have had our little battles4 ,there have been times when only the interference of other players kept us from coming to blows4 ,once in ,detroit1 a couple of years ago1 we were prime movers in a playing-field row that lead to a near-riot and resulted in a ball game being called in the eighth inning because the police couldn't clear the crowd from the field4 ,we were rivals and playing-field enemies even in my pitching days4 ,and ,i pick ,cobb as the greatest natural hitter ,i ever saw1 despite the fact that personally ,i found him easy to pitch to4 ,a pitcher1 over the course of his career1 runs across certain players who are easy victims1 and others who hit everything he offers regardless4 ,despite the fact that ,cobb was and is a great hitter1 ,i always found him easy to pitch to4 ,i can name a dozen men in the league who gave me a lot more trouble than ,ty up there at the bat4 ,joe ,jackson was one4 ,sam ,rice was another4 ,eddie ,collins was still another4 ,but despite that ,i still consider ,cobb the king of them all when it comes to hitters4 ,i'm paid to hit home runs4 ,in a way that's a handicap4 ,to hit home runs ,i've got to swing from my heels with all the power in my body4 ,which isn't good batting style4 ,and the greatest tribute ,i can pay to ,ty ,cobb is simply this4 ,if ,i wasn't expected to drive the ball out of the lot every time ,i come up there to the plate ,i'd change my batting form tomorrow4 ,i'd copy ,cobb's style in every single thing he does4 ,and ,i'll wager right now that if ,i could do that ,i'd increase my batting average #ajj points over the season4 ,every man in the big leagues has his own individual batting style4 ,but in a general way you can classify batters into two divisions4 ,one is the 8swing hitters40 ,those are the fellows who grasp their bats at the end1 take a toe hold at the plate and take a full swing at the ball with all the power they can muster4 ,they're the chaps who bust the fences and send the outfielders back to the wall4 ,they're the fellows who do most of the striking out too4 ,the other division is the 8choke hitters40 ,these are the men we call 8smart hitters40 ,they choke their bats1 stand flatfooted and take a half swing4 ,they poke the ball1 rather than hit it--and while they don't get as much distance as the swing hitters1 they are much harder to fool4 ,the choke hitter may not hit many home runs1 but he doesn't strike out much either4 ,when ,i broke in to the league 8choke hitters0 were in the majority4 ,cobb was in his prime then4 ,so was ,collins4 ,new players copied their batting styles as much as possible4 ,then1 too1 pitchers in those days were permitted to doctor the ball and use all sorts of freak stuff4 ,a fellow had to choke his bat1 take a short swing and be prepared for anything1 or else he 8whiffed40 ,in these days 8choke hitters0 are giving way to 8swing hitters40 ,change in pitching rules1 coupled with the fans' demands for long and heavy hitting has brought about the change4 ,some folks say ,i was responsible for the development of 8swing hitting40 ,maybe they're right4 ,the minute ,i started hitting home runs with any frequency the newspapers took it up4 ,the fans liked to see the ball go sailing out of the park4 ,after the old time pitching battle1 hitting of that sort was something of a novelty and a relief4 ,other fellows1 particularly the big1 burly1 powerful chaps1 began taking their bat at the end and 8swinging from the heels0 as the boys say4 ,and 8swing hitting0 came into prominence4 ,understand ,i'm not saying that 8swing hitting0 is a good thing4 ,i don't think it is4 ,the average kid or man1 trying to improve his hitting1 will do well to forget home runs and adopt the 8choke style40 ,but just the same swing hitting is quite the rage in the major leagues today4 8hat0 replaced with 8that0 ,among the fellows who are 8swing hitters0 will be found most of the sluggers4 ,i'm a swing hitter4 ,so is ,lou ,gehrig4 ,so are ,harry ,heilmann1 ,goose ,goslin1 ,pie ,traynor1 ,bill ,terry1 ,cy ,williams1 ,tony ,lazzeri1 ,bob ,fothergill1 ,bob ,meusel1 ,rogers ,hornsby1 and a score of other long distance sluggers whom ,i might mention4 ,not all of us have the same style however4 ,when ,lou ,gehrig and ,i were in the midst of our race for home run honors ,i had a lot of people ask me which of us hit the ball the harder4 ,i don't imagine there's a lot of difference in the force with which we hit the ball4 ,the point is that we hit differently4 ,we're both 8swing hitters0 but there the resemblance ends4 ,i use a golfing swing--loose and easy with a slight upward motion4 ,lou hits stiff-armed4 ,lou stands with his feet farther apart1 and takes a comparatively short stride with his swing4 ,i stand with my feet fairly close together1 the right foot a little further in than the left1 and take a long stride with the swing4 ,lou hits with his shoulders4 ,i hit with my entire body coming around on the swing4 ,naturally1 with my whole body on a pivot ,i get a longer follow-through than does ,lou1 whose follow-through is limited by the reach of his rigid arms4 ,swinging stiff-arm1 too1 ,lou usually hits a ball on a line4 ,the hardest balls he hits are those which travel say twenty or twenty-five feet above the ground and on a line to the outfield4 ,any time he lifts a ball into the air 7a fly ball7 he loses some of the power4 ,the balls ,i hit most squarely and with most power are apt to go high into the air4 ,my home runs1 for the most part1 are usually high flies that simply carry out of the park4 ,that's because ,i take a loose swing with a slight upward angle4 ,incidentally that ability to hit a high1 hard fly has earned me a lot of home runs in my career4 ,particularly in ,washington and ,cleveland where the right field wall is fairly short but marked by a fence that's perhaps sixty feet high4 ,when ,i hit a ball hard it clears the fence4 ,when ,lou really smacks one1 the ball takes such a low tangent that it usually bounces back off the fence and is held to a single or a double4 ,yet he may have hit the ball every bit as hard and as squarely as ,i did4 ,you can prove that by the records4 ,look up ,lou's record and you'll see that he has had very few home runs in either ,cleveland or ,washington4 ,it isn't that he doesn't hit in those parks4 ,simply that he's what we call a 8line hitter10 and a good high fence is tough for him4 ,harry ,heilmann has a stiff arm swing much like ,gehrig's1 while ,goose ,goslin takes a long free swing with plenty of follow-through like mine4 ,harry1 though a right hand hitter1 hits to right field a lot4 ,that's because he swings 8late40 ,and by swinging late he overcomes1 in a great measure1 the handicap of being a 8swing hitter40 ,harry is harder to fool than the average 8swing hitter40 ,simply because he swings late1 he's not so much a 8goat0 for change of pace stuff4 ,the 8choke hitters0 include such men as ,cobb1 ,joe ,sewell1 ,muddy ,ruel1 ,joe ,dugan1 ,earl ,combs1 ,mark ,koenig1 the ,waner boys1 ,paul and ,lloyd1 and ,sam ,rice of the ,washington ,senators4 ,mighty cagey boys they are too--striking out seldom and usually rating right up to the top in the matter of total base hits for the season4 ,men like ,joey ,sewell and ,earl ,combs rate among the best stickmen in the business4 ,combs doesn't get a lot of credit for his hitting--perhaps because he happened to be on the same club with ,gehrig and myself1 who get drives so much longer4 ,but he's one of the best hitters in the game just the same4 ,and one of the most dangerous men in a pinch1 that a pitcher is ever called upon to face4 ,like ,heilmann1 ,combs is a 8late0 swinger--and being a left handed hitter1 he usually hits to left field or center4 ,combs is smart1 however1 and can 8cross up0 a pitcher by some pretty nifty place hitting4 ,and the ability to place hits is the real mark of batting prowess4 ,willie ,keeler1 one of the greatest and most scientific little hitters who ever lived put his finger on the whole thing one day when someone asked him the secret of hitting3 8,hit 'em where they ain't10 ,willie replied4 ,that sounds simple enough but it isn't so easy4 ,to understand what is meant by place hitting you must understand first that pitchers are always striving to make a man hit in a certain direction4 ,the place hitter is the chap who can take a ball which1 ordinarily he would hit to right1 and hit it to left1 or vice versa4 ,the greatest example of place hitting ,i ever saw was put on by ,ty ,cobb one afternoon at the ,yankee ,stadium a couple of seasons ago4 ,ty was taking batting practice and some of the boys on our bench were kidding him4 ,shocker1 in particular1 was 8on0 him4 8,hey1 ,ty0 ,shock yelled4 8,you're supposed to be good4 ,let's see you hit one down the right field foul line40 ,ty took a half swing and planted the ball within three feet of the spot ,shocker called for4 8,now hit one to left10 ,shocker commanded4 ,ty socked one a mile a minute over third base4 8,center field1 now10 ,shocker ordered4 ,ty dropped the ball over second base4 8,well1 ,i'm a son-of-gun60 ,shocker exploded4 8,let's see you foul one back of the catcher40 ,ty did it1 too4 8,you win10 ,shocker said1 8,i'm whipped40 ,ty grinned4 8,that's nothing10 he shouted to the ,yankee bench 8you think you're quite a guy--suppose you catch this one40 ,and ,ty drove a foul right into our dugout1 so close that ,shocker could almost have reached out and caught the ball4 ,that's real place hitting4 ,but it was no accident4 ,a lot of times1 when the boys got on him a bit during batting practice1 ,i've seen ,ty stand up there at the plate and drive a ball right into the dugout sending all the fellows scurrying for cover4 ,of course1 hitting like that in batting practice1 and doing it in a game are two different things4 ,just the same ,mr4 ,cobb comes about as near being the perfect place hitter as anyone we have sticking around the league today4 ,eddie ,collins is another chap who hits where he wants to hit1 rather than in the direction the pitcher wants him to4 ,one of the pet hitting stunts of these two is to fake a swing and find out whether the second baseman or shortstop is going to cover4 ,then1 when they've found out1 they lay one down right through the position that's vacated as the man goes over to cover second4 ,that's putting on the hit and run with a vengeance4 ,personally ,i'm not a place hitter4 ,no 8swing hitters0 are4 ,i'm big and strong and get a lot of drive back of the ball4 ,everyone knows that nine times out of ten ,i'll hit to right field4 ,but if ,i really get hold of one it doesn't make any difference whether the fielders know where it's coming or not4 ,it just goes out of the park4 ,just the same1 ,i like to try a bit of place hitting once in a while and in the past two or three seasons ,i've got so ,i can hit to left pretty well by choking my bat and taking an extra step forward with my swing4 ,naturally when ,i choke my bat the opposing fielders can see what ,i'm going to do--but ,i get away from that by not choking until the minute ,i start my swing4 ,then they don't have time to come over for me4 ,i don't believe it's possible to make a hitter4 ,a fellow either can hit the ball1 or he can't--and that's that4 ,but it is possible for a natural hitter to improve1 and it's possible to overcome a hitting weakness4 ,the batting eye1 and the sense of timing are born in a man4 ,if he hasn't got them1 there's no way of giving them to him4 ,but mechanical things can be overcome by practice4 ,the swing1 the stance1 the stride--these are things that can be changed and improved4 ,every batter who comes into the big leagues has his 8groove40 ,that's the place where he likes a ball best4 ,with some fellows the 8groove0 is a ball through the middle4 ,with others it may be a high ball outside1 or a low ball inside1 or vice versa4 ,given a pitch in that particular spot he can whale the tar out of it4 ,by the same argument every player has a hitting weakness4 ,perhaps it's a curve ball4 ,perhaps it's a change of pace4 ,perhaps it's a low one inside4 ,the pitcher is trying constantly to pitch to that weakness and keep away from the 8groove40 ,the hitter1 of course1 is trying to hide his weakness and get the pitcher to pitch to his strength4 ,a hitting weakness is one thing that can be overcome by constant practice and hard work4 ,when ,i first broke into the game ,i had a tough time hitting change of pace pitching--particularly the real slow stuff4 ,i swung too fast1 and either fouled the ball off into the stands or missed it entirely4 ,today ,i believe ,i can hit the slow stuff about as well as any 8swing hitter0 in the business4 ,and all because ,i worked hard at it4 ,i used to go up to the batting cage during spring practice and have the pitchers give me slow ball after slow ball4 ,i'd swing and swing until ,i was arm-sore4 ,but ,i got my timing down so ,i could hit the slow ones--and that was the thing ,i was after4 ,another thing that used to bother me was over-anxiety to hit4 ,most fellows suffer from that at one time or another4 ,you're so anxious to hit that you swing at bad balls4 ,the toughest thing anybody has to learn is to keep that old bat on the shoulder on the 8close ones40 ,the smart pitcher is always working the comers1 keeping the ball just an inch or two outside or inside1 a mite too high or a bit too low4 ,the over-anxious hitter is duck-soup for that sort of pitching4 ,most fellows go up there to the plate with the wrong idea4 ,they see a ball coming up on the corner and they think to themselves3 8,this one looks pretty good4 ,i'd better swing at it or maybe the umpire will call it a strike1 anyhow40 ,what they ought to think is3 8,that one's not good enough4 ,if ,i let it go chances are it will be called a ball40 ,you may get crossed up and have a strike called now and then1 but you'd be surprised how often it really is a ball4 ,and once a pitcher sees that you're not to be fooled on those 8almost strikes0 he'll come in there with it and give you something a little better to hit at4 8beter0 replaced with 8better0 ,i learned my lesson in that #aibc world series4 ,i've already told you about it4 ,it was plain over-anxiety to hit that made me swing at a ball in the ground for that third strike that ,ryan threw4 ,since then ,i've been a little more careful4 ,of course there's danger the other way too4 ,as ,umpire ,bill ,byron used to say1 8,you can't get a hit with the bat on your shoulder40 ,that's true enough4 ,but neither can you get a hit if you keep swinging at bad balls all the time4 ,as ,i started out to say1 it's possible for a fellow to improve his hitting1 and correct his hitting weaknesses4 ,the answer is practice1 hard work1 and confidence4 ,when ,lou ,gehrig first came into the league he couldn't hit a low ball inside4 ,lou did two things4 ,first he changed his stride4 ,he had been stepping well into the ball4 ,now he stepped just a little straighter4 ,then he practiced1 and practiced4 ,today not many pitchers have the nerve to pitch 'em low and inside to ,lou anymore4 ,he has overcome his weakness4 ,rogers ,hornsby1 one of the greatest right hand hitters the game has ever known1 is another chap who had to work hard when he came into the league4 ,strange as it may seem ,rog was no bargain with the stick when he first came into the league4 ,but he had the natural hitting eye1 and ,miller ,huggins1 who was then manager of the ,cardinals1 set him to work4 ,first off he changed his stance1 took a little of the stiffness out of his legs and taught him to stride with the swing4 ,then he got him to loosen his shoulders a bit--and the first thing anyone knew ,roger was tearing the hands off infielders who got in front of his drives4 ,i guess there's no better curve ball hitter in the big leagues today than ,joe ,harris1 who starred with ,washington and later with ,pirates4 ,joe socks that old curve ball for sleeper jumps right regularly4 ,yet when he came into the league ,joe couldn't hit a curve ball4 ,he simply studied the thing out1 discovered what was wrong and corrected it4 ,it takes a long time1 sometimes1 but it can be done4 ,nobody can put down a set of rules for correcting batting4 ,in the first place no two men hit alike4 ,when ,i was a kid in ,baltimore1 playing on a kid team1 we had a young fellow on our club who thought he knew a lot about baseball4 ,he started out to make us all into hitters1 and his theory was that the most important thing was swinging on a straight line4 ,so he took two boards and nailed them on a post1 leaving just space enough between them for a bat to pass easily4 ,then for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time we'd stand up there and swing at that opening1 the idea being to develop a swing that would keep the bat moving in a straight line4 ,it sounded fine but it didn't work out4 ,the first thing we knew we were all swinging perfectly stiff4 ,if a ball happened to come through the middle of the plate1 waist high1 we would murder it4 ,but if it was high or low we were sunk4 ,here are some general rules that might be worth following3 ,if your weakness is a fast ball1 don't hold your bat quite so far back on your shoulder4 ,shorten your back swing and shorten your stride4 ,in other words speed up a little4 ,if your weakness is a curve ball1 change your stride to step into the ball a little more4 ,most fellows who can't hit curve balls are chaps who stride out of line or 8pull away0 from the ball4 ,if you have trouble with the slow stuff choke up your bat and start your swing a bit later4 ,most batters who have trouble with slow ball pitching are 8pull0 hitters4 ,that is1 they are meeting the ball 8out front40 ,and whether your difficulty is a slow one or a fast one a curve or a change of pace2 whether you're trouble is a high one or a low one1 inside or outside1 the most important thing of all to remember is simply this4 8,don't hit at the bad ones4 ,make 'em be in there40 ,in a poker game the wise guy always remembers the old saying3 8,you don't have to look40 ,in baseball1 up there at the plate1 it's well to remember always3 8,you don't have to swing60 ,,chapter ,,xii ,hitting style--,naturalness at the plate--,simmons' freak batting stance--,joey ,sewell has ideal stance--,the ,ruthian swing--,how it develops power--,selecting the proper bat--,timing an important factor in hitting--,how to improve timing and swing4 ,when ,al ,simmons first broke into the ,american ,league a lot of the wise boys predicted that he wouldn't last out his first season4 8,he steps in the bucket0 they said--meaning that when he takes his stride his left foot 7,al is a right hand hitter7 pulls away from the plate4 8,a sucker for a curve ball0 the pitchers told each other4 ,and then tried him out4 ,al promptly knocked their curves to all corners of the lot--and he's still doing it4 ,and stepping in the bucket1 just the same4 ,which just goes to show that there's no rule governing the good hitter4 ,i don't think there's another man in either league who could stand at the plate the way ,al does1 and still hit the size of his hat4 ,but stepping in the bucket is ,al's natural hitting form--and what is natural is generally best in baseball4 ,al overcomes that back step by using an exceptionally long bat--the longest in the league ,i think1 and just as long as the baseball law will allow4 ,the result is that he can reach the outside corner for a curve if he has to1 and at the same time he's far enough away that the inside stuff doesn't bother him4 ,understand ,i'm not recommending that all hitters 8step in the bucket40 ,and ,i'm not holding ,al's hitting form up as an example4 ,i'm just illustrating the point that there's no rule governing the good hitters4 ,there's no one more off form1 than ,al1 and mighty few better hitters4 ,it all goes back to the same thing4 ,the most important thing about hitting is to be natural1 and be easy4 ,george ,burns1 the ,cleveland first baseman1 is another hitter whose stance at the plate is entirely off form4 ,george stands perfectly straight1 with his feet right together4 ,there's no other man in either league who stands that way4 ,even if they tried it the chances are they would be a complete bust4 ,yet ,george hits--and hits well4 ,and what is more he hits most any sort of pitching4 ,joey ,sewell has always appealed to me as about the ideal type of left handed hitter4 ,sewell stands up there flat footed1 feet fairly far apart and firm set in the box4 ,he takes his swing from the shoulder1 putting his body into the pivot only at the last minute4 ,the result is that he's a hard man to fool4 ,the strikeout records prove that4 ,for the past three or four seasons ,joey has struck out less than any man in the league4 ,one season he went through #aed ball games and struck out only three times4 ,a fellow like that is a real hitter4 ,sewell hits a ball hard and far too4 ,he doesn't get his body into the swing like the 8swing hitters0 do1 but he does get a lot of wrist snap4 ,if you've ever taken any golf lessons you know how the golf pro coaches you to use your wrists4 ,hitters of the ,sewell type use the same sort of wrist snap when they hit a baseball4 ,tony ,lazzeri is another chap who gets most of