Delta chief., 1883-10-03
Ball Pitchers Tricks.

| old-time straight pitcher would be
knocked out of the box in an inning,
there are good many claimants for the
credit of originating it. College men,
with the exception of those from Har-
yard, always insist that Avery brought
it to light at Yale; while the Harvard
men, who naturally would refuse to see
| a curve of two feet in Yale pitchers
delivery, incline to the opinion that
Mann, of Princeton. was first on the di-
amond with it. Harvard's men have
ground for their belief, from the fact
| that the Harvard team first had prac-
teal sight of the curve at Princeton in
| 1874; but, as it did not have the effect
of winning the game from them then,
they regarded it more as curiosity
than anything of Importance in the
game. The fact was that Mann was so
much excited about his new delivery
that he did not know when to quit, and
after the Harvard men had noticed that
| the ball always turned about a foot out
ward after leaving the pitchers hand.
| they made their calculations and ham
mered at it accordingly. The game. up
to the fifth inning. was right in the
! hands CT Princeton 5 catcher, who cap
tured the men one after another as they
struck out, but when Harvard began to
bat the prospects changed at once, and
Princeton lost by three clear runs.
Mann had only one curve, and he did
not even vary it by straight balls, so it
! failed of success against the straight
| pitching and fine headwork of Ernst
and Tyng. Avery, at Yale. came out
with his curve the same year, and many
of the college mines of that time remem-
ber yet how he promised something new
| for the Harvard batters as the result of
his winters practice in the gymnasium.
He did succeed in defeating them, and
next wear. by his effective pitching,
| helped his team TO the championship.
Before that time. however. curve pitch
| ing was practiced in professional
games. and, though its nature was not
much understood. everybody seemed to
know that peculiar kind of ball could
be delivered. and that Mathews. the
present .'curverH for the Athletics, was
the man that was doing it. Arthur
Cummings, who played in the Mutuals
in 1872. and in the Stars of Brooklyn in
the Years proceeding. was also known
to pitch deceptive ball, but as he quit
playing professionally about 1874. his
work was gradually forgotten, and
\ Mathews given all the credit for the in
Cummings was curving the ball before
he knew anything about it. and he gives
further credit to Cummings by adding
that he got his first lessons in the art by
watching the Mutual pitchers delivery.
In those days. when the first profes-
sional association was just getting on
its feet. there We're no cast iron regula-
tons about where the PLAYERS should
sit or stand, and very often whole
team stood close around the batter, Civ
| ing him points when they could, and
spending the remainder of the time in
chatting with the umpire or pitcher.
Cummings delivery was known to ev-
cry man in the profession As very pc
culiar. and Mathews. whose straight
work was beginning to give way before
it, made up his mind to take advantage
of a position near the bat to
/ to learn the secret. He watched
Cummings hands carefully, noting how
he held the ball and how he let it go,
and after few weeks,rareful prac-
| tice in the same way could see the curve
in his own delivery. Then he began to
use ii in matches. striking men out in a
way that none but Cummings had ever
done before. and in short time he was
known rs one of the most effective
/ pitchers in the field. To-day he is pitch
ing the same old curve. with all the
tricks in the delivery that years on the
diamond have taught, and the batters
don't seem to hit him much better than
! they used to.
Other pitchers had TO take up the
curve or quit playing. just as Mcbride
and Pratt did, and before the centennial
the regular craze for curve pitching had
set in. which finally forced both league
and association managers to abolish old
pitching rules and allow any throwing
delivery which would assist in puzZiing
the hatsmen. Every pitcher was pupu-
larly supposed 10 have a choice selection
of curves, which he sent in Mt pleasure.
and his value was usually reckoned on
the number of different ones he could
use That idea. by the way. is still prev
alcnt, and there are many people who
believe in an up and n down curve,
an lin curve and an ''out" curve, a
'.zig-zag' and a double" curve, and
Shoots and .'jumps, and fast and
slow balls to match
THAT is all mistake, said Maht-
cws, while talking over some of his
experiences, Il never saw but one
curve. aud never made any more. OF
course n ball will shoot in n little dis
tance, but YOU can't cali ii n curve, be-
cause YOU can't hold that kind of n ball
SO rs to make a curve out of it. The
only genuine curve is the one which