The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-05-26

SAMUEL L. THOMPSON.
pitchers, yet that exception has been fatal
TO the citys pennant hopes. The club
stood ready to pay enormous sums for one
or more pitching stars with established
regulations, but no release of such a man
was on the market. Tho st. Louis club
rejected the sum of e., 500 for tho release
of Breitenstein last summer. Mr.. Robi-
son OF Cleveland announced that SEQ 600
would not secure the transfer Of Young to
another city, and he no doubt did not ex-
aggerate Mr.. Freedman Of the New York
club has just gone on record with the US
sertion that Oh offer Of $3.50 spot cash
would not secure the release of Rusie who
Is now in revolt, and who denies his serv-
Ices to the Giants.
When one realizes how great tho profits
OF winning club are and how hard it Is
to get one Of these winning pitchers, the
wonder ceases OF the high value In which
the few are held. If the Philadelphia club
had Nichols and Rusie, the championship
race for this year would be oil over except
going through the motion. A lack of
pitching strength has been Anson's handi-
cap since 1882 He has experimental year
after year with scarcely better results than
diamond digger in the Transvaal Many
are called, but few arc chosen. Very few
pitchers jump into famo in q single season.
They generally require plenty of expert
ence. Lack of control is usually the new
'phenom 5" weakness. 1t took Meekin
four years to "get 1t over the plate
enough to make his services valuable.
OF the pitchers In the National league
who may be classed as reliable and ex-
tremely valuable may be mentioned Mich
OILS, Young, Rusie, Cuppy, Mercer, Ken
nedy, Clarke, Meekin, Hawley, Breiten-
stein, Dwyer, Stein, Taylor, Mcmahon,
Griffith and Hoffer, which are four more
than the number of clubs IN the circuit
There are others, like Ehrct, Killen, Wal
lace, Esper, Rhines and some of the young
CT men, who pitch we'll perhaps once a
week, but cannot stand regular work and
are sure to go to pieces some time during
the season. The standbys are few and
precious.
Control of the ball, courage and good
sense are the requisites of successful
pitcher. He may have all the curves,
speed and shoots known TO tho profession,
and yet be a dismal failure. Nichols has
no wonderful variety of delivery, but his
control is so great that he can put the ball
pretty nearly where he wants 1t to 90. So,
with his great speed and knowledge of
the weakness which nearly every batsman
has, Nichols Is able to shoot the ball across
the plate almost exactly where his victim
ILLUS ~ LlOSU ulluculU 10 meet IL. 1OunR
is another pitcher whose control Of the
ball and knowledge of his batsmen ore
nearly perfect. Kcefo was such u pitcher
in his day.
Coupled With Rusie's mastery of the
ball is his great and Incompatible control
of the curve. III this respect he stands
alone. Most pitchers, when they get sin
q hole"-that is, have three balls called
do not have the courage to use the curve
but have seen Rusie in just that situa-
ton curve three balls across the plate in
succession.
Clarke of the New Yorks is noted for
mixing them up" on the batter. He has
good control as well as n puzzling slow
ball. Jesse Burkett told me last year
that no pitcher in the land uses so many
different deliveries on batsmcn as does
Clarke. And he has such discretion that
We never know what is coming until the
ball Is on its way and 1t is too late to be
ready for it," concluded the champion
hatsman.
There have been many pitchers In the
profession who failed solely because they
lacked courage and ability to apply their
talents. A notable instance OF this was
Tony Mullane. He was O pitcher whose
physical abilities were never surpassed,
but no was quick to lose his courage and
become positively headless In his work
whenever tho situation grew critical.
Hutchinson was another pitcher who was
inclined TO Ego up into the air." Us the
players called 1t. Clarke's one expensive
fault is loss Of temper. AS long rs he
keeps cool'' he is nearly invincible but
Dad Is quick to anger, aud when he ''gets
his Irish up" he loses his valuable judg-
ment. Disaster usually follows. Rusie
does not get provoked so easily, but I've