his drive from his wrist4 ,tony used to be a boiler maker1 and constant use of the heavy boiler-maker tools plus the arm exercise has developed his forearm and wrist muscles to the limit4 ,tony really is built slight and to look at his hands you'd never dream of their power4 ,his fingers are long and tapering1 his palms are narrow and almost girl-like4 ,but he has a wrist and forearm like steel4 ,that's what gives him his driving power at the bat and his snap throw from second4 ,no ball player ever made good either as a hitter or a fielder unless he had well developed wrist and forearm muscles4 ,there are a lot of exercises that can be used to get that development4 ,one of the common methods used by ball players to strengthen the wrist and forearm is to buy a five or ten cent rubber ball1 and carry it around1 gripping and relaxing it all the time4 ,if you do that for fifteen or twenty minutes a day you can strengthen the forearm a lot--and if you don't think those muscles get a real workout by gripping1 just try it4 ,the first fifteen minutes of that exercise will make your arm ache clear to the elbow4 ,earl ,combs uses this method4 ,earl had a bad throwing arm when he came into the league1 but gripping exercises have strengthened his wrists and his throwing has improved a lot4 ,i never had any trouble that way myself4 ,my arms and wrists and shoulders have always been well developed4 ,if anything ,i'm a little 8top heavy10 and the thing ,i have to watch most is my legs4 ,i've learned a lot of things in the past two or three years1 among others the value of proper exercise4 ,for the last three winters ,i've worked out regularly in a gymnasium1 and there ,i've spent most of the time on exercises that would develop my legs and keep my waist line down at the same time4 ,one of the common faults of kid hitters particularly1 is that they don't use the proper bat4 ,most of them try to swing bats that are too heavy1 figuring of course that the heavier the bat1 the more distance they can get4 ,that's wrong4 ,any time a player uses a bat that feels heavy in his hands1 he's making a mistake4 ,the ideal bat is one that balances perfectly1 one that can be swung with the same easy1 smooth motion with which you swing your arms4 ,a too heavy bat requires a jerk to start on it's way1 and once underway it requires additional effort to direct it's course4 ,naturally that makes a jerky1 choppy swing4 ,not so good4 ,the average weight of bats used by big leaguers is #cf ounces4 ,the bat ,i use is much heavier1 but you must remember that ,i'm a pretty big boy4 ,and ,i'm cutting down on bat weight as the years go by4 ,a few seasons ago ,i used a #ed ounce bat1 long and with the weight well at the end4 ,now ,i'm using a #df ounce club--and each season when ,i have a new set of bats made1 ,i have an additional ounce taken off4 ,the longest bat in the big leagues is swung by ,al ,simmons4 ,i've already told about that4 ,the shortest bat ,i ever saw in my day was used by ,whitey ,witt--a stubby club with a thick handle4 ,the reason for that was1 that as a lead off man ,whitey's business was to get on base4 ,he bunted a lot1 and a thick handled bat gave him a chance to get hold of balls thrown inside4 ,i don't know who uses the lightest bat today1 but ,wally ,schang1 the old ,yankee catcher1 uses one of the lightest4 ,alongside my bat1 ,schang's looks like a toothpick4 ,earl ,combs uses a light bat1 too4 ,rogers ,hornsby is another chap who uses a fairly light model4 ,so does ,sam ,rice of the ,senators4 ,now and then some player will come along with a freak bat of some sort4 ,like the old bottle bat that ,heine ,groh used to use4 ,so far as ,i can see there's nothing to that sort of thing--except perhaps in the mind of the man using the bat4 ,if some freak stick will give him confidence1 why it's a good thing4 ,after all confidence is one of the biggest things in hitting4 ,all big leaguers have their favorite bats4 ,for years ,i used a big black model that the boys called 8,black ,betsy40 ,i had the same identical thing in several other 8sticks0 but somehow that black one had a little more appeal4 ,and ,i used it for the better part of three seasons before it finally broke on me4 ,players often trade bat models1 but they guard their pet bats as if they were solid gold4 ,earl ,combs is one of the easiest going1 most pleasant even-tempered chaps ,i ever saw4 ,but once last summer ,i saw him when ,i think he would gladly have committed murder--all over a bat4 ,earl had a pet stick that he had been using all season long4 ,he protected it like a child1 and he wouldn't even use it in hitting practice4 8,that bat is full of basehits10 he would say1 8and there's no need wasting them on hitting practice40 ,one afternoon ,hug sent ,mike ,gazella up to hit just as batting practice ended4 ,mike didn't look around to select a bat1 just took the first one that came handy4 ,it happened to be ,combs' pet club4 ,on the second pitch ,mike swung with everything he had and broke the bat square in two4 ,i thought ,earl would crown him4 ,i never saw a man get any more angry for a few minutes than ,combs was--and for two weeks after that he couldn't speak to ,mike without making some crack about that bat4 ,a few years ago ,sam ,crawford1 the old ,detroit outfielder and slugger1 sent me a sample bat from the coast4 ,it was one of those trick things made out of four separate sections1 pasted and fitted together4 ,sam wanted me to try it out and see how it worked4 ,the first time up ,i hit the ball over the fence for a home run and during the entire game ,i got myself two doubles and a single in addition to the home run4 ,naturally ,i was tickled pink4 ,in the clubhouse that night ,i had ,woodie send ,sam an order for six of the bats4 ,they came along a few days later1 and ,colonel ,ruppert happened to be in the clubhouse when they arrived4 ,he took a peek at the bill and threw his hands in the air4 ,those bats were listed at six dollars each4 8,well1 ,ruth10 the ,colonel commented1 8,i guess we keep these bats in the safe1 eh1 with the mortgages and family jewels40 ,the funny part of it all is1 that a few days later some manager protested that the bats were illegal--since they were made of four separate pieces of wood4 ,as a result the umpires ruled them out1 and so far as ,i know the good ,colonel still has those six bats stored away 8in the safe with the mortgages and the family jewels40 ,harry ,heilmann gave me a bat a week or so before the season ended last year4 ,it was one that he had been hitting with1 and he liked it4 8,try this out in the world series10 he told me1 8it's full of base hits4 ,there's only one provision though10 he added4 8,you're not to use it against the ,detroit club40 ,ball players are always trading bats4 ,goose ,goslin never comes to ,new ,york that he doesn't come over to our dugout and look over all the bats4 ,wallie ,schang is another one who is always looking for 8good wood40 ,and very frequently a couple of players will get together and trade bats like little kids swap stamps for the collection albums4 ,the best woods for bats is either ash or hickory4 ,both are tough hard woods with plenty of 8spring0 7elasticity74 ,the hickory is a little heavier than the ash4 ,for myself ,i usually use hickory1 but most of the boys prefer ash4 ,in buying a bat1 the chief thing to look for is a smooth even grain4 ,joe ,dugan for years has used a black bat of ,cuban wood--a soft light weight wood4 ,joe likes a light bat and he figures that the ,cuban makes up in 8spring0 what it may lack in weight4 ,and he certainly can drive a ball with it1 you have to hand him that4 ,but when all is said and done1 confidence is the biggest thing in hitting4 ,fellows who go up there to the plate with a lot of confidence are pretty apt to hit4 ,fellows get queer notions in hitting4 ,they have superstitions about their bats3 they have superstitions about certain pitchers4 ,hitters will tell you in all seriousness that certain pitchers have their number1 or that certain other pitchers are always easy4 ,late last season ,i started a stunt which gave the boys quite a laugh for a time4 ,i started 8notching0 my bat for home runs1 like the old gun-men used to notch their guns when they killed a man4 ,every time ,i would hit a home run ,i would cut a notch in the bat handle of the club ,i had used4 ,at first the boys began laughing1 but as ,september came around and ,i started hitting all sorts of pitching for home runs they changed their tune4 ,i have one bat in the club house that has seven notches in the handle1 and another one that has eleven4 ,eleven is about as many as a bat will hold for the minute you start notching the hitting surface the umpires will throw the bat out4 ,the whole thing started as a sort of 8kid10 and as a matter of fact ,i wasn't superstitious about those notches at all4 ,but most of the gang thought ,i was4 ,and ,i did accomplish one thing4 ,by putting those notches in the bat ,i identified my own clubs and the other fellows would leave my bats strictly alone4 ,speaking of funny customs there's the old1 old habit of 8boning0 bats4 ,fellows were doing it when ,i came into the league1 and ,i suppose they'll still be doing it fifty years from now4 8,boning0 a bat consists in rubbing it with a bottle or a bone or some hard smooth substance of that nature4 ,the idea is that such constant rubbing smooths the surface1 fills in and contracts the wood pores on the surface and prevents breaking4 ,i've seen fellows sit for hours at a time boning away at their favorite bats4 ,some of them stain the wood as well4 ,frankie ,frisch never chews tobacco1 but he used to use tobacco to rub his bat with--working it into the grain until the bat looked as though it had been stuck in some tobacco vat4 ,the umpires don't permit that any more--but 8boning0 comes within the law1 and everyone does it4 ,one other thing while we're on the subject of hitting4 ,all hitters have different styles4 ,some swing flat footed1 others take a long stride4 ,some choke and some swing4 ,but there are certain features in which all hitters--if they're good ones--act alike4 ,they have to have perfect balance1 perfect timing and a good eye4 ,balance and timing are much the same4 ,it is timing which enables a man to meet the ball at the exact instant when all his body is thrown into the swing4 ,it's timing which enables a man to hit fast and slow balls with equal ease4 ,it is timing which1 more than any one thing1 is the secret of real hitting4 ,and the unfortunate thing about it is that timing is one thing which you can't teach4 ,it's born into a man4 ,you either have it or you haven't4 ,little kids1 starting to go to singing school1 are the same way4 ,either they have a musical sense or they haven't--and if they haven't they never acquire it4 ,all forms of athletics depend on timing4 ,it's the secret of golf and handball and tennis4 ,it's the secret of boxing1 and it's the secret of football offense4 ,a few years ago ,i saw ,red ,grange run for three touchdowns against the ,university of ,pennsylvania eleven4 ,and the thing that impressed me most was not his speed1 or his power4 ,it was his timing4 ,it was so perfect that he could avoid tackles by the split part of an inch4 ,his timing was so perfect that in going through the line he always managed to reach his hole at the very instant when it was open widest4 ,and that is timing developed to the last degree4 ,go out to the ball game some day and watch the really great hitters4 ,you'll notice that they don't seem to swing any harder1 or with any longer arc than the poorer hitters4 ,but they have perfect timing sense4 ,that's the most important thing in batting4 ,as ,i said before1 a man either has a sense of timing or he hasn't4 ,but you can improve you're timing4 ,lots of times ,i go into slumps1 as do all other hitters4 ,the first thing ,i look to is my timing4 ,i try swinging a bit later1 or a bit earlier4 ,i shorten or lengthen my stride4 ,i experiment with every angle of timing4 ,and usually ,i can correct my fault1 even though ,i may not know exactly what it is4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,hits are valuable only in so far as they score runs--,levsen pitches two hit game and loses--,real test of hitting is ability to smack ball when hits mean runs--,the danger of 8tightening up0--,hitting slumps and how to overcome them--,bunting1 its value and use--,great bunters and how they operated--,the bunt attack and how it is put over4 ,base hits look fine in the batting averages1 but they pay off on runs scored4 ,all the base hits in the world are wasted if the hitter doesn't complete his journey and check in at the home plate with a run4 ,funny things happen in baseball1 proving that hits are just as valuable as you make them4 ,back in #aibf in a game against the ,cleveland club the ,yankees got just two hits off ,emil ,levsen1 the ,cleveland pitcher4 ,only two men got to first base--but both of them scored1 and we won the game #b to #a4 ,a little later in the season1 with ,tom ,zachary of the ,browns pitching against us1 we accumulated the healthy total of #aa hits together with five bases on balls4 ,yet we didn't score a single run and were shut out for the first time that season4 ,every one of those men were left on base4 ,look at the left-on-bases figures and you can get a pretty good line on the offensive strength of a club4 ,for men left on bases are the tip off on poor batting4 ,every man left on base is an opportunity lost and anytime a club has eight or ten or more men left it's a pretty sure sign that something's wrong with the team's attacking power4 ,the real test of hitting greatness is the ability to step up there and hit when a hit will mean runs4 8,hitting in the pinches0 we call it--and it's the most important part of the batting game4 ,lou ,gehrig1 during the #aibg season1 drove in #age runs for a new record4 ,in other words ,lou came through when there were men on bases4 ,he did his best hitting when we had runners in scoring position4 ,i've heard a lot of pitchers say1 and they've told me to my face1 that they'd rather pitch to me in a pinch than to ,gehrig4 8,you either knock the cover off the ball or strike out10 they say4 8,we've got a fifty-fifty chance with you4 ,but this ,gehrig is dangerous when there are runners on the bases40 ,tony ,lazzeri is another one who can pound that ball1 when hits count4 ,tony had an odd record during the #aibf season4 ,he hit only 4#bhj for the year1 and he struck out more times than any other player in the league4 ,yet he drove in #adg runs that year and rated second in the league in that department4 ,in other words1 he did this hitting when hits counted4 ,he was a much better and more dangerous hitter than his batting average showed4 ,one of the chaps ,i'll remember longest is ,eddie ,foster1 the old ,washington third baseman4 ,eddie never rated as a real star1 and there were scores of other players in the league who were considered more dangerous and better men with the stick4 ,but ,eddie certainly was my personal poison4 ,he hit everything ,i ever pitched--and hit it plenty4 ,and when it came to a pinch1 with runners on bases and a ball game hanging in the balance1 ,i would rather pitch to ,cobb1 ,speaker and ,crawford in a row than throw to ,eddie4 ,he ruined many a ball game for me over the period of three or four seasons4 ,i don't know why it is1 but it's an established fact that some fellows are at their best in a pinch1 while others seem to go to pieces at such a time4 ,take ,joe ,dugan for instance4 ,joe isn't what you'd call a heavy hitter4 ,he seldom hits for extra bases and ,i suppose most clubs look on him as one of the weaker men in the ,yankee batting order4 ,but put ,joe in a crucial series1 or turn him loose in a world series and he's deadly poison4 ,joe has played in three world series with the ,yankees and he has never yet failed to star out in the field and at bat4 ,he's just a natural born 8money player0 as the boys say--and plays his best when the going is toughest4 ,joe ,judge is another hitter of that type4 ,goose ,goslin will outhit ,joe in the averages by #bj to #ej points4 ,but with runners on bases and a hit needed to win the ball game most pitchers would rather pitch to ,goose a dozen times over4 ,earl ,combs is a good hitter in a pinch4 ,rogers ,hornsby is a corker4 ,joey ,sewell is another mighty tough one4 ,theoretically hitting in a pinch is no different than going up there with nobody on and two out4 ,actually there's a lot of difference4 ,with nobody on the base1 the hitter has a clear and easy mind4 ,he doesn't have to worry about protecting the runner4 ,he doesn't have to keep his eye peeled for signs and signals4 ,and more important than that1 he doesn't have anybody to worry about but himself4 ,he can give his whole and undivided attention to hitting4 ,with runners in scoring position it's very different4 ,there are a dozen things to watch--but more important than all these is the sense of responsibility4 ,the average hitter 8tightens up10 he stands stiff at the plate1 his muscles tighten and his whole motion is jerky4 ,when he does that he's gone4 ,the batter who stiffens up and loses his easy1 free swing is an easy victim for a pitcher4 ,the same thing happens when a hitter goes into a batting slump4 ,and every hitter has them4 ,no matter how great a hitter he may be there will come times when1 to use a common baseball expression1 8he can't hit a barn door with a bull fiddle40 ,and ability to get out of a slump is another test of the real hitter4 ,some fellows claim that a slump doesn't bother them4 ,that they take it as a matter of course1 knowing that they will work out of it sooner or later4 ,that's bunk4 ,there never was a ball player lived who could go through a batting slump without worrying4 ,it's simply a question of how much you worry1 and whether or not your worry is about the slump or over methods of overcoming it4 ,the worst part of a batting slump is that it affects a man's play to the field too4 ,as long as the basehits are coming regularly the average ball player is sitting on top of the world4 ,he has pepper and enthusiasm4 ,everything is fine4 ,but when the old slump comes along everything is upside down4 ,smart managers realize that4 ,one of the best lines ,i ever heard pulled came from ,miller ,huggins a couple of years ago4 ,we had a kid infielder in camp who looked as though he would burn up the league4 ,he was pounding the cover off the ball--and digging everything out of the dirt that came his way4 ,all the newspaper writers were enthusiastic and wrote red hot stories about this latest find who would show up any infielder in the league4 8,that kid is the best ,i ever saw10 one of them said to ,huggins one day1 8why you're all set now4 ,you don't have to worry any more40 ,hug grinned1 that slow1 funny little grin that he has4 8,maybe so10 he said4 8,i hope you're right4 ,but before ,i commit myself ,i want to see how he acts after he has gone through seven or eight games without a base hit40 ,the kid who was going to burn up the league1 is back in the minors now4 ,no one ever hears anything about him4 ,the slump that ,huggins spoke about came1 and he went all to pieces4 ,he was one of those nervous sort of fellows who just worried himself out of the league over base hits that didn't go safe4 ,the worst part of a hitting slump is that a fellow will hit the ball all right--but always at somebody4 ,when you're in a hitting streak it seems that everything you hit falls safe4 ,when you're in a slump nothing goes right4 ,you hit 'em on the nose and the ball goes right into some outfielder's hands4 ,you lay down a grounder that nine times out of ten would be a basehit1 and some infielder does a ,houdini and comes up with the ball for a putout4 ,i get many letters from amateur players each year1 asking what to do to get out of a batting slump4 ,that's a problem4 ,i guess no two fellows use the same methods4 ,personally ,i change my batting style4 ,i experiment4 ,i change my swing and my stance4 ,i try stepping forward a bit in the batting box4 ,i change to bats of different weight4 ,with me1 ,i've found that the best method of overcoming a slump is to choke my bat and start 8choke hitting0 for a while4 ,i reduce my stride to a minimum and stand as flatfooted as possible4 ,naturally that shortens my stride1 and ,i 8push0 instead of 8pull0 the ball4 ,and most of all1 ,i try to worry as little as possible about it4 ,sometimes when ,i'm in a slump ,i'll catch myself tightening up with the pitch4 ,when ,i do that ,i simply call for time1 and step out of the box1 until ,i can get squared around and loosened up again4 ,here's another thing you've got to watch when you're in a hitting slump4 ,the longer you go without a basehit the more anxious you are to get one4 ,as a result of the anxiety you're more than apt to swing at bad balls1 simply because you're too anxious to hit4 ,when ,i'm in a batting slump one of the first things ,i do1 is start taking that first one4 ,it isn't always easy4 ,when a chap wants a base hit badly it's tough to stand up there and watch one go shooting across the corner and not swing4 ,but it's a wise move--for it curbs that over-anxiety and keeps you from hitting at bad ones4 ,once a fellow starts swinging wild he's sunk--and his slump will come to an end somewhere in ,oshkosh or ,cedar ,falls4 ,the business of getting runners around the bases is one of the most scientific departments of the game4 ,and there's no set rule for attack4 ,when ,i first broke into baseball most of the clubs were using the old-fashioned sacrifice and steal game4 ,in recent years play has switched1 and the steal has more or less disappeared4 ,clubs today depend more on the hit-and-run4 ,but as ,i said before there's no set rule you can follow4 ,it depends on the sort of club you have4 ,miller ,huggins for instance has always favored what he likes to call 8smart baseball40 ,he likes the sacrifice attack4 ,he likes the steal4 ,but he doesn't use it because he knows such an attack wouldn't work so well with a club like the ,yankees4 ,we're sluggers for the most part--and have to score our runs by hitting power4 ,we haven't any great base runners4 ,meusel and ,combs can steal with the best in the business but they're only two4 ,we have few fellows on our club1 too1 who can handle the sacrifice properly4 ,the ,yankees1 for the most part1 are 8swing hitters0 and hitters of that type never will shine at the sacrifice game4 ,knowing these things ,huggins forgets his 8smart baseball0 ideas and makes the most of the type hitters he has4 ,which is good baseball4 ,george ,moriarity1 over in ,detroit1 on the other hand1 uses the steal a lot4 ,he has a bunch of fast1 speedy1 youngsters who know how to run bases and the steal with them is the best form of attack4 ,the ,washington ,senators are long on the sacrifice4 ,most of the men on their club can 8lay them down0 to perfection1 and do it4 ,john ,mc,graw has always favored the 8hit and run0 as a means of advancing his runners and bringing in scores4 ,but just the same that didn't keep ,john from changing his tactics to a base-stealing game when he had that team of speed boys back in #aiab to #aiaf4 ,even yet they talk of the way the ,giants 8stole the pennant0 during those years4 ,after all it comes back to the same proposition4 ,the method of attack depends on the club--and the smart manager uses the form that is best for his individual group of players4 ,there's no play in baseball any prettier than the bunt when it's properly executed4 ,but not all ball players can do it4 ,watching from the stands it looks easy4 ,but it isn't4 ,in the first place smart pitchers have all the good bunters card catalogued4 ,and nine times out of ten when a fellow starts to bunt he finds the pitches coming through high1 fast and inside1 which is the toughest spot in the world for a bunter4 8pitchings0 replaced with 8pitches0 ,to be a bunter a fellow has to have a keen eye4 ,he has to have speed in getting to first1 in order that he may beat the ball4 ,and more important than that he not only has to hit the ball1 but he has to hit it to certain limited places4 ,the bunted ball that goes direct to the pitcher is worse than a strikeout4 ,the bunt that is hit too hard and rolls fast down the line to an infielder2 or the one that is hit too easily and lands in front of the plate for the catcher to grab--these too are worse than no bunt at all4 ,if you can't put the ball where you want to1 say eight times out of ten1 then you'd better not try any serious bunting where there's a ball game hanging in the balance4 ,one of the best bunters ,i've ever seen was ,whitey ,witt4 ,whitey had a wonderful way of laying that ball right down the third base line1 and being fast getting down to first1 he could beat them out4 ,whitey used to get from twenty-five to thirty-five base hits a year on bunts4 ,i remember a line ,whitey pulled in the clubhouse one afternoon toward the end of the #aibc season4 ,whitey had about #cb hits on bunts to his credit1 and some of the newspaper men were talking to him about it4 8,yet10 he said1 8,i'm conservative4 ,i believe in saving distance4 ,those thirty-two hits1 laid end to end1 would just about equal one of ,babe's shortest home runs4 ,yet he got only four bases on the distance and ,i got thirty-two4 ,science pays1 my boy1 science pays60 ,poor old ,whitey is out of baseball now and raising tomatoes down on his farm in ,jersey4 ,we see him every now and then and occasionally he puts on a uniform and works out with the boys when we're home4 ,and he can still 8,lay 'em down10 even though his legs have gone back and he can't run much any more4 ,i guess it's a knack1 that once acquired1 never leaves a fellow4 ,from what old timers tell me ,willie ,keeler must have been about the king of the bunters4 ,i never saw him--but ,i've heard plenty of stories about his ability to lay them down in any direction4 ,miller ,huggins1 the manager of the ,yankees1 is another chap who was a wizard at the bunt game during his playing days4 ,seems as though little fellows always make the best bunters4 ,usually they're pretty fast which is a big asset4 ,and the fact that they're so small makes them hard to pitch to4 ,pitchers can't work on them as carefully as they do on a bigger fellow4 ,in baseball we divide bunts into two classes4 ,there's the ordinary roller down the third base line which is just a 8bunt40 ,balls pushed toward first base we call 8drag bunts40 ,and when you can catch the infield playing back the drag bunt is a mighty good weapon for a left hand hitter4 ,properly placed it pulls the first baseman off the bag1 and is out of reach of the pitcher4 ,somehow there doesn't seem to be so many good drag bunters now as there used to be4 ,one of the best of the lot was ,ross ,young1 the old ,giant right fielder who died recently in ,san ,antonio4 ,ross had that drag bunt down to perfection1 and could drive a first baseman nutty with it4 ,he used it against us in the world series a lot--and even such a veteran as ,wallie ,pipp had trouble making a play on it4 8hunters0 replaced with 8bunters0 ,charley ,jamieson1 of the ,cleveland ,indians1 and ,earl ,combs of the ,yankees are about the best drag bunters in the business today4 ,combs ,i think is even better than ,jamey1 because he's faster4 ,and speed is a mighty big item in a drag bunt play4 ,sam ,rice1 the speedy ,washington outfielder1 is another batter who can drag the ball down the first base line plenty4 ,but ,sam doesn't use the play as much now as he did a few years ago1 when he was batting in leadoff or second position in the batting order4 ,of course you've got to pick your spots for a bunt attack4 ,a poor fielding pitcher is always a sucker for such a play4 ,i've already told how ,alan ,sothoron was bunted right out of the league4 ,managers are also quick to use the bunt when they've got a new third baseman working against them4 ,unless a third baseman can come in and handle bunts he's not much use--and in the big leagues we're quick to test out a man on that particular job4 ,handling bunts is one of the places where ,joe ,dugan used to shine brightest4 ,joe is the best third baseman ,i ever saw at coming in and scooping the ball with one hand1 then throwing to first while still off balance4 ,fellows around the league used to say of ,joe that he could throw better and more accurately when he had both feet off the ground than he could when he was all set for a peg4 ,and that's about right4 ,joe makes bad throws occasionally1 but nine times out of ten they come when he has plenty of time and gets all set4 ,he very1 very seldom throws wild1 on one of those quick 8scoop and throw0 plays4 ,the bunt has two purposes4 ,first1 it's to upset the infield and get the hitter safely to first4 ,second1 it's used as a sacrifice1 in which case the object is to advance a runner even at the cost of sacrificing the hitter4 ,the two plays are entirely different4 ,the fact that a man is a good bunter1 doesn't always mean that he is a good sacrificer4 ,on the sacrifice the idea isn't so much to avoid a play as it is to so place the ball that a play is possible only at first base4 ,if the runner to be advanced is on second1 then the bunt must be so placed that the third baseman will have to come in and handle it4 ,if the runner is on first1 the best place for the sacrifice bunt is midway down the third base line so the pitcher has to handle the play4 ,or1 in the case of the left handed hitter1 a drag bunt that pulls the second baseman in to cover first base1 is always good4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,waiting 'em out6--,frank ,chance puts one over--,jamieson smacks the first one--,not always easy to wait--,trying to outguess the pitcher--,the intentional pass--,putting on the hit and run play--,eddie ,collins a master at it--,huggins expresses an opinion4 ,how often1 when you go out to the ball game1 you hear the voices of the coaches echoing above all the noise and cheering4 8,wait him out60 8,make him pitch6 ,make it be in there60 ,those are sort of stock phrases in baseball1 phases that the coachers use constantly4 ,and they contain pretty good advice1 too4 8phases0 replaced with 8phrases0 ,a waiting attack has been the downfall of many a pitcher--and it's particularly effective against a pitcher who is inexperienced or one who is inclined to wildness4 ,of course you have to pick your spots4 ,playing a waiting game against a fellow like ,alexander1 for instance1 is right in his groove4 ,his control is so perfect that the minute a team starts to wait him out they're putting themselves in a hole4 ,the waiting attack1 of course1 is very simple4 ,it consists merely in not swinging until forced to4 ,batters1 playing that sort of a game1 will take two strikes without moving the bat from their shoulders4 ,and its purpose is two-fold4 ,the first purpose is to make the pitcher work as hard as possible4 ,fellows who swing at the first ball are giving the pitcher all the best of it4 ,in that sort of an attack a pitcher can get through an inning with pitching only three or four balls4 ,against a waiting attack he has to pitch at least nine even if every thing he pitches is a strike4 ,the second purpose of a waiting attack is to take advantage of a pitcher's wildness4 ,with a lot of pitchers1 if the hitter has patience enough to wait and wait1 he eventually will draw a base on balls--and a base on balls is just as good as a basehit both in getting men to first base and in advancing runners4 ,in this day of slugging the old waiting game isn't played as much as it used to be4 ,bill ,carrigan used to tell a story of ,frank ,chance when he was managing the famous old ,cubs4 ,chance1 ,carrigan said1 won a crucial game in a pennant series by waiting tactics4 ,at the start of the game he instructed every man on his club to wait4 8,don't swing at all10 ,chance warned4 8,just go up there and stand4 ,if you're called out on strikes it's all right40 ,and for six innings the ,cubs did that very thing4 ,for six innings the opposing pitcher1 pitched hitless ball--for not a single ,cub hitter took his bat from his shoulder4 ,but in that time the pitcher averaged twelve to fifteen pitches an inning4 ,finally in the seventh inning1 ,chance suddenly switched his tactics4 8,go up there and smack that first ball10 he instructed4 ,the ,cubs did just that4 ,a couple of base hits came in a row4 ,the pitcher upset by the sudden switch1 lost his stuff4 ,he grew wild4 ,and in one inning the ,cubs put over four runs and won the ball game4 ,that's carrying the waiting attack to the last degree--and such methods aren't favored much these days4 ,but the waiting game is still mighty important in baseball4 ,to some hitters1 waiting comes natural4 ,others can't seem to withstand the temptation to swing at that first one if it's 8in there40 ,pitchers soon catalogue hitters and pitch accordingly4 ,mike ,gazella and ,pat ,collins of the ,yankees for instance1 are waiters4 ,i've seen both ,pat and ,mike take two strikes time after time without so much as offering to swing at the ball4 ,charley ,jamieson of the ,cleveland ,indians1 on the other hand is a first ball hitter4 ,a pitcher can put that first one over with safety to either ,pat or ,mike1 but putting the first one over to ,jamieson is murder4 ,he'll sock it for a city block4 ,in modern baseball teams are apt to change their attack two or three times in a single game4 ,perhaps for an inning or two they will wait the pitcher out4 ,then they may suddenly shift to a first ball hitting attack4 ,midway of the game they may shift still another time4 ,the idea is to keep the pitcher guessing4 ,after all baseball is a game of guessing and out-guessing4 ,a lot of hitters carry the idea too far4 ,they try to out-guess the pitcher on every pitch4 ,personally ,i'm opposed to guess hitting4 8,how do you know when to expect a curve ball and when a fast one80 ,i guess ,i'm asked that question a hundred times a year4 ,the answer is that ,i don't4 ,the minute a fellow starts in trying to guess the pitch he's just wishing trouble on himself4 ,for there's nothing in this world more upsetting than being set for a fast ball and then have a curve come looping up4 ,and there's no better way in the world to get a trip to the hospital with a cracked head1 than getting set for a curve and then have a fast one come swinging in at your chin4 ,after all there's only one answer to be made to the young fellow who is asking constantly for advice as to how to hit4 ,the answer is3 8,pick out a good one and sock it60 ,i've talked to a lot of pretty good hitters in the past ten years and ,i've watched them work4 ,go over the list from top to bottom--,hornsby1 ,goslin1 ,heilmann1 ,gehrig1 ,traynor1 ,cobb1 ,judge1 ,bottomley1 ,roush--there's not a 8guess0 hitter in the lot4 ,they all tell you the same thing4 8,i never think about whether it's a curve or a fast one that's coming4 ,i simply get set--and if the ball looks good1 ,i sock it40 ,as a matter of fact half of the time when a fellow gets hold of one he doesn't really know whether it was a curve or a fast one he hit4 ,a slow ball1 naturally1 he can recognize--but the others he can't4 ,the crack of the bat just naturally drives all question of curve or fast one out of your mind4 ,many times ,i've cracked out a homer1 and when ,i got back to the bench ,i've had some of the boys ask me what it was ,i hit4 ,and ,i couldn't tell them4 ,all ,i knew was it was over--,i liked it--and ,i swung just right4 ,that day in #aibg that ,i got my sixtieth home run off ,tom ,zachary1 the left hander with the ,washington ,senators4 ,naturally there was a lot of interest in it1 and the newspapers next day carried stories as to the sort of ball ,i hit4 ,some of the writers said it was a fast ball inside2 some of them said it was a curve ball4 ,some of them thought it was high outside1 and others thought it was low inside4 ,a few said it was a fast ball right down the middle4 ,it wasn't any of these4 ,the ball ,i hit for my sixtieth homer was a screw ball--a slow ball that comes up with little or no rotation and broke in and down1 being thrown by a left hander4 ,as a matter of fact ,i didn't know at the time whether the ball was inside or outside4 ,in fact ,manager ,huggins and ,i agreed later that it was on the outside corner4 ,zachary1 however1 insists that the ball was slightly lower than waist high1 and on the inside4 ,tom should know4 ,all ,i can say for certain is that it was a screw ball1 and that it looked good to hit6 ,i always get a great kick out of newspaper stories in which the boys try to tell the sort of pitch that batters hit for base hits4 ,it can't be done4 ,from the press box or the stands it's mighty hard to see a curve ball any time1 even when the batter has his bat on his shoulder4 ,once he starts to swing and the bat comes between the observer's eye and the ball1 it's twice as hard if not impossible4 ,when you consider that a lot of curve balls are hit before they start to break1 or at the very moment they start to break1 you can appreciate just how hard it is for the man in the stands to tell what sort of ball is pitched4 ,the tip off on that1 ,i think1 is the fact that a certain ,national ,league manager1 watching ,pipgras pitch in the second game of the #aibg world series1 commented at some length on ,pipgras' 8excellent curve that had the ,pirates guessing40 ,as a matter of fact ,george pitched fast balls almost exclusively that day4 ,i don't think he threw a dozen curves during the entire game4 ,now ,i ask1 if a veteran manager1 trained to watch1 and sitting in the stands can't be sure what is being pitched--what chance has a casual observer to call the turn4 ,it simply can't be done4 ,it's like fans along the third base line trying to judge balls and strikes as they go zipping across the plate4 ,and that's next to impossible4 ,but ,i started out to talk about the waiting policy4 ,as ,i said you find certain hitters who are natural born waiters4 ,they're fellows who have such keen eyes and judgment that they can judge a ball to the fraction of an inch4 8,hard to fool0 the pitchers say4 ,such players are mighty valuable fellows to have around4 ,very frequently1 in baseball1 a couple of bases on balls may be the entering wedge for a batting rally4 ,in a game in which the pitcher has been breezing along1 the boys on the bench are as pleased to see him give a base on balls as they are to see a base hit4 ,for a base on balls frequently is the first tip-off that comes on a pitcher weakening4 ,once a pitcher shows signs of weakening is the moment to bring the old waiting game into play4 ,the ,yankees last year beat ,lefty ,grove of the ,athletics four straight games simply by waiting him out4 ,lefty is a great pitcher--but he's inclined to wildness and after he's sent that fast curve in there a few times without the hitters offering at it1 he begins to get nervous4 ,or ,i should say did--for ,lefty is older and more experienced now and the things that upset him when he broke in don't bother him any more4 ,i guess there is nothing in baseball that has caused more discussion in recent years than the intentional pass4 ,fans have howled and wailed about it1 and they've demanded some sort of penalty for an intentional pass--but nothing has been done4 ,probably nothing will be either1 for the intentional pass has a place in baseball4 ,i've been the victim of the intentional pass as much as anyone in either league ,i guess1 and ,i've howled and complained with the rest of them4 ,but all the same ,i can get the pitcher's viewpoint1 and it's a good one4 ,he isn't out there to please the crowd4 ,he's out to win ball games--and if passing one hitter to get at another will win1 why he's within his rights in doing it4 ,you will notice that last season ,i wasn't passed nearly as often as in the seasons before4 ,the reason is1 that with ,gehrig coming up1 it wasn't good baseball to do it4 ,giving a man an intentional pass is just like handing the enemy a scoring chance--and that's penalty enough for the pitcher4 ,then too there are certain situations arise which make the intentional pass good baseball1 regardless4 ,suppose there is a runner on second base1 one out1 and the score tied4 ,a fairly good hitter is coming up1 followed by another one equally good4 ,in a spot like that an intentional pass might be a wise move4 ,for by passing a man to first you 8block the bases10 that is you make a force play possible at both second and third and pave the way for a double play which would retire the side without scoring4 ,with a runner only on second a double play is virtually impossible4 ,the intentional pass is not particularly costly in a case like that4 ,the man on second will score on a single anyhow1 and the fellow who is passed to first can't possibly go all the way round on a one-base hit4 ,intentionally passing a good hitter to get at a weak hitter also is good baseball1 despite the wails of the fans who want to see base hits4 ,i've seen pitchers pitch to a hard hitting catcher and have him break up a ball game1 instead of passing him to get at the weak hitting pitcher4 ,and fans up in the stands are apt to say 8,well he had nerve anyhow4 ,he pitched4 ,you've got to hand him that40 ,hand him nothing6 ,all ,i hand him is that he was too stubborn to do the thing he should4 ,he gets no credit in my book at all--and remember that ,i have suffered much from this intentional pass business4 ,what ,i'm trying to point out is that baseball is a game of strategy1 and a lot of things which may not please the folks in the stands are mighty good baseball just the same4 ,one of the greatest offensive plays in use today is the 8,hit and run40 ,that's just what the name implies4 ,the runner starts with the pitch and the batter hits the ball1 on the ground and behind the runner if possible4 ,suppose there is a man on first base and nobody out4 ,the hit and run signal is flashed4 ,as the pitcher starts his motion the runner dashes toward second4 ,the hitter swings1 striving if possible to hit the ball between first and second base1 back of the fleeting runner4 ,the advantage of course is that by prearranged signal which tells the runner just what the hitter will do1 the runner is enabled to get a long lead and can advance an extra base4 ,or1 by having