The San Francisco call., 1898-12-08
JOSH REILLY
 AND HIS MOST
 SUPERB CATCH. The Newspapers Did Not Praise 1t. MISTAKE A DANGEROUS ONE BEN CLARK ExPATIATEs ON CORNER CUTTING. He Says, and rruthfully So, That Pitching for Corners Is an
 Art Yet to Be Accom-
 plished.
By doe corbett.

"Josh" Reilly made what might with propriety be termed a phenomenal catcA in last Sundays game at Recreation Park. Strange as it certainly is, the newspapers said but little of the great catch, my self overlooking it entirely. In view of this fact I take advantage of the present opportunity to compliment "Josh" on his clever play. At the time it oc- cured the bases were full, which adds additional glory to the occasion. Some folks might consider it waste of time, with a little energy cast in, to touch on so significant a point. But folks should bear in mind that when a player succeeds in doing something out of the ordinary his first act the following a. m. is to secure the morning dailies and see what the roasting reporters have to say. Should they neglect, as in this case Of Reilly S, to make any mention of the fact, such a mistake is considered sufficient cause with some players to refrain from doing such extraordinary things in the future. 1t is to guard against this dreaded re- suit, intermingled, of course, With oe- sire not to ostraciZe MT. Reilly from pub lie notice, that 1 speak of this gentle mans wonderful catch of sunday last; We are all sadly aware of the fact that wonderful plays and catches are as scarce in the vicinity of Recreation Park as good games were but lew months
  sess a season pass 1 deem it eXped1ent 10 encourage such playing. Very often lt IS the only return they receive Tor thelr money, and why spoil this outside issue for the sake of a few words? Not at all. Reilly made one of the greatest catches 1 ever saw, and if he performs the feat again I'll pay him that $l50 the Paclnc Coast League failed to make good as yet, providing, of course, l am not rpeu from these pleasant reyeries, Wmch, TOT some reason or other, nave 10 lnoulgs i,, rxy1f downs of the national game. Tn conJunc- tion with the above little speech, Wlsn to state that the patrons or pail games the world over like to see such catches as Mir Reilly made last Sunday. Ihls IS so particularly of our Pacific Coast, fanat- ics, and therefore 1t would Ill become the players to dispense with the best ana In some cases the only thing they do. Make great catches, and then go into poHtcs' but get into politics just as soon as pos sible after making the catch. You gi know o,Sy in baseball a mans popularity dies out rather rapidly Verify, l have seen player hero on one evening, and ..lobster''-if l may make use or the ex- pression-on the next.
 Ben Clark, one of the catchers or the Baltimore Club, has this to say or pltch- CTS: ''This talk about pitchers Worans the. in and out side corners of the plate makes very interesting reading for the baseball fans, but there IS more romance than fact about it. II batsman IS weak on a high ball the average pitcher has enough control of the ball not to serve a low one But when it comes to the hair-splitting skill that Is required 10 serve the sphere over the corners or the plate there are few-precious feW-pitch, CTS who can work such a scientific bit or control. Clark Griffith of the Chicagos; Bert Cunningham, Al Maui ana CharIey Nichols may be successful in working the corners occasionally, for their control or the ball is simply phenomenal. me nitcher who takes the mask and the pad of backstop for gulde ana ,, suoCeeds ', III III +ha hall 1 opposite the wind pad is doing good Work, especially if he can ram ms curves over. It is impossible for pitcher to WorK the corners of the plate when he cannot see inc home rubber half the time. The home plate is often lost to pitchers view dur ing the game, as it is covered With aust and the umpire has no tlme G 10 DrusH II oil till sides are changed. Charley Nichols of the champions never experimented Tn those puzzling slants qulck snots ana drop balls that you hear so much apout. He simply drives the ball up to the plate with plenty of speed to back 1t and good control. Corner working and meteorlc curves never appeal to him. There IS slight bend to his speedy ball. put controi
 MT. Clark speaks with great intelligence on this corner working, as he terms IL. have heard pitchers talk or lG now they nney that the line is being drawn too me When pitching myself l have depended as do other twirlers, on my ablilty to put
  if I thought the situation demanded 1t. Rut in doing this I never considered my self pitching for "corners," for, as Mr. Clark says, "the plate mosl of the time is 'f, covered with dust and is therefore in- visible.i I have batted against every pitcher in the National League, and can recall but one of the many whom eating the corners of the plate. if. in- deed. such a feat be possible. He is Mr. Dwyer of the Cincinnati Club. As for lyrn ln6cr hn possesses neither, yet. is a first-class pitcher. The secret of his success must, therefore, lie in some other brancn or pitching, and that branch IS control or the hall | have been at bat with him in the box, and his ability to put the ball out side when I was away from the plate and inside when I came closer. baff1ed me nenns e9mRs5ey ater sloVa Sanly 'ne I @ tear the cover off shoots, wondering how it was that l could not @ hit such easy pitching Acter nd my ystdW ir9 bs sP sPve to [ noticed that he hardly ever put ball straight over the plate unless he was compelled. It was either outside or m ia- yisable, and the majority of times he was correct. However, his balls did not cut the outside or inside corner of the plate They were generally seven or eight inches either way, and l do not consider this cutting the corners, as some pitchers, l believe. delight in terming it. It is cer- tainly @ case or great controi, put there it rests I have yet to see the pitcher who can go through a game Of ball cut ting the corners inning after inning. Some of them might consider such pitch. ing as I have described in the case of DWyer as "cutting the corners" but I must disagree with them on this score. He comes about as near being the ideal" in this respect as I know of, but even he is far from being the pitcher who can ''cut the corners" He, however, can come nearer performing the difficult feat than any pitcher I have seen in the major league.
 RELIANCE ATHLETICS.