Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-04-24
OLD lime BASEBALL,


by bowlers when they deliver the ball
ssrdy S,,ddnss 70 say, it was possibly for Tn
into, their delivery with this motion. an,
~. q: sp9lding, now SO well known by rea
was one Of the most successful pitchers il
| we United states at this style OF delivery
! u would sound strange nowadays to heaI
/ the ron arm and the eagle eye but iha
! f. Nhat they called him In Illinois IN tn,
| DAYS Of his prosperity as a ball player
| MhUe m ios ton, prior TO that time. h,
| was called the king, as Clarkson wa.
| called later on under Spalding
As early as 1876 those who were sponsors
| Tor the national game had in mind the
| Curplng OF the talent displayed by tn,
hslteher, Iso ,,f ana the disposition 70 emearrass:
1876 provided for a box six feet. square
! bail with the arm swinging nearly per.
| nendieular az the side OF the body and
ihe arm in being swung forward had te
| designed 70 prevent overland pitching. but
| 1t often failed Of its object, The pitchers
whenever they thought the umpires atten:
| ton was attracted the other way. and
then. as now. the captain of the other side
would register his complaint with the UNI
pre. Some of the pitchers became SO pro
ficient that It was difficult to tell positively
Just on line with the hip or a little above
the hip However. II it looked as though
the rule Mere violated; some one would he
down, MIR Umpire"
The famous pitchers OF 1s7G were A.. G.
SbnSlnG bsMs anG w. eorra a. Snini washnston RrnSSy
Spadins was a member Of the Chicago
team and It won the pennant. IN spite OF
and was obliged to rely. altogether upon a
straight arm delivery, II was not consld d
mlngs was a member OF the Haruords. lie
could pitch a curve ban, and Is SAID to he be
able 10 curve n ball with the old-fashoned
straight arm delivery. He used a peculiar
motion of the wrist that .put, English n .oi on
so far as his record was concerned, was
George Washington BRADLEY. He r WAS Vas a a
Matthew's was with the Mutuas: Of New
York. Tom Bond first appeared profession
"'ii in 'iis7ff Tommy Bond and VIII white
Joined forces with the. Bostons Bond be
san to improve from that tine, and "a ny san an
der began to be famous: George Washing,
ton Bradley went to the ,r,fa9s GhisaG99s' ana hnd
his name printed in all the Illustrated pub,
lcations of the day as the crack pitcher OF
In ISIS one Of the watchwordSs among the
member of the Indianapouc team of that
The .,' prSfessional te @ pitchers John Ward flrst
saw the inside. of a professional ball ileld
il this lie was ssnea ny the Of the
season, and before the year was over he
had pitched himself into nrominen,Ge as me fhe
STATISTICS at the. end Of the year showed w.e,d,i
that the percentage, of base hits on :, ms ms
pitching was but 23S. However, the Bos-
In 1879 George Wright was manaEer of
the h. and ia 1T psber T9n .he Of pfh the
team and the star of the LEAGUE Bond
was still with the Bostons, but he seemed
of Hartford fame, had been transferred TO
Chicago, where he stLll did good work. but
Chicago was not strong enough IN other
departments of the team: Cincinnati both,
cred with "Spectacles" Will White and
pitching world, although not so well
known at that time, in the person OF Nc
to appear on the diamond, as II was after
wards proved. Calvin was with ths buitni ~ a.
remained in the game as Il member OF the
In 1850 the pennant was back to Chicago,
coran and Goldsmith, the pitchers, although
it was generally conceded at the time that
around around strength. @ Mickey welch flashed
on the baseball! arena as pitcher Tor
Troy and for ,ne ipst tine m us ons5tloS
over the prowess of a left-handed pitcher,
who w2S none other Han van Lee ternr lShohI IN fb
batters for the brief time that he lasted in
the League. ,,,,,, ,t,., -.
the magnificent batters that the Chicagos
had under contract, We're again too much
for the remainder Of the LeagHe, GAVIN han
then as he aid for the next ten years;
Cleveland swore by Mccormick and trusted
to Blonde" Purcell to help him out now
star had dawned in Providence, ana Bond
s h9nsiTg Mas on 95 hesto" to atraet
back to a distance Of fifty. feet instead of
was 9fsyotn ycnTndd adei to % box Six feet by four in
stead of six feet square. Radhourn was |
The star of the year so far as records
went. +,
Chicago captured the pennant again In
$50 with the same old pitchers Corcoran |
was vanqulshed, and great was the con on
,ternation In the West. Boston won the
he pitchers. The fame Of Bufington's drop
pal travelled from one end OF the country
o the other, and hundreds of people went
i,S bey might nj see t't' what drop" looked like
I was an innovation in professional pitch
nC. New York was in the League TINS
ear. and Ward was transferred from
,r6v,idence to New York; 800,
Great was Providence in 1881, and Rad
lrst place and he was ably assisted by
sweeney the man With phenomegnnl, g,r,o,Ps sPeed
he loss of the pennant
In 1855 John q. Clarkson became a mem
'er of the Chicago club. and from that date
league who excelled him. and probably
lot one who was his equal for every day
york He was called truly and rightly
he "king OF pitchers" He was trans
erred to the Boston club in 1883 for the
um of $4,000.
While Clarkson was prominent In the
aague there were other pitchers who were
etter than ordinary. Keefe of the New
'orks was one of the greatest generals
,ho ever stepped into the pitchers box
ietzein of Detroit was the wonder of 1887.
,'Brien Of Cleveland flashed like a meteor
cross the sky in 1883, and for the brief
me that he served in the National League
ias wonder.
In later years, notably in 1884, the three
1ost brilliant pitchers who have come TO
he fore are Rusie, Young and Meekin.
.usle is with New York and Meekn,' start
lg in with Louisville, has finally reached |
lew York Young Is stlll with Cleveland, |
here he has been since he came into the
,ational League, IIllen of Pittsburg and
reitenstein of St, Louis are men with |
ne regulations, and quite equal TO Meek
l. None of the three, however, has pitch |
1 with the same steady success that has
both Rusle and Young.
trange 10 say, both the latter pitchers be-
an their career in Cleveland.
Late in the sos the League gave up try
NJ to tight the pitchers who wanted TO
oliver the ball with a swift overland |
lotion, and the pitching rules were so
mended that the pitcher could throw or |
tch the ball as suite his fancy 1t was
,und useless trying contend against | I
ie advances of the cher, and In order
n aG l.,