that long start1 he avoids the possibility of a double play and reaches second base safely even though the runner may be thrown out4 ,the fact that a man is a good hitter doesn't mean that he will be a good man on the 8hit and run40 ,here again hitting style enters into it4 ,the choke hitter is always the best hit and run man--and the 8swing hitter0 very seldom is able to put on the play successfully4 ,that's because the choke hitter is better able to place the ball where he wants it4 8,calling his shots0 the boys say4 ,with the hit and run play on the man at the bat usually shortens his stride and eases up on his swing4 ,that's because he's got to make sure of hitting the ball4 ,failure to hit the ball1 on a hit and run play1 means almost certain death to the runner--and hitting the ball1 unless it happens to be a hard liner direct into an infielder's hands1 is practically a guarantee that the runner will reach his base safely4 ,eddie ,foster1 the old ,washington third baseman1 was one of the best hit and run men ,i ever saw4 ,eddie could come as near laying that ball midway between second and first as any man in the business4 ,the only chance of breaking up the hit and run play with ,eddie up1 was to 8waste0 one--and pitchers don't do that unless they are pretty sure they have the other fellow's sign4 ,a lot of men in the league now are good on the hit and run4 ,eddie ,collins is a wonder at it4 ,ty ,cobb was a great one4 ,sewell of the ,cleveland ,indians is a wizard on the play4 ,hitters who seldom strike out always make the best hit and run men--regardless of whether they hit the ball far or not4 ,joe ,dugan is as good on the play as anyone we have on the ,yankees4 ,and ,bob ,meusel can put it on well1 despite the fact that he is both a right hand hitter and a swing hitter4 ,the hit and run play usually demands that the hitter send the ball to right field4 ,fellows like ,cobb and ,collins frequently play it the other way4 ,with a man in position for the hit and run they will feint a strike to see who covers second4 ,then if the shortstop makes the move to cover1 they will hit through the shortstop position1 sending the ball through the space he vacated to go over to the bag4 ,that's a good play for a fellow who can place hit4 ,but it's a bad gamble for the amateur4 ,for if anything goes wrong1 a double play is almost certain--and there's nothing upsets a batting attack like a double play4 ,the success or failure of a hit and run depends a lot on the type of pitcher who is working too4 ,pitchers who pitch fast and high are the easiest victims of this attack4 ,a pitcher of the ,wilcy ,moore type who pitches a low 8sinker0 is tough4 ,wilcy makes opposing pitchers hit into the ground1 and hitting into the ground on a hit and run is very likely to give an infielder an easy chance for a double play4 ,whether to use the hit and run1 or the sacrifice to advance runners is a matter for the manager to decide4 ,it all depends on the players4 ,some clubs are best at one play some are better at the other4 ,certain other clubs1 speedy and fast and shifty1 may discard both in favor of the steal4 ,miller ,huggins1 smart manager that he is1 covers the subject in this way3 8,i'm not interested in baseball theories10 he says4 8,baseball is one game that can't be run by rule4 ,the team that wins ball games is the team that makes the most of its own mechanical abilities and to thunder with the other team's strategy4 ,some other manager does things differently perhaps--but he's got a different ball club to do it with60 ,,chapter ,,xv ,the batting order--,the kid idea--,getting the most out of hitting strength--,the lead-off man--,combs and ,waner are good--,no reason why pitchers shouldn't be good hitters--,a few examples--,heaviest hitters bat third and fourth--,that's the scoring position4 ,when ,i was a kid playing around ,baltimore1 we held to two general rules in fixing our batting order4 ,there was the old system of starting with the first baseman and batting around to the right fielder1 closing with the catcher and pitcher4 ,there wasn't anything very scientific in that scheme1 but it had its advantages4 ,it was easy to know who was up and didn't offer much chance for argument4 ,as a kid ,i saw more fights started over whose turn it was to hit1 than for any other single reason ,i can remember4 ,the other method of arranging the batting order consisted in starting with a good hitter1 then a weak one1 and alternating right through4 ,the idea of that was that there would be a good hitter coming up in every inning to start something4 ,that there would also be a weak one to ruin anything that was started1 didn't come in for much consideration4 ,of course arranging a batting order in a kid game is a matter that requires plenty of strategy4 ,just as the boy who owns a glove and ball is generally pitcher1 so is the kid who owns a bat1 pretty apt to be first hitter--baseball strategy be durned4 ,at least that was true when ,i was a youngster1 and from what ,i've seen boys haven't changed much since4 ,but seriously the batting order is a mighty important thing--and managers consider it very carefully4 ,just as winning a ball game depends on the runs scored so are the runs scored dependent on the batting order4 ,a manager must figure always on getting the most from his hitting strength1 and at the same time covering up as much as possible his hitting weaknesses4 ,and every ball club1 no matter how strong1 is sure to have hitting weakness somewhere4 ,if there are no others1 there's the weakness of the pitcher as a hitter4 ,most pitchers are weak hitters4 ,personally ,i've never been able to figure out just why4 ,i believe that pitchers as a class1 should be able to hit just as well as infielders or outfielders or catchers4 ,the trouble is that most baseball men take the attitude3 8,oh well1 you can't expect the pitcher to hit0 and let it go at that4 ,just the same there are a lot of pitchers who can hit well4 8,dutch0 ,ruether was always a good hitter4 ,george ,uhle of the ,cleveland ,indians is about as tough a man up there at the plate as you'll find anywhere4 ,walter ,johnson always hit well--and ,herb ,pennock usually comes up with his share of basehits4 ,as a pitcher1 ,i always managed to smack that ball fairly well1 and1 considering the little ,i played1 ,i hit just as well when ,i was pitching as when playing the outfield4 ,there are a number of pitchers who1 through as pitchers1 have made good in the outfield4 ,reb ,russell the old ,white ,sox left hander1 is one of them4 ,joe ,wood1 the old ,red ,sox fast ball pitcher1 went into the outfield and played several seasons after his pitching days were over4 8,lefty0 ,o',doul1 who comes to the ,giants this year as an outfielder1 with a reputation for real slugging1 once wore a ,yankee uniform as a pitcher4 ,joe ,bush1 the old ,yankee pitcher1 always could hit--and is frequently used as a pinch hitter4 ,these pitchers are only a few of many who can hit with the best batters in the business4 ,it only goes to show that the old idea about pitchers not being hitters1 is all wrong4 ,the big trouble is that the pitchers don't want to hit4 ,they take the attitude that they're carrying the burden of the defensive work1 and that any strenuous effort at the plate or on the bases would injure their pitching effectiveness4 ,that idea started many1 many years ago--when a club carried only one or two pitchers4 ,in those days when pitchers were overworked1 it's true that they couldn't afford to expend any more energy than possible at the plate or on the bases4 ,but now a days things are different4 ,with ball clubs carrying eight or ten pitchers1 and pitchers called upon to work only every fourth or fifth day1 there's no reason in the world why the pitcher shouldn't carry just as much of the defensive load as any man on the club4 ,as ,i see it there are three reasons why a pitcher rates as a poor hitter4 ,in the first place he believes it himself4 ,he has listened to the old howl for so long that he just accepts it as fact4 ,the second reason is that pitchers1 being pitchers1 are more interested in the opposing pitchers' business than in their own4 ,in other words1 when they're up there at the plate they're always trying to 8guess0 what the other fellow is doing4 ,instead of getting a good firm stance and swinging at the good ones1 they're thinking about whether it's to be a 8curve0 or a fast one1 a low one or a high one4 ,no 8guess0 hitter ever makes a good hitter4 ,the third reason why pitchers can't hit1 as ,i see it1 is a lack of practice4 ,hitting requires constant practice4 ,you've got to keep in there swinging4 ,pitchers on a big league club1 get batting practice only on the days when they are scheduled to work--and only a couple of rounds then4 ,the best hitter in the world can't be at his best when he handles a bat for perhaps ten minutes twice a week4 ,but given daily practice and the idea that they can hit1 there's no reason why pitchers shouldn't smack that ball just as hard as any other type of ball player4 ,and what a great thing it is for a club to have nine real hitters up there taking their swing1 instead of eight batsmen and a pitcher4 ,but ,i started out to talk about the batting order4 ,most big league managers follow the same general scheme in making up their batting order4 ,naturally the more good hitters they have1 the easier is the job1 and the less attention they have to give to placing their men4 ,the ideal batting order would be one of nine men--all of them ,cobbs or ,hornsbys4 ,but that doesn't happen4 ,managers1 if they're smart1 pay a lot of attention to the selection of their first hitter4 8,the lead-off man0 he is called4 ,here must be a man of good and quick judgment1 a player who can hit well1 and one who is inclined to be a 8waiter40 ,his job is to get on base4 ,it doesn't make any difference whether he gets there by a hit1 by walking1 or by being socked in the ribs--so long as he gets there4 ,the mere fact that a man is a good hitter1 doesn't make him a good lead-off man4 ,he has to have speed in addition--but most important of all is that good judgment of pitched balls which enables him to force the pitcher to 8come in there40 ,as ,i said before his job is to ,,get ,,on ,,base--and to ,,make ,,that ,,pitcher ,,work ,,on ,,him4 ,few lead-off men1 if you will notice1 are first ball hitters4 ,in nine ball games out of ten1 you'll see that first man up 8take0 the first one without swinging--whether it's outside or right through the middle4 ,the best lead-off man ,i've seen since ,i've been in baseball is ,earl ,combs of the ,yankees4 ,probably ,i'll get a lot of argument on that statement1 but it stands4 ,there are other men in the league who can bunt better than ,earl2 there are other fellows in the league who get more bases on balls4 ,there are other lead-off men1 though not many1 who may have better hitting averages4 ,but there's one thing at which ,earl has no equal--and the most important thing of all4 ,he gets to first base safely4 ,last season for instance1 ,combs reached first base safely seven times out of every thirteen times he came to bat4 ,think of that6 ,for every two times he comes to the plate he reaches first once4 ,and that's not counting the times he was safe by reason of having forced some other runner at second6 ,i'm not up on records1 but ,i doubt if that record of ,combs last season has ever been equalled by anyone4 ,and that's why ,i say he's the best lead-off man ,i ever saw4 ,he gets on base the most6 ,and once on base1 he knows how to get the rest of the way 'round4 ,the ,yankees have been very fortunate in their lead-off men in the past few years4 ,before ,earl ,combs came along ,whitey ,witt held the job1 and ,whitey was a wizard too4 ,being little and short he was a tough man to pitch too--and he used to draw a good many passes in the course of a season4 ,but ,whitey had one weakness4 ,he could go down to first base like a flash4 ,there were few men in the league who could go faster4 ,but once he reached first he was actually slow4 ,somehow he didn't seem to have the knack of baserunning4 ,lloyd ,waner1 the sensational little outfielder of the ,pirates1 is another fine lead-off man4 ,waner not only is a keen judge of a pitched ball1 but his size is in his favor4 ,little fellows are always tough to pitch too4 ,a lot of managers figure that the lead-off man should be a small fellow--the smallest on the club4 ,i never could see that size made a lot of difference except that little fellows usually are fast1 and they present a small target for the pitcher4 ,it's the keen eye that counts most however4 ,earl ,combs isn't small4 ,neither is ,sam ,rice of ,washington4 ,johnny ,mostil of the ,white ,sox is pretty sizeable1 too4 ,yet they all have been mighty useful lead-off men4 ,on the other hand there are some little fellows who have rated as stars4 ,jimmy ,sheckard of the old ,cubs is one4 ,and ,jimmy deserves to be rated among the really great outfielders of the game4 ,miller ,huggins was small1 and a great lead-off man--though ,huggins was just about as good batting in second place or the 8sacrifice0 position4 ,donie ,bush1 former shortstop of the ,detroit ,tigers and now manager of the ,pittsburgh ,pirates1 led off for the ,tigers through many a long season and many a tough campaign4 ,and ,willie ,keeler1 the one man whom all critics agree was the daddy of scientific hitters1 was a lead-off man through a life time of baseball seasons4 ,there's one important1 thing to remember in selecting a lead-off man4 ,don't waste a real slugger on the job--for the lead-off man gets little opportunity to drive in runs1 as compared to other posts in the batting order4 ,the reason for that is simple enough4 ,the tail end of the batting order brings up the catcher and pitcher1 and these two1 by actual record1 get to first base less than any other two hitters on the club4 ,take the case of ,earl ,combs for instance4 ,in #aibg ,earl got well over #bjj hits during the season2 more than any other man on the club4 ,yet he rated fifth or sixth in the matter of runs driven in4 ,it wasn't because he was a bad hitter with men on bases1 either4 ,just the opposite he's one of the best boys in a pinch you'll find anywhere4 ,but usually when he comes up there is nobody on4 ,his business wasn't to advance other runners for the most part4 ,it was to get on base himself4 ,second place in the batting order is looked upon as the 8sacrifice0 position4 ,the lead-off man is supposed to get on first4 ,then it's up to the second man to sacrifice him to second where he will be in scoring position4 ,but the practice doesn't work out as well as the theory1 particularly in these days of plain and fancy slugging4 ,nevertheless it's a wise move to have a good hitter batting in second place--and one who can put on either the hit and run1 or the sacrifice as occasion may demand4 ,smart managers are careful to use a 8choke0 hitter in second place if they have one on the club4 ,that's because the second place hitter is often called upon to put on the hit-and-run and that's a play that is next to impossible for a swing hitter to put over right4 ,in third and fourth place in the batting order you usually find the sluggers4 ,these are the fellows who are counted on to drive in the runs--the siege guns of the attack as the sport writers call them4 ,they may not have as high a batting average as the fellows who bat second and first1 but they're the babies who can be counted on to drive the ball for long distances when they do connect4 ,if they don't get a base hit they've always got the chance of driving out long flies that will score runs1 anyhow4 ,managers of big league ball clubs have differences of opinion on a lot of subjects but they all agree on the value of centralizing their 8slugging0 power in third1 fourth and fifth place in the batting order4 ,you have only to look at the old box score to prove the statement4 ,in the first world series--the one between ,boston and ,pittsburgh in #aijc--you find ,leach and ,wagner batting third and fourth for the ,pirates and ,stahl and ,freeman for the ,boston club4 ,these were the sluggers doing their stuff then as they do now4 ,and it's been the same all through baseball history4 ,there were ,schulte1 ,chance and ,steinfeldt of the old ,cubs1 ,cobb1 ,crawford and ,veach of the smashing ,detroit ,tigers of twenty years ago4 ,collins and ,baker batted third and fourth for the famous old ,athletics1 and they were the sluggers of the outfit4 ,speaker and ,lewis were the clean-up pair for the championship ,red ,sox2 ,collins and ,jackson for the ,white ,sox of #aiag2 ,frisch ,young and ,kelly for the ,giant champions of a few years ago4 ,with the ,cardinals of #aibf ,hornsby and ,bottomley drew the slugging posts of honor and the ,pirates of #aibg had ,waner and ,harris on the job4 ,it all tells the same story4 ,third and fourth place in the batting order is the spot for slugging strength1 and if you have any left over you can send them into fifth and sixth place as well4 ,personally ,i'd rather bat in third place than any other spot on the lineup4 ,that's probably because ,i'm used to it4 ,and then too1 ,i know that ,i'm being followed by another man who has a good chance of coming through if ,i fail4 ,i don't go up to the bat feeling like some sort of a last chance or as though the whole weight of the game was on my shoulders4 ,i want to say this right here and now too4 ,i feel that a lot of my success in hitting home runs has been due to the fact that ,i've always had fellows following me in the batting order who were just as dangerous as ,i was4 ,in #aibj when ,i got #ed home runs and again in #aiba when ,i hit #ei1 ,i was followed in the batting order by ,wallie ,pipp and ,bob ,meusel4 ,both of them had particularly good seasons1 and there wasn't much percentage in passing me to get at fellows like that4 ,then last year ,i had ,lou ,gehrig coming up after me--and the pitcher who passed me to get at ,lou was taking a mighty big chance1 believe me4 ,consequently they pitched to me4 ,they had to4 ,here's a funny thing about a batting order that most folks don't realize4 ,next to the lead-off man1 the fellow who is called upon most often to start the inning at bat is the chap in sixth place4 ,and next to the man batting in third place the fellow who bats sixth comes up most often with men on bases4 ,i don't know why that is4 ,i only know it's true6 ,a couple of seasons ago some of the newspaper men traveling with the ,yankees got in an argument over it1 and one of them went over the scores for a whole season of play to check the thing up4 ,the scores book showed the truth of the claim4 ,the answer1 of course1 is that sixth place is a mighty important spot1 and requires a man second only to the lead-off man in his ability to get on base4 ,you know in baseball there's nothing so important as getting the jump on the other fellow4 ,and the most important way of getting the jump is for the first man up in an inning to get on first base4 ,if a team is fortunate to have two men who are good at the business of reaching first base the problem is easy4 ,put one of them in to lead off and bat the other in sixth place in the batting order4 ,of the two1 take the one that is the best slugger for sixth place4 ,the reason for that is that he is more apt to be followed by weak hitters and it's therefort necessary that he be able to hit for extra bases as much as possible since he can't expect so much help from the fellows who follow him4 8therefort0 replaced with 8therefore0 ,which brings us down to the tail end of the batting order1 and unless a team is mighty fortunate in having unusual hitting strength that's apt to be the dumping ground4 ,some managers believe in putting a little of their hitting strength at the bottom1 but personally ,i'd rather see it bunched4 ,of course if you've got a top-heavy batting order1 there will be times about every other inning when your team won't threaten4 ,but just the same ,i've got a hunch that it's a good idea to have all your dynamite ready for explosion at once1 even if you can get around to it only every second or third inning4 ,unless the catcher happens to be a very strong hitter and some other player is unusually weak most managers prefer to bat their catcher eighth and the pitcher ninth4 ,it's a sort of custom now--but it has a basis of judgment too4 ,it's simply this4 ,the pitcher and catcher are not in the game regularly1 and putting them at the bottom of the batting order breaks up team play the least of any place you could have them4 ,the other six men1 batting in regular position learn to know each other's style of play and can make the most of their base hits4 ,and anyhow the tail end of the order is always the weakest and can stand shifting without harm1 better than any other place you can name4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,team work counts--,the hit and run1 and when to use it-- ,the squeeze play--,urban ,shocker puts it over great--,a bit of advice on base running--,great base runners the game has seen--,schang pulls a good line on ,cobb--,the slide an important feature of base running--,spiking no longer done--,the story of how spiking began4 ,i've seen a lot of ball games in all these years1 and ,i've had a lot of 8kicks0 from the game4 ,there's the kick that comes from making a good catch or a good throw4 ,and the kick that comes1 too1 from hitting a ball and watch it going sailing up and out1 until it disappears over the fence and you hear the cheers and the applause as you go trotting around the bases4 ,but those thrills are all personal4 ,there's another sort of thrill that ball players know--the thrill of seeing a perfect play1 perfectly executed4 ,and now1 after a lot of years of big league competition1 ,i've about decided that the two most beautiful plays the game holds are the perfect steal and the perfectly executed 8squeeze0 play that brings the runner sliding home in a cloud of dust with the winning run4 ,somehow there's something about these two that aren't duplicated anywhere else in baseball4 ,maybe it's because they require so much coordination3 because they must be perfect to be worked at all1 and there's always a thrill in doing a thing exactly right4 ,i'm sorry neither the squeeze play nor the steal are used as much now as they were a few years ago4 ,slugging1 driving baseball has made them unnecessary4 ,one run means very little in modern baseball4 ,most managers play for three or four1 and the squeeze seldom is called into use unless it be in the final inning or two of an occasional tight game4 ,the steal too has been more or less passed up for the same reason4 ,you seldom see a runner steal third base any more1 and a steal of home is practically unheard of except in the so-called 8double steal40 ,the theory of the squeeze play is simple4 ,it is used only when there is a runner on third base and one run needed to tie or win4 ,suppose1 for example1 that it is the ninth inning1 the score is tied and the team at bat has a runner on third base and one out4 ,the stage is all set for the 8squeeze40 ,the signal is flashed4 ,with the motion of the pitcher's arm the runner on third breaks loose for the plate as fast as he can go4 ,he doesn't pay any attention to the pitcher or the hitter--just runs as hard as he can and throws himself at the plate4 ,meantime the batter bunts the ball down the third base line1 a slow twisting bunt that's a little too far out for the catcher1 and too far toward the third base line for the pitcher4 ,with the proper sort of a bunt the play can't fail to score a run4 ,since the runner gets such a long start there's no player in the world can handle the ball quickly enough to retire him4 ,but the bunt must be perfect and there's the catch of it4 ,bunting today is pretty much a lost art4 ,the hitter might miss the ball2 he might pop it into the air2 he might drop it dead in front of the plate4 ,and any of these things are fatal4 ,for the runner once he has started can't turn back4 ,he just keeps coming4 ,it's a great play1 and a beautiful play4 ,and with experienced men working it1 it's about as sure a way of scoring as you can find in the book4 ,but there's danger in it too--as in all types of baseball strategy and besides it scores only one run4 ,and as ,i said before one run in modern base ball doesn't mean much4 ,a few years ago the pitcher who was lucky enough to get a two or three run margin considered the game just as good as won4 ,today a margin of three or four runs means very little4 ,one bad inning can overcome all that and then some4 ,so the squeeze has about gone out4 ,the best 8squeeze play man0 ,i know of today in baseball is ,urban ,shocker1 the ,yankee pitcher4 ,shock never rated as a great hitter or anything like that1 but he certainly can lay that ball down4 ,it's a matter of record that he drove in #aa runs for the ,yankees last season4 ,and six of them were scored on squeeze plays1 three of which won ball games4 ,ray ,schalk1 the peppery little catcher and manager of the ,white ,sox1 is another chap who is a wizard at it4 ,naturally1 when the squeeze play looks probable the infield plays in4 ,the third baseman comes well in on the line and the first baseman moves in on the grass half way to the plate4 ,all of which makes it that much more difficult--but just the same1 properly executed1 the 8squeeze0 will work eight times out of ten4 ,its success or failure1 naturally1 depends on the hitter4 ,if he lays the ball down properly the runner from third can score standing up--particularly if he's a quick starter and gets a good lead1 plus a start with the pitcher's arm4 ,but the hitter has to hit--and he has to hit on the ground4 ,otherwise--well1 it's just too bad4 ,the 8steal0 like the 8squeeze play0 is used much less than it was a few years ago4 ,a lot of good baseball men say that stealing is a lost art4 ,i don't believe that4 ,there are just as many clever base runners1 and just as many fast men in the league now as there ever have been4 ,but the fact is that the steal isn't as necessary4 ,there's no need in a man taking a chance on being thrown out on a steal when any batter that steps up there is apt to plunk the ball over the fence for a home run so he can score standing up4 ,but just the same we have some mighty fine base runners today1 as always4 ,and we have some clubs too that don't have the hitting power and go in for the steal as a real part of their scoring attack4 ,george ,moriarity1 the old third baseman who took over the management of the ,detroit ,tigers after years of umpiring1 went in pretty strong for the steal in his season as manager1 and got away with it4 ,the ,tigers as a club1 stole more bases than any other team in either league--yet they're not particularly fast as a team4 ,johnny ,neun probably was the best man they had4 ,i'll never forget a game ,johnny played against the ,yankees when he stole five bases in nine innings4 ,the first time up he stole second4 ,his next time at bat he walked1 then proceeded to steal second and third4 ,and on his third appearance at bat he added insult to injury by getting a single and then stealing second1 third1 and home1 one after the other and on three pitched balls4 ,that's stealing bases--and no old timer in the business ever did better than that4 ,johnny was the best base runner the ,tigers had4 ,but they have other good ones in ,tavener and ,gehringer1 and ,moriarity even went as far with the 8steal0 game that he had ,bob ,fothergill and ,harry ,heilmann stepping them off4 ,and those fellows never would break any speed records anywhere4 8appearence0 replaced with 8appearance0 ,base stealing isn't so much a matter of speed as it is a question of catching the opponents off guard1 getting a good lead1 and then being able to start fast4 ,players like ,eddie ,collins and ,johnny ,neun are fast but not sprinters4 ,yet they're good base runners simply because they know how to take a long lead1 and how to start4 ,i could name a dozen men in baseball who could run rings around ,collins over a hundred yard course4 ,but not a one of the lot can get away faster or pick up full speed in so short a distance4 ,of course there are exceptions4 ,johnny ,mostil of the ,white ,sox1 and one of the greatest outfielders the game ever has known1 managed to steal a lot of bases in the course of a year1 and on speed alone4 ,but he's the exception4 ,the greatest base runner who ever lived1 ,i think1 was ,tyrus ,raymond ,cobb4 ,cobb had speed to burn4 ,but he had other things too4 ,he had wonderful judgment plus a hook slide that is the best ,i ever saw4 ,more than that he was a quick thinker4 ,he seemed able to sense what the other fellow was expecting1 and then he'd do the exact opposite4 ,some of ,cobb's base running stunts will never be forgotten4 ,i've seen him score all the way from second base on a dinky sacrifice fly4 ,i've seen him go all the way home from first on a single1 and ,i've seen him steal home more times than ,i can remember4 ,i don't know how many two baggers ,ty has made in his career1 but ,i'd make a bet right now that at least half of them were singles that he stretched into two base hits by base running cunning and half of his three-baggers1 ,i know1 would have been only doubles and skimpy ones at that1 for the ordinary base runner4 ,for twenty years ,ty ,cobb ran wild through the league1 and during the ten years when he was in his prime as a ball player he had every other club in the league nutty4 ,he'd try anything--and get away with it4 ,one of the funniest lines ,i ever heard1 and at the same time one of the greatest compliments ever paid ,cobb came from ,wally ,schang4 ,it all happened in the secrecy of the ,athletic's club house1 but it was so good that the other players told it and in a few days it had traveled all around the league4 ,the ,athletics were about to engage the ,tigers in a crucial series and ,connie ,mack was holding a meeting to discuss the games4 ,the boys went over all the ,detroit hitters1 one by one1 and decided how they would pitch to each man4 ,they discussed their own plays1 and everything in the baseball category4 ,finally they came to the matter of stopping ,cobb4 ,connie asked for suggestions but no one came through4 ,finally he turned to ,schang1 who had been with the club only a couple of seasons4 8,now ,wallie10 ,connie said1 8suppose the ,tigers were one run behind1 ,cobb was on second base1 and you knew he was going to steal4 ,what would you do80 ,schangie's answer was quick and to the point4 8,i'd fake a throw to third then hold the ball and tag him as he slid into the plate40 ,and he wasn't far wrong at that1 either4 ,as ,bob ,shawkey used to say 8,the only things ,ty ,cobb never stole were first base and the umpire's whisk broom1 and he would have had those in another two years40 ,i've heard a lot of explanation of ,cobb's success as a base runner4 ,the best ,i ever heard was from ,cobb himself4 ,and it was short and sweet4 8,i've made a success as a base runner because ,i keep my head up10 he said4 ,what he meant of course1 was that he was always watching for opportunities4 ,the slightest fumble1 the slightest hesitation on the part of an opposing player in handling the ball--these were invitations to ,cobb1 and he never refused them4 ,even after some of the speed had gone out of his legs and the years had taken their toll of energy he was still dangerous1 simply because he kept his head up and his eyes open4 ,and those two things are the first requirements for a good base runner4 ,cobb1 as ,i said before1 is the best base runner ,i ever saw and1 ,i think1 the greatest who ever wore a spiked shoe4 ,there have been others who have been really great too4 ,there's ,max ,carey who came into the big leagues way back in #aiaj and is still on the job after #ah years of big league service4 ,carey was a speed boy when he came into the league--but he was intelligent too4 ,and now that his speed has deserted him1 he has experience and knowledge to fall back on1 and is still able to show the way to most of the fellows in the league when it comes to scientific base running4 ,the secret of ,max's success as a base runner is his ability to get a start4 ,carey watches1 the opposing defense with the eye of a hawk4 ,he's1 always set and ready to go--always on perfect balance so he can dash in either direction4 ,and like ,cobb1 he has a perfect hook slide4 ,another great base runner is ,frankie ,frisch of the ,cardinals4 ,frankie is peculiar in that he uses a head-on slide and is one of the few men in the big league who uses such a slide4 ,frankie has a good1 argument too4 ,he says that by sliding head first instead of feet first he saves the split part of a second in getting underway4 ,of course these men are not the only great base runners4 ,but they are typical of them all4 ,sam ,rice of the ,washington ,senators1 ,bob ,meusel of the ,yankees2 ,al ,simmons and ,walter ,french of the ,athletics1 the ,waner boys of the ,pirates3 ,eddie ,roush of the ,giants3 ,rogers ,hornsby1 ,hack ,wilson1 ,bucky ,harris3 ,bib ,falk--these men are all great on the bases4 ,the greatest slider ,i ever have seen was ,ty ,cobb4 ,ty was the first man in baseball to develop the 8hook slide40 ,that1 as most everyone knows1 consists in throwing the body sideways and catching the bag with the toe4 ,the advantage of the hook slide over the straight slide is that it gives the baseman only a minimum space to tag out4 ,but the hook slide is a dangerous thing for an amateur1 for it offers all sorts of opportunity for injury4 ,a fraction of an inch error in judgment may mean missing the bag entirely and an easy putout for the opponents4 ,more serious than that1 however1 is the danger of catching the bag with your spikes instead of the toe1 in which case the ankle bones will be snapped off like twigs4 ,each season sees three or four men out of the game with broken legs or twisted ankles--and ninety-nine percent of such injuries can be traced to bad sliding4 ,if you start your slide too soon you are an easy out4 ,if you start too late there's always the danger of personal injury4 ,timing is just as important in sliding as in hitting1 and lack of timing means a bad slide4 ,to become a good slider there's only one method4 ,that's constant practice4 ,i can remember when the sliding pit was an important feature in every training camp--and rookies were sent out to practice for long stretches at a time1 and under the eyes of experts4 ,they don't do that much any more--not that practice is any less important1 but because the slide and the steal no longer occupy as important a place as once they did in baseball4 ,to be a good slider a man must learn to hook the bag with either foot4 ,that sounds easy1 but it isn't4 ,just as a man is naturally right handed or left handed1 so does he slide from the right side or the left side4 ,and learning to 8fall away0 to either side equally well is a tough job that requires a lot of work4 ,a few years ago there was a lot of talk of 8spiking40 ,that has all gone out4 ,no longer do men come driving into the bag with nasty spikes raised high ready to cut down the baseman or drive him out of the line of play4 ,old timers may make a bluff at 8spiking0 to try and frighten some rookie baseman1 but ,i don't believe there has been a deliberate case of spiking in the big leagues in the last five years4 ,naturally men will get cut once in awhile accidentally4 ,one of the commonest plays on which 8spiking0 occurs1 is on a high throw to the base where the baseman jumps in the air for the ball at the same instant the runner slides into the bag4 ,as the baseman comes down he is apt to land on the runner with his spikes4 ,but if the runner hooks the bag instead of going straight in1 there is less danger in the play4 8accidently0 replaced with 8accidentally0 ,i was talking to one of the veteran newspaper men a few months ago and he told me an interesting story of how the spiking practice first originated4 ,he gave credit 787 for the play to ,patsy ,tebeau1 manager of the famous ,cleveland ,spiders of thirty years ago4 ,tebeau in his eagerness to win ball games conceived the idea of spiking4 8,go into their basemen tomorrow spikes first1 and rip their legs off if you have to10 ,tebeau ordered one day1 after four of his men had been nipped stealing4 ,the next afternoon one of ,tebeau's runners followed orders1 and ripped a four-inch gash in the second baseman's leg4 ,another leaped into the shortstop and tore a mass of skin off his shinbone4 8,that will put fear in their hearts10 ,tebeau gloated4 ,he was right4 ,basemen1 fearing the spikes1 became mighty careful and the ,spiders ran wild on the bases through game after game4 ,but accounts were soon squared4 ,in ,pittsburgh following a game in which ,tebeau's players had gashed and cut three of the ,pittsburgh men4 ,in those days the players dressed at their hotels1 and it so happened that the ,spiders had to go past the ,pirate hotel to reach the ball park4 ,just before the ,spiders were due to pass ,william ,temple1 owner of the ,pittsburgh team1 assembled his players on the porch4 8,here's a nice new file for each of you10 he told them4 8,the very minute that ,spider outfit comes along ,i want all you boys to be busy filing your spikes --and keep filing them until you get a razor edge40 ,a few minutes later the ,spiders arrived4 ,tebeau ordered the bus stopped4 ,he climbed out1 walked over to the spike-sharpening crew1 and watched them for a minute4 ,then without a word1 he returned to the bus4 8,never mind any spiking stuff10 he announced to his club later4 8,we'll get the worst of it4 ,they've got the sharper spikes40 ,the ,pirates waited for the ,spiders to open their famous spiking attack4 ,the ,spiders didn't4 ,so the ,pirates decided to start the action4 ,they began to hurl themselves into the bases regardless of results4 ,the ,spiders1 knowing what the rival team was wearing on its feet stepped away from the bags and let the ,pirates run bases free and easy4 ,the ,pirates scored fifteen runs that afternoon4 ,naturally other clubs1 seeing the success of the move1 decided to do likewise4 ,and so began the 8spiking era0 in baseball4 ,the ,baltimore ,orioles were particularly good at it4 ,and the extent to which 8spiking0 developed before finally it was barred by league rule can be illustrated by a story of ,kid ,gleason's1 the peppery little second baseman of the old ,orioles and later manager of the ,white ,sox and now assistant to ,connie ,mack4 8,once0 the ,kid relates1 8there was a third baseman who violated one of our spiking rules4 ,he stuck 'em into the second baseman's chest4 ,that was most unethical1 inasmuch as one of our unwritten laws barred spiking ,,above the waist line4 8,the second baseman vowed to get revenge4 ,two innings later this particular second baseman having reached second1 started for third on a drive through the infield4 ,he probably could have scored on the play--but that wasn't his purpose4 ,as he rounded third base he knocked the baseman down1 faked a fall himself1 recovered and slid back to third4 ,in doing so he was very careful to slide his spikes right into the face of the third baseman40 8,those10 the ,kid always adds when he tells the story1 8were the good old days40 ,may be so4 ,but present day ball players have more good sense4 ,they realize that such tactics1 with the injuries that follow shorten careers4 ,and the professional baseball career is short enough anyhow4 ,play hard1 play fast1 but play fair is today's motto4 ,intentional spiking has gone out1 along with the emery ball and the ball park saloon4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,huggins a psychologist--,how he put it over on the ,pirates in the world series--,baseball superstitions--,mc,graw turns one to advantage and wins an important series--,college men in baseball--,what they have contributed to the game--,ball players who make good outside of baseball--,zane ,grey once a professional--,billy ,sunday and ,governor ,tener4 ,the #aibg world series proved that baseball men don't come any smarter than ,miller ,huggins1 manager of the ,yankees4 ,hug pulled three things in that series that stood out like the warts on a pickle4 ,the first one happened the day before the series opened4 ,we were to work out in the ,pirate ,park1 and the ,pirates had their workout just before we took the field4 ,we came out from the club house4 ,most of the ,pirates had dressed and were sitting in the stands to watch us go through our practice4 ,hug spotted them at once4 ,he called ,pennock and ,shawkey over4 8,listen10 he said4 8,those fellows are out here to watch us so we'll show them something4 ,you two fellows will pitch hitting practice4 ,when you go in there lay that ball right down the middle4 ,don't put anything on it4 ,let's show those fellows some real hitting60 ,combs was the first man up4 ,he plunked the first pitch into the center field stands4 ,koenig swung twice1 bouncing one ball off the right field wall1 and the other off the left field barrier4 ,then ,i came up4 ,bob laid them right down the middle1 with just enough speed to make them perfect4 ,the first ball ,i hit over the roof of the right field grandstand4 ,i put another one into the lower tier4 ,then ,i got hold of one and laid it in the center field bleachers4 ,i was about to quit but ,huggins walked over past me4 8,hit a couple more ,babe10 he whispered4 8,we've got them talking to themselves40 ,i hit two more long ones and gave way to ,gehrig4 ,lou broke the fence with three swings4 ,the ,pirates were flabbergasted4 ,a friend of mine--one of the newspaper men who was in the stands--heard them talking4 8,boy1 did you ever see such hitting80 ,pie ,traynor said4 8,they're even better than they're advertised60 ,the upshot was that the ,pirates left the park that afternoon half licked before the series ever opened4 ,they came out there to see if we hit as hard as everybody claimed1 and smart little ,hug spiked them in the first ten minutes4 ,hug's second smart move came after ,hoyt had won the first game4 ,everyone expected him to start ,shocker or ,pennock4 ,he crossed them up4 8,we'll start ,pipgras0 he announced in the clubhouse4 8,the fact that we think so little of ,pittsburgh as to start a green kid1 will get their goats4 ,we've got 'em guessing now about our hitting4 ,putting in a kid pitcher against them will just about settle things4 ,george goes in that second game--and if he gets away with it1 we've got 'em4 ,the series will be over in four games60 ,you know the history of that series4 ,pipgras not only started but he had the ,pirates under his thumb from start to finish4 ,he won easily4 ,the next day ,pennock took them over the jumps--and that was a crowning insult too4 ,for most of the wise guys had said that ,pennock wouldn't even start since the ,pirates were death on left-handers4 ,hug's wisest move1 however1 came in the final game4 ,it was the ninth inning1 the score was tied1 and we were going to bat for the last time4 ,combs singled and ,koenig was safe when ,traynor failed to come in for his bunt in time4 ,i got a base on balls4 ,bases full4 ,nobody down4 ,it looked as though the old series was in the bag4 ,lou ,gehrig came up4 ,lou was overanxious to hit--and ,john ,miljus as wise and cool as pitchers come1 worked carefully4 ,gehrig fanned4 ,meusel was up4 ,the boys on the bench were nutty4 8,put on the squeeze play10 they urged ,hug4 8,we've got to get ,combs home4 ,let's try the squeeze60 ,hug grinned4 8,nothing doing10 he said4 8,listen to me4 ,that fellow out there 7,miljus7 is trying too hard4 ,he's putting too much on that ball4 ,if someone doesn't hit he'll wild pitch sure4 ,we can't miss4 ,a hit or a wild pitch60 ,meusel fanned and then--well it's an old story now4 ,with ,lazzeri up ,miljus cut one loose that was out of ,gooch's reach4 ,the ball swept past him and rolled to the backstop4 ,earl ,combs1 perched and ready to go at third1 came galloping home with the run that won the game and the world series4 ,miller ,huggins had called the turn6 8,got to hand it to you ,hug10 ,pat ,collins piped up1 8,that's calling 'em better than ,i ever saw4 ,you're a wizard60 ,huggins grinned4 8,wizard1 nothing10 he said1 8,that's just baseball4 ,it was bound to happen and ,i've been around long enough that ,i've learned to look for that sort of thing40 ,it just goes to show how a real manager takes advantage of every little thing to aid his team4 ,fellows like ,mc,graw and ,huggins1 eat and sleep and drink baseball4 ,it's their very life--and the years give them a knowledge that can't be beat4 ,i don't know whether people realize it or not1 but most ball players are superstitious4 ,mc,graw once capitalized superstition to win a tough series from the ,cubs4 ,to understand the story you must understand that one of the general superstitions of baseball is that empty barrels mean basehits4 ,a load of empty barrels is one of the best signs a baseball players ever sees1 and even a cross eyed umpire or a black cat can't jinx him after that4 ,at the time the ,giants had been in a terrible hitting slump4 ,they were worried about it4 ,they switched caps1 they mixed the bats1 they carried rabbits' feet4 ,nothing seemed to help4 ,but one afternoon two or three of the boys came in the clubhouse grinning4 8,just saw a load of empty barrels10 they said1 8today the old slump ends40 ,that afternoon these fellows1 inspired with new confidence1 started hitting again4 ,the next afternoon two or three more of the boys saw the barrels and the next day still others4 ,for a week truck loads of barrels kept going past the clubhouse1 and the boys all started hitting4 ,which should be the end of the story4 ,but it isn't4 ,a few days after the incident a big burly fellow in overalls came to the clubhouse and asked for ,mc,graw4 ,he was told that ,mc,graw was out4 8,well ,i want my money10 he grumbled4 8,i've been driving past this place with a load of barrels every day for a week1 and ,i haven't had a cent of pay yet4 ,i want my money60 ,the boys naturally were wised up4 ,old ,mac had hired a teamster to drive past with those barrels just to give the boys confidence and bring them out of their slump4 ,he had fought superstition with superstition and won4 ,that's smart managing4 ,one of the most famous superstitions in baseball is ,eddie ,collins and his chewing gum4 ,for years1 ever since he broke into the league ,i guess1 ,eddie has carried a wad of chewing gum on the button of his cap4 ,and when he's at bat1 the minute the pitcher gets two strikes on him1 you'll see him step out of the box1 take the chewing gum from his cap and start chewing it4 ,he's done it so long now that it has become a habit4 ,it's the only time he ever chews gum4 ,and when he has finished his turn at bat1 whether it's a hit or a putout1 back on his cap goes the chewing gum4 ,and it stays there until some other occasion arises when he has two strikes on him4 ,urban ,shocker believes that throwing a hat on a bed is bad luck4 ,he used to room with ,tommy ,thomas1 the kid pitcher1 and one night ,tommy came into the room1 and threw his hat on the bed4 ,shocker was scheduled to pitch next day4 ,and he was furious4 ,the things he said to ,tommy wouldn't look good1 even if printed in ,yiddish4 ,it's a wonder ,tommy came out alive4 ,and it's a certain cinch he has never thrown his hat on the bed since then4 ,the following afternoon ,shocker pitched a beautiful game but lost by one run4 ,joe ,dugan has a queer superstition too4 ,joe will never throw the ball back to the pitcher4 ,if you watch him in infield practice you'll see him throw to the plate1 or second or first1 time after time4 ,but never to the pitcher4 ,once or twice the boys have tried to make him do it4 ,every time ,joe would shoot the ball to a baseman1 they'd throw it right back at him4 ,finally1 seeing what was up1 he delivered the ball into the pitcher's hands4 ,but did he throw it8 ,he did not4 ,he simply walked across the diamond and handed it to him1 then walked back to his post4 ,however the boys aren't as superstitious now as they used to be4 ,a lot of the old-timers say it's because there are so many more college men in baseball now than there were a few years ago4 ,personally ,i don't believe that4 ,the college players we get are just as superstitious in their own way1 as the rough-necks who never attended college4 ,but college men have had an influence on baseball4 ,and a good one4 ,they've raised the game and the players4 ,they've been responsible for cutting out a lot of the old-time rough stuff4 ,and they've made baseball a real business in which men get good salaries and save it4 ,in the old days when a baseball player finished his career he usually was down and out4 ,the money he earned he spent as fast as it came4 ,once he was through he was dependent on his friends and acquaintances for a job and a living4 ,the college fellows have changed all that4 ,they came into the league with a pretty good idea of what it was all about4 ,they saved their money4 ,and the other fellows followed their example4 ,there have been some great college men in baseball4 ,fellows like ,mathewson and ,eddie ,collins and ,jack ,combs were the pioneers4 ,today there isn't a team in either league that hasn't several college men on its roster1 and clubs are watching the colleges more and more for likely looking players4 ,the ,yankees have ,combs1 ,thomas1 ,gehrig1 ,gazella1 ,hanson and ,dugan--all college men4 ,cy ,williams is a college man4 ,so is ,ted ,lyons4 ,gordon ,cochrane1 ,muddy ,ruel1 ,eddie ,farrell1 ,max ,carey1 ,jigger ,statz1 ,hank ,de,berry1 ,ernie ,wingard1 ,ownie ,carroll1 ,joe ,sewell1 ,luke ,sewell1 ,eppa ,rixey1 ,art ,nehf1 ,travis ,jackson1 ,gink ,hendrick1 ,doc ,gautreau1 ,vic ,aldridge1 ,riggs ,stephenson1 ,cliff ,heathcote1 ,ray ,blades--all of these are college men4 ,and they're only a few of the scores who have gone into big league baseball and have made good4 ,some people argue that college men are better ball players than the others4 ,i don't believe that4 ,but ,i do believe that the boy who has gone through college is quicker to learn inside baseball4 ,he's more willing to learn too4 ,the sandlotter1 a lot of times1 is a stubborn cuss who doesn't like instruction4 ,the average college fellow realizes that he doesn't know it all and is willing to take advice from the players who have been around longer than he has4 ,but regardless of that1 the other thing still goes4 ,college men have been a mighty good influence in big league baseball and always will be4 ,they bring wider training into the game4 ,muddy ,ruel1 for instance1 is a lawyer who practices his profession in the off season4 ,bluege of the ,senators is a certified public account4 ,art ,nehf is an engineer1 ,eddie ,farrell is a dentist4 ,and by their example they prove to other ballplayers that there's something in life after the baseball career is over4 ,of the present crop of big leaguers1 there will be very few who won't be fairly independent when they have finished their career4 ,of course we can't all be ,ty ,cobbs4 ,ty quit the game with a million dollars--and that's more money than most professional athletes will ever see4 ,but let me make this prediction4 ,in the years to come you won't see many former ballplayers walking the streets4 ,they'll have enough to live on--and comfortably4 ,during their playing days they meet not only other ballplayers1 but they come in contact with the business world as well4 ,many a poor country kid has found through baseball1 a contact and a knowledge of the world that he never even knew existed4 ,take the average country kid rookie who goes south in the ,spring4 ,he's green4 ,he's unaccustomed to city life4 ,he is embarrassed in the hotel dining room4 ,but baseball is a great teacher4 ,and after two or three seasons of play he's a polished product1 capable of holding his own in most any company4 ,and that isn't bunk4 ,it actually happens4 ,a lot of fellows who started in as professional ballplayers have made good in other lines when their careers as ballplayers ended4 ,zane ,grey1 the novelist who writes so many western stories1 was once a professional ballplayer4 ,he wasn't a big leaguer--but he played the outfield for a ,western ,league club for several seasons4 ,he played on a club which ,ed ,barrow1 now business manager of the ,yankees1 managed4 ,billy ,sunday1 the great evangelist1 also was a ballplayer4 ,billy played with the old ,white ,sox back in the barroom days1 and he's still quite a fan4 ,i've talked to him several times and on several occasions he has been around to see us in training camp4 ,and he likes baseball as much as ever4 ,lots of times ,i've seen him peel off his coat and vest1 and get out there and hit fungoes to the boys for an hour at a time4 ,and have a great time doing it4 ,ex-,governor ,tener of ,pennsylvania1 is an ex-pitcher4 ,and a real fan4 ,in baseball we have plenty of trouble with the umpires from time to time1 but when all is said and done1 they're a pretty fine outfit4 ,square shooters1 all of them1 honest and fearless and ready to fight for their decisions if necessary4 ,a lot of those umpires know more baseball than the players4 ,take a fellow like ,tommy ,connolly for instance4 ,tommy has been umpiring big league ball games for more than #ce years4 ,he was in the ,national ,league for a long time1 and he has been an ,american ,league umpire ever since the league was organized4 ,tommy was the last umpire to put me out of a ballgame4 ,and that was way back in ,june #aibb when ,i threw dirt at him after he had called me out at second4 ,i've learned my lesson now4 ,i've found out that umpires are on the square1 and that they want to give players all of the best of it if possible4 ,it took a long time for me to learn--but rule number one in my book reads 8,don't fight with umpires4 ,it's bad business60 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,the men who play--,what they are like off the field--,mere human beings like other people--,the road trips--,days in the hotels--,fads and fancies--,koenig an expert pianist--,hoyt a great reader--,huggins a financial student--,shawkey a great hunter--,baseball1 with them1 not a game but a business--,the men who play are business men4 ,what are they like1 these ball players8 ,what do they talk about and think about as they go traveling around the country8 ,what do they do and say off the playing field8 ,these are common questions--questions that are constantly being asked by kids and grown-ups4 ,the answer is simple enough4 ,they're much the same as other men1 interested in the same things1 living the same sort of lives4 ,they are neither better nor worse than the same number of lawyers1 or doctors1 or business men1 picked from the four corners of the nation4 ,they have their families1 their children and their homes to occupy their spare hours4 ,they discuss politics1 or finance1 or farming or any other subject that appeals to the normal man4 ,they eat1 dress1 sleep and live much the same as ,mr4 ,smith the merchant1 or ,mr4 ,brown the banker4 ,which to many people will perhaps come as a surprise4 ,come and visit the ,yankees some evening1 as they sit about the hotel after the game4 ,suppose it's in ,st4 ,louis1 some hot night in mid-summer4 ,you'll find ,huggins and ,o',leary and ,fletcher sitting over in a corner1 enjoying their cigars4 ,chances are they'll be discussing politics or the stock market4 ,huggins is a keen financial student4 ,he reads all the financial papers and journals and follows the market as closely1 almost1 as a city broker4 ,and in ,fletcher he has great company4 ,fletcher1 during the off season is a successful middle ,western farmer1 the type of successful farmer who takes a hand in county politics3 serves on the school board and is a director of the town bank4 ,fletcher does all these things1 and holds all these offices4 ,mark ,koenig you'll find perhaps1 playing the piano in the reception room4 ,mark does pretty well as a musician1 and he plays not jazz but classical stuff4 ,and if he's playing the chances are ,waite ,hoyt and ,benny ,bengough will be around somewhere near1 listening quietly1 or perhaps doing a bit of harmonizing4 ,benny is a musician too--in fact he's engaged in giving me lessons on the saxophone right now1 and a tough job he has too4 ,hoyt not only has a good singing voice1 but he's something of an actor as well4 ,a lot of theatrical folks who know1 tell me that ,waite could make a success on the stage as well as in baseball4 ,but he isn't interested4 ,during the off-season1 instead1 he spends his time at his profession4 ,he's a mortician1 and has an office with his father-in-law in ,brooklyn4 ,waite is a great reader too4 ,i've been traveling with him a good many years and ,i never saw him start out on a trip without one and probably three or four books in his bag4 ,bob ,shawkey is almost sure to be off in a corner somewhere discussing his annual hunting trip4 ,bob is one of the best hunters in the business1 and knows the moose trails of ,canada as well as most of the professional guides4 ,we have a lot of real movie fans on the ,yankees too4 ,lou ,gehrig is a nut on movies1 and usually sneaks off to the nearest theater each evening4 ,earl ,combs likes them too1 and ,benny ,paschal4 ,those three are pretty apt to be together--though now and then ,lou will pass up the movies to sit in on a bridge game with some of the rest of us4 ,we started a bridge game during the spring training trip of #aibg that lasted clear through the season4 ,gehrig and ,i played against ,mike ,gazella and ,don ,miller4 ,miller is the young pitcher from the ,university of ,michigan who joined us last year4 ,you know most ball players are good card players4 ,but on the ,yankees at least1 there is very little poker playing4 ,once and a while the boys will start a game4 ,but pinochle and bridge are the two favorites4 ,gazella is a good bridge player4 ,ernie ,johnson and ,everett ,scott were the champions when they were with the club4 ,pat ,collins and ,woodie1 the trainer1 are pinochle nuts4 ,and they're always looking for a game4 ,cy ,moore and ,george ,pipgras like to play 8,hearts40 ,it's a funny thing about ,cy4 ,he'll go out there on the mound before #ej1jjj raving fans1 with the bases full and nobody down1 and he'll be as calm and cool as though he was pitching hay4 ,but put him down in a heart game and he's like a little kid4 ,he yells1 and shrieks and laughs until you can't stay in the same room with him4 ,once on a western trip last season he got so bad that we ganged on him and put him back in the car with the newspaper boys4 ,he had to promise to keep quiet before we let him come back to his berth4 ,the two quietest men on the ,yankee club are ,bob ,meusel and ,tony ,lazzeri4 ,they never say a word to anyone4 ,at that ,i think ,tony talks more than ,bob does4 ,i've seen ,bob go through a whole day when ,i don't believe he spoke a word1 unless it was at the dining table when he asked somebody to 8pass the bread40 ,fellows who talk a lot we call 8barbers40 ,freddy ,hoffman1 the old ,yankee catcher1 was one of the best barbers ,i ever knew4 ,freddy would talk the arm off any one who cared to listen1 and he didn't care what particular subject he talked about either4 ,earl ,combs is another pretty good barber4 ,wallie ,pipp1 when he was with the club1 was a champion4 ,and what ,wallie enjoyed more than anything else was to get hold of some baseball nut and then kid him into serious conversation about inside baseball4 ,he and ,joe ,dugan would pull the stunt together4 ,they'd get the poor guy surrounded1 and get him to telling all his pet baseball theories4 8,gee10 ,wallie would say1 8,that's a great idea4 ,i don't know why no one ever thought of that before40 8,certainly is10 ,joe would chime in4 8,now what do you think should be done to stop a hitter like ,hornsby80 ,the fellow would open up on that subject1 and when he was through ,joe would probably remark3 8,say1 you've certainly got the dope4 ,i think you ought to go around to ,huggins and tell him about that4 ,he'd probably be willing to pay big money for ideas like that40 ,i've seen ,joe and ,wallie spend a whole evening just stringing some poor bird along--and they'd have him so fussed finally1 that he wouldn't even know his name4 ,a lot of people still cling to the idea that professional baseball players are rough necks1 hardly fit to associate with real folks4 ,and of course there are good fellows and bad1 among the players4 ,but then the same thing might be said of lawyers or doctors or business men4 ,believe me1 playing side by side with a man through season after season1 living with him in hotels1 traveling with him on the road1 eating and sleeping with him month after month1 gives a fellow a pretty good line on just what sort of fellow he is4 ,and ,i say to you that in my experience ,i've found ball players to be just as much gentlemen as any class of men ,i ever knew4 ,nine times out of ten they're a lot better than the people who criticize them4 ,a couple of generations ago they may have been different4 ,in those days the corner saloon was the hangout for the baseball crowd1 and players who had finished their playing careers turned into bartenders4 ,but they don't do it any more4 ,ball players are getting smart4 ,they learned long ago that it takes pretty careful living and pretty steady training to keep up with the parade4 ,i don't mean that ball players are plaster saints4 ,they're not4 ,but keeping in physical condition is just as much a part of their business as knowledge of discounts is of the business of a banker4 ,and ball players today are business men first1 last and always4 ,i'll never forget the disappointment of a friend of mine one evening in ,detroit4 ,he expressed a desire to see the players off the field so ,i took him around4 ,he got his first shock when we went to the ,book-,cadillac hotel4 ,that's the newest1 most expensive hotel in ,detroit and one of the best in the country4 8,why the ball players don't stop at this hotel1 do they80 he asked1 with some astonishment4 8,they certainly do10 ,i replied1 8and ,i'll lay a little wager right now that you won't be able to pick the ball players out from the rest of the guests either40 ,and he couldn't do it4 ,he recognized ,meusel1 for he had met ,bob before4 ,and he knew ,gehrig4 ,once you've seen ,lou down on the playing field you can't mistake those shoulders and legs anywhere4 ,but the rest of them he didn't know4 ,he was a surprised young man4 ,he expected the ball players to stand out from the rest--to be different4 ,maybe he expected to see a lot of loud-talking rough looking touts in caps and checked suits4 ,i don't know4 ,but anyhow1 when ,i pointed the boys out to him1 he looked a bit embarrassed3 8,why they look just like anyone else10 he said1 8,they're just like ordinary people40 ,it's funny how a whole ball club will take up a certain fad4 ,one fellow brings it around1 and then the whole gang takes it up4 ,the ,yankees for a year or two1 were nutty over cross-word puzzles4 ,walk into the hotel lobby and you'd see fellows sitting all around working puzzles4 ,ward and ,pat ,collins were responsible for that4 ,then ,merkle took it up1 and ,mike ,gazella4 ,shocker got the craze1 and the first thing you knew the whole club was doing cross-word puzzles4 ,i suppose it was a fine thing4 ,they certainly added a lot of new words to their vocabulary as a result4 ,and ,i think ,i picked up a couple of jaw-breakers myself4 ,mah ,jong came near wrecking the ,athletic team a few seasons ago4 ,one of the fellows got a ,mah ,jong set and took it on a road trip4 ,before long every man on the club was interested in the game4 ,they had six or seven sets of ,mah ,jong that they carried right along with them in the uniform trunks1 and the boys used to start their games in the morning and run right through to game time4 ,finally it got so bad that ,connie ,mack had to call a halt--and ,i think he still blames the loss of the pennant on that ,mah ,jong craze4 ,most ball players like all other forms of outdoor sport4 ,fishing and hunting are ever popular subjects of discussion4 ,lou ,gehrig1 for instance1 would rather fish than eat4 ,lou never misses a chance to go cod fishing1 and most any day in winter you'll find him out on the banks after cod4 ,this college kid is one of the queerest ballplayers ,i ever knew4 ,it seems he never feels the cold weather4 ,the coldest day in winter he'll come swinging down ,broadway without an overcoat1 his coat open and no vest4 ,never wears gloves and half the time goes bareheaded4 ,some of the boys claim he never had an overcoat on his shoulders until he joined the ,yankees4 ,lou is a great eel-fisherman too1 and in the summer after the ball game he will take his mother in his car and go shooting down to ,long ,island to spear eels4 ,his mother pickles them and now and then she will send a big jar of pickled eels around to the clubhouse4 ,last year when the boys struck a big hitting stride they got the idea that it was the pickled eels which were responsible for their hitting and for more than three weeks they wouldn't go into a ball game until they all had taken a couple of bites of pickled eel4 ,the big leagues are full of players who are great hunters4 ,old ,chief ,bender1 the ,athletics' pitcher1 was one of the best trap shots in the country1 and the ,chief can still handle a mean shot gun1 long after his pitching days are over4 ,ty ,cobb is a great hunter too--and at the end of every season he goes chasing off to the mountain country in ,canada or the ,western ,united ,states for a month of shooting4 ,his home at ,augusta1 ,georgia is filled with trophies4 ,among other things he has some of the finest bear and deer heads ,i've ever seen4 ,other great hunters are ,eddie ,collins1 ,joe ,bush1 ,sam ,jones1 ,benny ,bengough1 ,bob ,meusel1 ,freddy ,hoffman and ,bob ,shawkey4 ,shawkey is one of the best in the country and for years has been making annual trips into ,northern ,canada for a months outing after the season ends4 ,eddie ,collins is a queer hunter4 ,eddie likes to get out in the woods and tramp around with a gun1 but so far as anyone knows he never takes a shot at anything4 ,eddie is too tender-hearted4 ,he attempted to shoot a wounded deer once1 but when the deer turned its head and looked at him sort of sad1 ,eddie hadn't the heart to pull the trigger4 ,and ,i don't think he ever will4 ,anyway he makes the trip with the other fellows every fall1 and during the season is one of the best conversational hunters in the business4 ,i like to hunt myself1 but ,i'd sooner have bird shooting to anything else4 ,one of the greatest kicks ,i ever got in my life came last fall when ,i was out on ,long ,island with ,bill ,mc,geehan and ,bozeman ,bulger1 the sport writers4 ,for two days we lay around in the blinds without a single shot4 ,then a flock of geese came over and we got five of them4 ,it's the first time ,i ever shot a wild goose1 and ,i got as much thrill from it as ,i ever got from hitting a homer with the bases full4 ,the best part of hunting1 though1 so far as a ball player is concerned1 is that it keeps a man in fine condition4 ,you can't tramp around over the country all day long1 packing a heavy gun1 unless you're in shape4 ,golf is another game in which ball players are fairly expert4 ,they say that ,walter ,hagen1 the great golf pro1 would have made a great ball player if he hadn't gone in for golf4 ,well1 ,jigger ,statz of the ,brooklyn ,dodgers1 can hold ,walter even4 ,jigger has had plenty of opportunity to turn golf pro if he hadn't been in baseball4 ,statz is about the best of the ball player golfers ,i guess4 ,but there are some others who are almost as good4 ,poor old ,ross ,young1 who died in ,san ,antonio last winter1 was one of the best4 ,bob ,shawkey is a fine golfer1 and so is ,sam ,rice of the ,senators4 ,nick ,altrock is another boy who can play pretty close to par1 and ,dazzy ,vance1 ,aaron ,ward1 ,bucky ,harris and ,eppa ,rixey are others who swing a deadly mashie4 ,one thing most ball players can do on the golf course is drive4 ,they may be bad on their approaches1 and their putts may be terrible--but they all of them can sock that old ball from the tee4 ,one of the longest drivers ,i ever saw is ,sam ,jones1 the pitcher4 ,sam doesn't know much about the game1 and he isn't always sure which direction the ball is going--but he certainly can sock 'em from the tee4 ,a lot of big league managers forbid golf playing during the regular season4 ,the story is that the golf swing ruins a player's hitting swing4 ,swinging at a stationary object like a golf ball1 they say1 ruins the timing in swinging at a moving object like a baseball4 ,personally ,i never noticed it1 and ,i play a lot of golf during the year4 ,and if you ask me1 the chief objection managers have to golf isn't the actual playing at all4 ,it's the conversation4 ,golf is one of the 8talkingest0 games in the world4 ,if fellows would go out in the morning and shoot their eighteen holes1 then come in and keep quiet it would be alright4 ,but they don't do it4 ,they play the game over again each afternoon on the bench1 and it gets a manager's goat to have some guy doing an imaginary mashie shot from a trap right when there's important business out on the ballfield4 ,what ,i've tried to show in this chapter is that the big league ball player is much the same as any other human being4 ,he lives his own life2 has his family1 his home1 his hobby and his outside interests just the same as the banker1 the clerk or the professional man4 ,baseball is his life work and he studies it carefully4 ,thrown in a mixed crowd your baseball man will talk politics1 or finance or any other subject that average men discuss4 ,but put three or four ball players together and they talk--baseball4 ,laymen ,i know find something fascinating in the thought of a big league ball club traveling around the country4 ,to the outsider1 those hours on the train together1 and the hours in the hotels are a sort of magic4 ,to us they are only routine4 ,we have a lot of fun because we're all good fellows together4 ,card playing is a favorite past time while traveling4 ,music helps to pass away many hours4 ,for the past six or seven seasons ,i have never made a single trip that ,i didn't take with me a portable phonograph with a couple of dozen records4 ,and from the time we get on the train until we leave1 that phonograph is working overtime4 8pasttime0 replaced with 8pasttime0 ,the boys frequently organize quartets and many a bit of close harmony has been carved out in a ,pullman smoker4 ,what do we do while traveling8 ,here's a typical scene4 ,the club is enroute on a long jump1 say from ,st4 ,louis to ,new ,york4 ,in one section a card game is in session4 ,meusel and ,bengough1 ,ruether1 ,koenig1 and ,lazzeri are playing 8black jack40 ,they have their coats off1 their collars discarded and their shirts open at the neck4 ,they're kidding and laughing over the game4 ,the colored porter stands by watching the fun1 and the conductor stops on his rounds to 8sit in0 for a few hands4 ,down the car a bit ,hoyt sits reading a book4 ,further on the fussy foursome is busy at bridge4 ,that's ,gehrig1 ,miller1 ,gazella and myself4 ,shocker is reading the newspapers1 and his berth is messed up with a dozen sports pages1 torn from as many different papers4 ,now and then he makes some discovery and pauses to discuss baseball with ,pennock who is writing letters across the isle4 ,a hearts game is going on at the far end of the car1 and above the noise of conversation you can hear ,cy ,moore shouting and laughing like a little kid as he passes ,combs the queen4 ,pipgras is in the game and ,paschal and a couple of the newspaper men4 ,in an adjoining section ,jules ,wera is giving the phonograph a workout1 and occasionally ,koenig pauses in the business of playing cards to lift his voice in the chorus of some song the phonograph is playing4 ,pat ,collins is busy over a cross-word puzzle1 and cusses ,woodie out when the trainer pesters him about starting a pinochle game4 ,there's the tapping of typewriters as a couple of the newspaper men pound out their yarns for early editions4 ,through the open door of the drawing room you can see ,huggins1 smoking his pipe and talking with ,o',leary and ,fletcher his assistants4 ,thomas comes along and slaps ,wera with a folded paper and ,wera in return smears him with a pillow4 ,they tussle about the car4 ,out in the smoking room some of the boys are whooping it up on 8,sundown0 with one of the newspaper men playing a harmonica accompaniment4 ,fun8 ,sure1 it's fun4 ,and the reason is that we're all one big gang together4 ,we know each other1 trust each other1 like each other4 ,baseball has had its share of wonderful friendships and most of them have started aboard rattling1 old ,pullman cars when the boys get a few hours to themselves and have a chance to act natural4 ,,chapter ,,xix ,how the average fan looks on professional baseball--,it is a business but a short lived one--,why publicity hurts sometimes--,keeping a physical edge--,the value of training--,what it takes for success in baseball--,a few rules for the young player4 ,the average fan1 eating peanuts in the grandstand and cheering or jeering the players as the mood strikes him1 looks upon professional baseball as a sort of daily circus for the men who play4 8,gee1 what a soft job you fellows have0 they say4 8,getting paid for going out there and having fun every afternoon--and big money1 too60 ,i never hear a remark like that but ,i think of that day1 back in #aiad1 when ,i signed my first contract and ,brother ,gilbert gave me his first words of fatherly advice3 8,playing baseball on the sand lots is one thing ,george0 he said4 8,and playing professional baseball is something else4 ,the sand lot game is just boyish fun4 ,you can start and stop as you please4 ,professional baseball is a business4 ,it's a job for men40 ,never were truer words spoken than those4 ,certainly we 7,i mean professional ball players7 have fun at our job4 ,no man can make a success as a ball player unless he enjoys his work4 ,but it is work--just the same as banking or practicing law or medicine is work4 ,and we enjoy it in the same way other men enjoy their professions4 ,and we do get paid1 and good money4 ,but1 and here's the rub4 ,ours is a short lived business4 ,at the age when most men are just reaching their prime we're through and out4 ,grown old at thirty-five sounds strange to most men1 but the statement is all too true to the ball player4 ,men sometimes envy us for the publicity we get and the fame4 ,it is pleasant to see one's name played up in the papers day after day3 there is a satisfaction in being recognized in the crowd and cheered perhaps4 ,it's human nature to enjoy a little boosting--and ball players are only human4 ,but there's another side to publicity too1 a side which denies you all privacy1 and makes your slightest mistake the subject for common gossip4 ,general opinion is that ball players are rough necks1 that they play the game fast and loose4 ,that's wrong4 ,they're not any better and certainly no worse than the average man in the street4 ,but there's this difference4 ,everything they do or say or think is held up to public view4 ,believe me publicity is not always pleasing or desirable4 ,i know4 ,a few years ago ,i sat in a ,boston ,hotel and saw 8,red0 ,grange1 broken1 and nervous4 ,deep lines were under his eyes1 his fingers trembled and his nerves were on point of breaking4 ,all because he was being hounded by men whose friendly publicity was actually wrecking him physically4 ,right off hand ,i can't think of any two young men who have tougher jobs to fill than ,colonel ,charles ,lindbergh and the ,prince of ,wales4 ,never a chance to be alone1 never a chance to make a move that isn't the subject of public discussion the moment it is made4 ,don't misunderstand me4 ,we all like favorable publicity4 ,and no matter how much we get1 we still enjoy it4 ,i've had a lot of it4 ,most of it good1 some of it bad4 ,and ,i confess that most of the bad was deserved4 ,i only bring up the point as answer to those men and women who1 sitting comfortably in the grandstand and watching the ball game1 envy us our jobs without realizing just what those jobs mean4 ,baseball has its unpleasant side along with the pleasant3 it brings its worries along with the laughs3 its troubles along with its joys4 ,you sit up ,north shivering in the snow and cold of ,february and ,march1 and read perhaps of the warm ,florida sunshine1 the fine hotel meals and the men in training for baseball4 ,and you envy them1 which is natural4 ,but there's another side to the picture--a side which isn't so attractive4 ,that's the side of sore and aching muscles driven almost to the point of breaking2 it's the side of sore arms and legs and aching feet that plow and fight the ,florida sand in an effort to gain condition4 ,there's the story of families left behind for six weeks or two months at a stretch1 and then deserted again during the summer months when the professional ball player spends his days and his nights on the road4 ,the fan forgets these things for publicity has made the ball player something a little different from human4 ,but the players themselves know1 and ,i've heard them sit cussing the very fate that turned them into ball players and kept them living the life of roving gypsies for seven or eight months out of the year4 ,that is not yet a complete picture4 ,for in the case of the young ball player there's also the ghost of failure just around the corner4 ,men talk of this or that profession as being a tough one in which to make good4 ,baseball1 or more particularly big league baseball1 is the toughest in the land4 ,out of #djj rookie players who go ,south each spring with their hopes high1 not more than #aj make the grade4 ,the rest--well1 they just disappear4 ,maybe they come back three or four years later1 older and wiser4 ,perhaps they never come back at all4 ,they're just swallowed up into the unknown4 ,people sitting in the stands1 think little of the unpleasant side of baseball as a profession2 or if they think of it all dismiss it with a shrug of the shoulders and the statement3 8,oh well1 if he wasn't a ball player he'd probably be digging ditches1 or working on a farm40 ,that attitude has always struck me as most unfair4 ,you know if ,galli-,curci couldn't sing she might be doing hard tasks in her native land2 if ,booth ,tarkington couldn't write books1 he might be an ,indiana farmer or if ,arthur ,brisbane couldn't write editorials he might be a subway guard4 ,funny of course1 but just as fair as the other4 ,don't misunderstand me4 ,i'm not knocking my profession4 ,i went into professional baseball because ,i loved it1 and the game has been more than good to me4 ,but ,i am trying to outline the unpleasant side along with the pleasant4 ,then if any of the chance readers of this story have desire to play the game professionally--they will know the bad side as well as the good4 ,sand lot baseball is a lot of fun--simply because it's a game which you can take up or drop as you please4 ,but professional baseball is a real job1 the same as any other life work--a job that takes the best there is in you1 and when you're finished1 leaves you to carry on as best you can4 ,once a ball player has made the grade1 once he has broken down the competition and made a place for himself1 his future is pretty much in his own hands4 ,smart men like ,ty ,cobb1 ,eddie ,collins1 ,max ,carey1 ,zach ,wheat and players of that type have continued their careers long past the average length4 ,the average big league career is eight years4 ,these men have gone on for #ae or #bj seasons still playing the game4 ,the answer1 of course1 is physical condition4 ,keeping the proper physical edge is one of the most important things in baseball4 ,very frequently ball players are broken down physically before they waken to that fact4 ,that's tragedy4 ,i came near falling into that kind of tragedy myself4 ,but ,i learned my lesson in the nick of time4 ,in the past three years ,i have trained as conscientiously as a prize fighter4 ,i have watched my diet carefully--and my weight4 ,and ,i have played better baseball4 ,and it strikes me that the average man on the street1 regardless of his profession1 could take example from the laws of baseball training4 ,of course men can be divided into two general classes4 ,on the one hand are the fellows of slight build--slim and wiry1 who are always underweight rather than overweight4 ,into this class fall most of the men who last longest in the big leagues4 ,their physical problem is one of building up rather than taking off weight4 ,carey1 ,cobb1 ,collins--all are of that type4 ,joe ,dugan1 ,bob ,meusel1 ,earl ,combs fall in the same class4 ,the other type are the fellows who naturally run to surplus flesh4 ,i'm one of that sort4 ,lou ,gehrig will be as he grows older4 ,harry ,heilmann1 ,bob ,fothergill1 ,hack ,wilson1 and a dozen others in the big league have the same trouble4 ,and that's the deadliest thing in baseball4 ,a man's legs1 you know1 are the first thing to go in baseball4 ,there's an old saying that 8a ball player is just as old as his legs40 ,excess weight gives an added burden on the legs and wears them out just that much more quickly4 ,consequently the wise athlete watches that waist line--and so does the smart business man1 if he is wise4 ,in avoiding excess weight the first thing to get right is the diet4 ,the newspaper men kid a lot about fellows eating themselves out of the big leagues--but it's no joking matter4 ,lots of young fellows do it4 ,we used to have a pitcher with the ,yankees1 ,i won't mention his name1 who was one of the greatest eaters ,i ever saw4 ,i've seen him eat three dollars' worth of food for breakfast1 as much more for lunch1 finish off the day with a six dollar dinner--and then complain of being hungry and go out for sandwiches and coffee before going to bed4 ,that same fellow used to kick about his tendency to put on weight too4 ,he's gone from us now--just a plain case of eating himself out of the league4 ,i used to have quite an appetite myself4 ,i was cursed with an iron constitution4 ,and ,i really mean cursed4 ,for my constitution was so strong that ,i could commit those excesses of eating without apparent harm for several years4 ,when ,i did begin to have trouble1 ,i had it in bunches and job lots4 ,i eat a little fruit juice and toast and coffee for breakfast4 ,i seldom eat lunch at all1 and when ,i do ,i have only a vegetable salad of some sort4 ,i eat one good meal a day and that's dinner4 ,at that meal ,i have meat--but always with plenty of vegetables and green stuff4 ,two years ago if anyone would have told me that ,i could get along on so little food ,i would have said they were crazy4 ,now ,i do it day after day1 and ,i not only feel well fed--but ,i'm stronger than ever4 ,which just goes to show that eating1 beyond a certain point1 is a matter of habit4 ,it isn't necessary1 and it isn't healthful4 ,here's another tip4 ,take exercise regularly1 but not too violently4 ,i used to loaf around all winter putting on weight4 ,then ,i'd try to take off in two weeks of strenuous training1 all the pounds that it had taken me the winter to accumulate4 ,the result came mighty near being fatal4 ,the minute a man1 not used to exercise1 goes into the thing too strenuously1 he is putting a strain on the heart that's bound to make trouble4 ,the heart weakens1 that affects the digestion1 the stomach goes bad and the first thing you know you're a fit subject for the hospital4 ,exercise regularly but use good sense4 ,and remember always that it's easy to keep in condition but it's a tough job getting back physical fitness that has once gone4 ,right now1 well past thirty years old and supposedly on the down grade of my baseball career1 ,i'm in the best physical condition ,i ever knew4 ,the reason is that the minute the season ends ,i start in on exercises that will keep my muscles hard and my weight down4 ,my winters used to be full of vaudeville tours1 movies and that sort of thing4 ,but not any more4 ,right after the #aibg world series was over ,lou ,gehrig and ,i went on a barnstorming tour4 ,we traveled all the way to the ,coast1 playing ball every day4 ,after ,i returned ,i started on hunting trips4 ,there's nothing like hunting to keep the legs in shape4 ,the long hikes over the hills1 the hours spent in the duck blinds1 inhaling the bracing salt air--there's nothing like them4 ,i've always found golf a great conditioner4 ,and in addition to that ,i spend a