Evening star., 1896-12-05
More Head worss Used in the Box
Than Ever Before.
GREATER COMMAND OF TIE BALL
Tremendous Strain on the Muscles
Employed,
TWELVE LEADING TWIRLERS

the hands of the intelligent minority Of the
occupants of the pitchers box: and es-
pecially was this fact noticeable during the
past season of 1886 For one thing the
class of educated professional ball Players
has been considerably Increased in the Ma
tiona1 League arena Of late years; and
hence more attention Is devoted to the
work of studying up the principles of the
art Of pitching. and less to that of the
habit of following in the rutty footsteps of
pitching predecessors than of old. Expert
ence shows more and more each year that
the pitching corps of clubs team Is the
main dependence for success in winning
pennants, though it also needs the import
ant assistance Of thorough team work sup
port in the field. as also at the bat and In
'ase running to make a team a winner as
whole.
Season after season has the fact peen
plainly realized. too. that mere machine
work in the pitchers box has become less
and less effective. the powers of the de-
tense, at the hands of skiiieul batsrnen, ac-
customed to use their heads as we'll as their
muscles in their work in facing the pitch
ers, having been largely increased.
In this regard it may be truly said that
the days of the mere Cyclone pitcher-the
pitcher whose only strength lies in the in
timidating speed of his wild deivery-have
been numbered. and that this class OF
are DelnS yearly replaced Dy
skilled strategic pitchers. whose head
work delivery makes them potent factors
in corps of pennant winners.
Brains Employed.
Taken as a whole. the history of the
league does not show single season in
which the art Of pitching was as strikingly
illustrated on league club grounds as in
1890. The special points OF really skillful
strategic pitching were more frequently
exhibited in the league arena during the
past season than ever before. Batsmen
were more frequently deceived as TO the
character of the delivery than hitherto:
then, too. that effective point of a well
disguised change of pace was brought into
play with more telling effect; in addi-
tlon 10 which 81 eater command of the bail
In delivery. as shown by the smaller aver
age OF bases On balls by the leading Itch
ing teams, was exhibited last year than
In any previous season. The curves, too
were used with greater effect, especially
the eye-deceiving slow drop bail. which has
never been practiced with greater sue cess
than in 1896
The past pitching season may be said
to have been exceptional in regard not only
to the success Of several colt debutdnts ON
the league fields. but also In the number
of resuscitated veterans. wlo. in leaving
off old methods OF machine work in their
more in line with the art Of pitching, than
they had ever practiced before.
Kicking.
With all this Improvement in mead W rk
pitc hing. shown BY minority OF the
league club pitchers Of 1896. there still
remains some habtual weaknesses in the
methods which need reformation to make
the work of the corps complete AS a whole;
and among these old rutty ways in box
work which need reforming is that of
the folly the majority In their failure to
thofr .;oll,-
the costly weakness Of kicking against
decisions OF ump:reS called balls and
strikes. This latter habit so plainly bor-
ders on stupidity that 1t clashes with the
Intelligent work In other respects which the
sblest class Of pitchers in the League ac
CompliShed during 1893.
The Pitching Muscles.
An important matter for serious consid-
Grafton has come into notice in 1896 rela-
tive to the amount of box work a pitcher
is capable Of enduring; through the medium
of a practical examination of the muscles
of a pitchers arm, who had worked his
muscles unduiy in doing the curves to ex-
cess in his pitching. The pitching arm of
a player who had died by accident was
left to noted surgeon in October last
who. on examination. developed the fact
that the muscles of the arm had been so
twisted by excessive curving of the ball
as to form bunch of distorted muscles
arm useless for life for any muscular use
1t could be put to.
The question naturally arises how far
can pitcher go in the exercise of the spe-
cial muscles required to develop the cures
used In pitching?
In the Old Days.
Old pitchers of the early period of pro-
fessional ball playing have been accus-
tened to laugh at the complaints of mod
ifch 1,u{y,
bering. as the veterans did. now o. old they
were accustomed to pitch day in and day
out through a whole season. without COM
plant Of overwcrk. But these latter pitch
ers forget the important fact that In their
time curved pitching was almost unknown
and only the muscles required for use in
straight pitching were used. In ACCOMPLISH
Ing the variety of curves In use in modern
strategic pitching. however, a class of
hitherto unused muscles have been brought
into play. such as those required to give
the rotary motion to the pitched bali 90
necessary In the development of the in
and out curves, the down shoot and
rising ball" and the effective drop balI''
IN vogue in modern curve pitching The
knowledge of the costly nature of too much
work In curved pitching brings out the fact
that more pitchers will be rC;lired on a
team corps for up-to-date pitching than
was dreamed of ir the decade Of the 7O's.
The Leading Pitchers.
Looking over the mass of pitching sta
tist!cs l have to arrange for the League
Guide of 1897. 1 found the following in
teresting table. showing the leading pitcher
in each of the twelve league clubs accord
ing to his percentage of victorious figures
have added the batting average figure to
each pitcher: second. as also that of the
runs earned off his pitching,
which. by the way. were not SO earned as
they are obtained by both hits and stolen
bases combined. Until the more perfect
plan Of using data based on runs earned
from base hits alone is adopted, the per
centage of victories figures will remain
as the only fair criterion left us by which
20 judge pitchers skill in the box. Here
Is the record in question: