The St. Louis Republic., 1904-12-18
SPIT BALL A SECRET.


| Will the secret OF husky Jack CLsshro's
spit ball' remain the great diamond
mystery Of baseball history
Nobody has yet solved it. Thousands OF
fans arc familiar with tEa -oisten.ns CT
| the first and second fingers which is Chez-
bros hint to the batter go be on the look
, out. Tho@san Is have seen the bali lctE"
the pitchers hand n an apparently nat
urai and easy DanLer. watch IL speed
toward the batter swiftly. and then. lust
as the man at the plate ET!Ipy1 his STICK
for & swing. break with a ye%!l4sTiuE
suddennssS ana SNAP i7to, ~" W-lfinG
catchers NIT. wFilo the batter famed
helpiesSy q the air.
And yet NOBODY can describe It. Ches-
bro. who developed it, but dld not invent
il says: ''lt's the way throw. ! mak- II
work because Z $ MY natural way oI &C.
livCTnc the bal,
And low. with batters At his mercy.
with a record Of wigu.u- thirty-uiua cut
CT fOrty-uIue American League games iE
has pitched during III" season. and with
the leadership among the pitchers NJ his
league safe in his possession. '4eSgro Ge-
ClaToS ne "a going to r"-Ir" ana take t.s
secret Of the spit bali" with him.
CHESBRO To QUIT GAME
I'm going to quit and I'm i'll earnest
he protested when assured tHat warm
irg-up'' time next spring would find him
back In Uniform Two been quitting tor
three years now I've been wanting -
myself and my wife has been ur-in: me
I've got = little money saved UU from the
Sane. and I have = nice !-,fle mace IN
| Massachusetts. a fellow ras 20 quit base
| ball some tllGe, and think my est time
| l. now.
| .:Hl.t how about the spit ba-r2 If you're
! going - retire ana Won laaG It any
more. are yon gong 10 ElEe the secret 10
| some Cf the other pitrIyrs2
/ There no secret. They can't throw Il.
| 7 don't moan ff-y g1sr't throw 70 S4.t t.l II.
| but none Of them can throw j; the way l
do. | thiuS the spit bal IN" greatest bail
| that was oyer discovered. [ don't say Il
| IS the greatest bail used. hl- il i the
greatest ball for me. and that's why /
| use Il.
In throwing II merely rroiston the
! first ana second singers. hold tIs ball the
| sam" aS would If throwing an other
| kiuS and t..au throw Ua tt.~ally. You can't
| work il by throwing II Uuae'1aE3 "r over
| hand II mas to ho thrown StrI'E away.
| That's the only way for g pitcher TO
/ throw, anyway. \ man can r. Ike % lot ut
| c;tra motiori II Na wants TO- but lie
| doesn't WIZ as often.
| GOT SPIT BALL FROM STRTCKLETT
"A pitcher ought to find tie ball that is
| easiest for him to throw and then use IL
| altogether. There are some balls that r
| tain pitchers can't possibly throw. and
yet they keep on trying ana wasting their
| strength.
Il first started using the spit taIl after
| | saw StriCklctt use 1t on sha Pacific Coast
| in the winter OF 1879. saw him use II
| again this spring. Then l started IN ard 7
| have been using 1t all .-eascn ys b"an
| EOIn., in sometimes every rJhrr asE for
| weeks al a time. ] couldn't have done il II
| hadn't used the SE.t ball.
! 4 cont throw tn, bail tho way Strick-
| lett dii ! throw Il the way To comes
| natural to me-. [ found ont now 10 control
| ed by practice. How do ] control il now: :
| 4 be foolish 70 tell. I've Eo-e nearly all
I my practising with the bal i1 games /
| seldom Use it except when playing
doesn't seem see ' to nav any trouhlc hold ng
| it. McAiauus got hit Cnre but Ia hos be
| other catChers have been hit because the
! pitchers uidut know how to control f.
| Tho irfialders don't ike il. becsISe they
can never tell where the balls go.ng after
VIII the batters get used to the ball by
| next season.
| BATTERs CANT GET USED TO IT.
II don't know. I don't think they will
| ever get used to the ball the way / throw
it. They may get an idea Of how its going
to come. but fast high one mixed in
with a couple Of spit balls will get them
| ratified
one peculiar thing about the hall Is
J that il can't be bgu:el- At least. 10 never
| has been since I've US, d IL. Another thing
| that's strange about fl u th-. wuau tine
| batter does fiuu i. the hit goes either to
| short or second. never to GTst or third.
| How many men did I ever STRIFE cU-
! with it | never tried. | never tried isr
| a strike-Out record. Its too DGrh of =
| strain to he trviag FOR StrikC-0I-s al The
| time Its hard enough to win
| Take it when the game Egs a-f or
| ID score. tie strain one ga Ul-"h7r i-
| something terrible. When l',-s finished a
| game with a close score Ike that and
| know I'm through, l coulLE t toss a ball
| across rOan
| "Of course. If there were extra innings
| could D.tcn them. but when the game g
| over I'm all in To lose q 10 game is ike
1 one reason why l want 70 QUit-AIinne-
apolis Tribune,