couple of hours twice a week in the gymnasium4 ,i play a little hand ball1 box a little perhaps1 and take exercises aimed at that oversized stomach4 ,nothing very violent--but regular4 ,and the answer4 ,well1 ,i was broken in health three years ago4 ,i lay for weeks on a hospital bed and most of the critics predicted that ,i would never play baseball again4 ,but ,i did4 ,and today ,i'm in the best physical condition ,i've ever known1 and playing the best ball4 ,perhaps there will be some satisfaction in that for some of the tired business men who at thirty-five find themselves slipping physically4 ,certainly if ,i can do it1 so can anyone else4 ,to the young man interested in baseball as a career1 perhaps ,i can outline a few rules that are helpful4 ,learning to play the game is of the least importance4 ,that's a natural thing4 ,either a man has ability as a ball player or he hasn't1 and ,i take it for granted that no young fellow will plan a baseball career unless he is assured of his mechanical abilities4 ,but these rules are good always4 ,study the game4 ,remember that baseball is a profession as intricate in its own way as the law1 or medicine4 ,don't be afraid to accept advice4 ,other men can always give you good pointers now and then no matter how much experience you've had4 ,and there's always something new to learn4 ,no one man ever knows it all4 ,keep physically fit always4 ,it isn't hard if you do it1 but if you let yourself slip it's doubly hard to come back4 ,most important of all--and this goes not alone for baseball but for every other profession--save your money6 ,perhaps you say ,i'm a queer one to preach that gospel4 ,personally ,i'm fitted1 ,i believe1 above most everyone else4 ,for ,i've played both sides4 ,for several years ,i spent my money as ,i earned it4 ,i threw it to the four winds1 without thought of any future day or any idea of saving4 ,if ,i had saved from the start of my career ,i might have had a million dollars today4 ,but ,i didn't4 ,i'm not sorry for what has gone before4 ,it probably was good experience for a young fellow who never had seen the world or known anything about the world's people until he went into baseball4 ,but1 boy1 ,i'm glad ,i got wise to myself in time4 ,from now on a part of my earnings each year go right down into the savings account4 ,i don't know how much longer ,i may be able to play baseball ,perhaps for five or six years4 ,perhaps only two or three4 ,you never can tell what another new season will bring4 ,here's one thing that's certain4 ,i'll play just as long as ,i can4 ,it's my profession1 my life1 and ,i love it4 ,and when ,i'm through ,i will be able to retire and live the way ,i want to live--knowing that ,i have plenty to support myself and family for the rest of my days4 ,and that's my baseball story4 ,hereafter in thinking of baseball and baseball players ,i ask you to remember only that it's a great game1 worthy of the best you can give it4 ,and ball players1 off the field1 are much the same as you--just as human1 just as friendly1 just as much interested in their own lives1 their own affairs and their own ambitions4 ,some of us are a little rough1 true enough1 but then so are some of you4 ,some of us have lacked opportunities for education and training4 ,so have some of you4 ,but we're all good citizens1 all of average honesty and integrity2 of average intelligence and average character4 ,we like the cheers when they come3 we take the jeers as they echo4 ,we try to give the best we can1 and once we're too old to carry on we all hope to step down gracefully to bow to the youngsters who succeed us4 ,youth1 you know1 is the life of baseball--and we can't keep our youth forever4 ,and that1 as the boys say1 when they hit into a double play1 is that6 ,,chapter ,,xx ,some baseball laughs--,the 8battles0 with the umpire--,tommy ,connolly puts over a fast one on ,bob ,veach--,joe ,dugan's comeback at ,jack ,scott in the world series--,bozeman ,bulger's colored umpire story--,charley ,o',leary weighs in with one--,sam ,jones tops it--,a laugh on ,rube ,lutzke4 ,baseball is full of laughs4 ,and full of good stories too--stories that go the rounds of the camps1 through the long seasons until finally they become a part of the game itself4 ,a good many of our best baseball stories center around the umpires1 and the arguments over close decisions4 ,fans1 being quick to jeer1 very frequently think an argument is going on1 when there's nothing of the sort really happening4 ,five times out of ten when a player engages an umpire in conversation at the plate or on the bases1 it isn't an argument at all4 ,i remember an incident at the ,stadium a couple of seasons ago4 ,clarence ,rowland was working back of the plate1 and early in the game he had called a couple of 8close ones0 against the ,yankees4 ,as a matter of fact his decision had been right both times--but that didn't make any difference to the fans4 ,they were on him plenty4 ,finally in the eighth inning ,i came up with two men on base4 ,earl ,whitehill was pitching4 ,whitehill threw the first one4 8,strike one10 ,clarence yelled4 8,oh you robber10 came the echo from the stands4 ,again he pitched4 8,strike two10 ,clarence shouted4 8,robber4 ,bum4 ,thief60 ,these and other choice bits of comment came down from the stands and bleachers4 ,i stepped out of the batter's box and turned to speak to ,clarence4 8,that's right1 ,babe10 the fans yelled1 8tell him a thing or two4 ,give it to him40 ,and the jeering doubled as we talked4 ,finally the game ended and as ,i trotted across the field some big bruiser came bustling out of the stands and patted me on the shoulder4 8,at 'a boy1 ,babe10 he howled4 8,i guess you told that blind umpire a thing or two1 eh8 ,he's just a bum anyhow6 ,keep after him60 ,which was all right except for two things4 ,in the first place ,clarence had been right4 ,both balls were strikes4 ,and in the second place ,i hadn't questioned his decision for an instant4 ,what ,i had said was simply this3 8,did you see that one curve8 ,i wonder where he got it4 ,that guy never showed me a hook like that before60 99 99 99 99 99 ,half the laughs in baseball come from quick repartee1 and the umpires are about as quick as anyone4 ,one of the funniest lines ,i ever heard1 or one of the best come-backs1 was pulled by ,tommy ,connolly1 the veteran ,american ,league umpire4 ,bob ,veach of the ,tigers was the goat4 ,the ,tigers were engaged in a tight game and ,tommy had had more close ones than usual that day4 ,it was hot too--and the boys were a bit crochety1 and they were on ,tommy plenty4 ,finally ,veach was at bat and got hold of one1 sending it on a line over third base to the wall4 ,bob didn't stop to wait for the decision--just hit out down the baseline and he was on second base before the outfielder reached the ball4 ,tommy called him back4 8,foul ball10 he said4 8,you'll have to do that one over40 ,bob kicked plenty--but ,tommy stood his ground4 ,at the end of the inning ,veach went out to left field1 took a look at the foul-line and came racing back to the plate4 8,say1 ,tommy1 that ball was fair10 he howled4 8,it landed right on the foul line4 ,there's a mark in the lime where it landed4 ,i can show it to you60 ,tommy dusted off the plate1 then straightened with a grin4 8,well1 well10 he said1 8is that so8 ,now ,i tell you what to do4 ,you run right out there and bring that foul line in to me4 ,i'll take a look at it60 ,bob was stopped plenty4 ,after that he never again tried to rag ,tommy4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the players themselves pull many a good line too4 ,some of them are particularly expert--and there are few men in the league who have anything on ,joe ,dugan4 ,i'll never forget one he pulled in the #aibc world series between the ,giants and ,yankees4 ,it so happened that in one of the games1 ,joe came to bat with two men on and a run needed to tie4 ,big ,jack ,scott was pitching for the ,giants4 ,at such a crucial moment as that ball players are supposed to be nervous and excited4 ,maybe some of them are4 ,but not ,joe4 ,with the crowd howling and yelling he selected his bat and walked slowly to the plate4 ,he dusted his hands deliberately and then stepped into the batter's box4 ,scotty was all ready to pitch1 but just as he started his windup1 ,dugan stepped out of the batter's box1 held up his hand for time4 ,the umpire motioned ,scott not to pitch4 ,then ,dugan made a megaphone of his hands1 and turning toward ,scotty shouted out a line that ,i'll never forget3 8,hey1 ,scotty10 he said1 8pull in your ears4 ,you look like a loving cup60 ,and ,joe got his base hit too6 99 99 99 99 99 ,as ,i said before the umpires figure in a lot of baseball's funny stories1 true and untrue4 ,one of the best laughs ,i ever heard was the story told by my friend ,bozeman ,bulger1 the baseball writer1 concerning the colored umpire down in ,alabama4 ,it seems that two darky teams were such bitter rivals that when they met for the championship it was decided to send to ,baltimore and get the fanciest umpire known to their circles--a cocky colored official of considerable reputation4 ,one of the teams had a gigantic first baseman who was also a terrific hitter4 ,on the day of the battle this giant--,bam ,sparks1 they called him--eyed the little dried-up umpire from head to foot4 ,bam was not at all impressed by the ,baltimore reputation4 ,the little umpire must also have had some doubts in his own mind4 ,finally ,bam ,sparks came to bat4 ,the first ball pitched split the plate and he didn't swing at it4 8,strike one60 screamed the little umpire with a wave of the hand that impressed the colored rooters if not the hitter4 ,bam turned and quietly looked the imported umpire over1 but said nothing4 ,his grunt1 though1 was full of meaning4 ,a few moments later another strike came over4 8,two10 screamed the umpire with the same trick swing of the arm1 and his voice raised to a wail4 ,bam ,sparks quietly dropped his bat to the ground1 spat tobacco juice in the dust and slowly turned around1 giving the little ump a dirty dirty look4 8,two whut80 he demanded4 ,that one look did the trick4 8,too ,high10 came the ready response1 and ,bam resumed his position at the bat4 99 99 99 99 99 ,perhaps it was the same colored umpire who figured in that other game now so well known to the story tellers4 ,at least this one was a little fellow1 colored and weazened1 and he was umpiring the championship game between two colored contending teams4 ,it was a troublesome day4 ,all through the game he had been in hot water1 and as the ninth inning came around he was being threatened with everything from hanging to boiling in oil4 ,nor could he expect help from the fans1 for they were about evenly divided4 ,the game was played on neutral ground and there was no home club to favor4 ,he was on his own4 ,came the last of the ninth inning as the movie people put it4 ,the team in the field had a one run lead1 the bases were full1 two were out1 and the count was three and two on the hitter4 ,the pitcher wound up and let the ball fly4 ,the batter didn't swing4 ,instead he turned in his tracks and eyed the umpire4 8,that's a ball suah10 he said with pretended certainty4 8,right through the plate10 the catcher retorted1 and there was murder in his eye as he turned to the umpire4 ,the ump was dumb for an instant1 and his eyes were looking for the nearest exit4 ,the teams came clustering around4 8,well10 they demanded1 8say something4 ,what was it80 ,again the little ump eyed the exit4 ,his knees shook4 ,his hands trembled4 8,d-d-d-doubtful60 he howled finally1 and broke for the gate4 ,according to the story he's still traveling4 99 99 99 99 99 ,there's nothing ball players like better than to sit around the hotel lobbies in the evening swapping yarns4 ,and at times like that they're not hampered by truth either4 ,two of the greatest storytellers ,i ever heard are ,charley ,o',leary and ,sam 7,sad ,sam7 ,jones4 ,why anyone should ever call ,sam 8,sad ,sam10 is more than ,i can figure4 ,he's one of the most cheerful1 happy1 even dispositioned fellows ,i ever knew4 ,but that's beside the story4 ,i had the pleasure of sitting in on a confab in ,washington one night when ,sam and ,charley were exchanging yarns4 ,they had been going along for some time when ,charley weighed in with this one4 8,two colored teams10 he said1 8were playing for the city championship of ,chicago--a tough1 tough game that finally went into extra innings4 ,the game was played late in the fall1 and darkness came along toward the last4 ,finally in the twelfth inning it was so dark that you could hardly see the ball4 8,one team scored a run in the first of the twelfth1 giving them a two to one lead4 ,in the last half of the twelfth the other team filled the bases1 with two down4 ,there were two strikes and three balls on the batter4 ,it was a fine time for strategy40 ,the big colored pitcher beckoned to his catcher who strolled out to the pitcher's box4 8,listen10 the pitcher told him4 8,you take that ball4 ,now you go back of that plate and when ,i wind up and make my pitching motion you smack that ball hard into your glove60 ,he wound up--and pretended to let fly4 ,bam6 went the ball into the catcher's glove4 8,strike three1 you're out60 the umpire shrieked4 ,and at the sound the batter whirled in his place and confronted the ump4 8,oh you thief10 he howled4 8,you call that a strike4 ,why that ball was two feet outside60 99 99 99 99 99 ,most of the boys were willing to give ,charley the leather medal on that one4 ,but not ,sam4 ,he had a counter-yarn that he sprung1 and this was it4 8,we used to have a pitcher out in ,ohio who was a wonder at that trick motion stuff in catching men off base10 ,sam said4 8,he was one of those fellows who could throw equally well with his right hand or his left4 ,well sir1 this fellow got quite a reputation around his part of the state1 and finally got a job pitching for a semi-pro club that was playing for the championship4 8,it was a tough battle4 ,neither side scored the first eight innings4 ,finally in the first of the ninth this pitcher's club put over a run4 ,in the last of the ninth the thing got tougher4 ,the opponents filled the bases with nobody out and the gang was shouting for the pitcher's blood4 ,it was a tough spot4 8,but did it bother this farmer kid8 ,it did not4 ,know what he did8 8,he strolled over to the bench as though he was getting a drink of water1 and quietly picked up another baseball4 ,then he went back to the mound4 8,well sir1 that fellow took a little windup and with his right hand he threw to first base1 catching the runner there asleep4 ,with his left hand he tossed to third base and caught that runner flat-footed too4 ,and ,i'll be durned if his motion wasn't so deceptive that the hitter swung too1 and struck out4 ,completed a triple play1 right there1 that pitcher did--and won the ball game4 8,we grow our pitchers that way down in ,ohio10 ,sam added and walked away4 ,charley was whipped4 ,he had nothing more to say4 ,that was once when ,sam ,jones had him stopped cold4 99 99 99 99 99 ,getting back to truth again the boys tell a story on ,rube ,lutzke1 the ,cleveland third baseman1 that gets many a laugh4 ,i won't vouch for its truth1 except to say that the ,cleveland boys all tell it as fact4 ,you know a ball player loves his base hits more than anything in the world4 ,when the official scorer gives him an error he takes it as part of the game4 ,but let the scorer fail to give him a hit when he thinks he has it coming and there's a howl that you can hear all over the park4 ,but ,i'm getting away from my story4 ,rube1 the boys say1 had been going great at the bat for some time and finally he went into a game and came out with four hits in four times up4 ,naturally he was pretty happy1 and he went home that night whistling and singing and laughing at everybody4 ,mrs4 ,lutzke met him at the door and ,rube was still whistling4 8,well10 he says1 8four for four today4 ,guess that's smacking the old pill1 eh80 ,a few days later hard luck busted ,rube right in the eye4 ,seemed as though he couldn't get the ball safe to save his life1 and in a double header one afternoon he went to bat nine times without anything that even looked like a hit4 ,not so good6 ,rube scowled and muttered under his breath as he took his shower and got dressed4 ,mrs4 ,lutzke met him at the door when he got home4 8,well1 ,rube10 she said1 8how many hits today80 ,rube was speechless for a minute1 but finally he found his tongue4 8,listen10 he said1 8you attend to the cooking for this family and ,i'll do the hitting40 99 99 99 99 99 ,most of the laughs in baseball come from wisecracks pulled on the bench4 ,players rag each other a lot4 8,jockeying0 we call it in baseball4 ,and some of the boys are expert4 ,joe ,bush was one of the best jockeys ,i ever heard4 ,freddy ,hoffman1 the old ,yankee catcher1 was another good one4 ,art ,fletcher is no slouch either4 ,and there are fellows on each big league ball club who make jockeying a real art4 ,whitey ,witt used to pull a lot of funny lines--not wise cracks particularly but just observations that had a lot of humor along with their common sense4 ,whitey's best one was pulled one day when we were playing ,washington1 and at ,walter ,johnsons' expense4 ,it was a tough game1 and ,walter had walked me intentionally when ,i came up with two men on and two out4 ,whitey was on him in a minute4 8,that's right1 ,barney10 ,whitey howled1 8better four balls for one base than one ball for four bases anytime40 ,that's one line that has gone around the league and back again4 ,you still hear it dozens of times a season--a sort of unconscious tribute to ,whitey ,witt who finished his baseball career some seasons ago4 99 99 99 99 99 ,yes1 there are laughs in baseball--lots of them4 ,that's another thing that helps to make it a great game4 ,,glossary ,,of ,,baseball ,,terms ,barber--,a ready conversationalist4 ,name applied to person who talks a great deal4 ,jockey--a rider4 ,player who 8rides0 opposing players from the bench4 ,taking him for a ride--ridicule and kidding of an opposing player in effort to disconcert him4 ,horse collar--a zero in the box score hit column4 ,cousin--a pitcher who is easy to hit4 ,hook--a curve ball of any variety4 8,dusting off0--,making the hitter drop to the ground by pitching at him4 8,wasting one0--pitching outside and wide of the plate in an effort to head off a steal or prevent a hit and run4 8,leaning0--taking an exceptional long lead1 preparatory to a steal4 8,breeze0--an easy chance4 8,texas ,leaguer0--a fly ball just out of reach of the infielders1 but too close in for an outfielder to handle4 8,doing a ,sammy ,vick0--overeating4 ,sammy ,vick was noted for possessing one of the most voracious appetites in the big leagues4 8,the ,syracuse ,car0--the ,pullman in which the rookies and substitutes ride4 ,originated with the ,giants who used to play an exhibition game in ,syracuse each year4 ,usually the second string men would play the game and their car would be shunted off at ,syracuse while the others went on to the next big league town to enjoy a day off4 8,boot0--an error4 8,a blow0--a base hit4 8,in the groove0--a ball through the center of the plate1 easy to hit4 8,a sinker0--a fly ball that has a back spin which causes it to sink to the ground quickly4 8,rookie0--a first year man or a player who has not won his spurs as a regular4 8,whittling0--term applied to pitchers who attempt to fool hitters with balls just off the corner of the plate4 ,a whittler is a pitcher who mixes up balls with strikes and carries a batter along to a two-two or three-two count before making him hit4 8,bean ball0--a pitched ball thrown at a batters' head4 8,giving it the old college try0--playing to the grandstand or making strenuous effort to field a ball that obviously cannot be handled4 ,scribes--the newspaper men who accompany a big league ball club on the road4 ,four for four2 three for two1 etc--the ball player's way of saying four hits in four times up2 two hits in three times up1 etc4 ,an abbreviation of 8three times up for two hits40 8,fungo0--fly balls hit to the outfield during fielding practice4 ,transcriber's ,notes #a4 ,italicised words are indicated by underscores4 #b4 ,misspelled words have been corrected 7see below74 ,archaic1 inconsistent and alternative spellings have been left unchanged4 ,hyphenation has not been standardised4 #c4 ,punctuation has been silently corrected4 #d4 ,thought breaks 7larger gaps between paragraphs7 are indicated by a row of asterisks4 #e4 8,edit ,distance0 in ,corrections table below refers to the ,levenshtein ,distance4 ,corrections3 ,page ,source ,correction ,edit distance iv ,hinkey ,haines1 ,hinkey ,haines' #fh ,eddie ,rommell ,eddie ,rommel #aaj ,pittsburg ,pirates ,pittsburgh ,pirates #abc mechancal mechanical #adj ,urban ,schocker ,urban ,shocker #aec not saying hat not saying that #afa a little beter a little better #ahi the pitchings coming the pitches coming #aib drag hunters drag bunters #aie phases that the phrases that the #bbb therefort therefore #bbi appearence appearance #bcf accidently accidentally #bff pasttime past time