The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-04-16

- ter there was hun pages in the
papers about new discoveries made
BY the pitchers on the big teams in the
way of curves and shoots with which
to fool the batters when the spring
time comes, gentle Annie. There was
the spit ball and the stop ball and the
jump ball and the whirligig ball and
the snake ball. let alone dewdrops that
were supposed TO come up to the plate
lookin' as big as freight cars. but
which were supposed 20 only make
foul tips when you hit 'em.
Now a good many people laughed
at these inventions and said that there
was nothin' to EN- and they was only
optical dclusions and Illusions: but to
anybody that's played ball at all It's "A
subject not not to be fooled with.
know there's a spit ball: Jack Ches-
bro, O the New Yorks. thinks he dis
covered il. but he didn't. it's only the
Old water ball OF Ducky Haskins of
the Hayvilles out here in the Corn
droDpers', and ne discovered it one
rainy day when all the other pitchers
was gettiu' hit hard and old man
Tapley, the HayVilies' manager. didn't
have no one to put i'm to pitch. He
let the ball get sOppin' wet and passed
IT up slow, with a combination out and
drop onto il, an nobody in the whole
SO well that on dry days when the ball
wasn't wet and Haskins had TO pitch
he'd take a bucket o water out into the
box with him and dip the ball in be
fore each throw; and he used that ball
so long that finally his fingers began
TO grow webs between 'em like a ducks
feet. and that got him his name
But the greatest of all the special
class of curves that ever was made
was that which Elnathan Fnders
ar I'M
the time he went down there to git
job with one o the big league teams
and he didn't make good and they
turned him loose. You see, he fell in
with one o these mental
thought-psychtcal torture guys and got
TO belieVin' that his will was stronger'n
anyone else's an that If he willed TO
do a thing hard enough there wasn't
nothin' on this here earth I would
stop him: also he developed mighty
interesting little turn o hypnotism or
mesmeTiZin' or somethin' like that, an
when he come back he signed with the
CloVerdales and give it out that he had
the ball that had us all beat-and he
advertised for a ketcher who was of a
serious-minded, deep-thinkin' disposi-
ton. TO take up the other end Of the
battery an ketch the disappearin' drop.
The Alfalfas was in the lead for the
pennant at the time. with no prospect
of their bein' beat out of il unless the
nun crowd OF us Iel INTO a lit TO once.
We had Reggie an Lamp HymeS, two
likely pitchers as ever threw a
curve, an Dan Delaney TO help 'em out.
l ketched, an Pinch Hobbs. d hull nine
10y himself, was at short. Pete Brown
and the Harrison brothers was on the
bags, and for fielders we had Tar
Paper IHeuuessy. Sam Merritt and Jim
Burrill. This was before 1 dOped Jim
with the horse trainers needle. and be
fore we got Pint Billings.
Pinch Hobbs had just sent Ducky
HaSkins to the woodpile by discoverin'
a method to hit the water ball; it was
nOthin' else than to cover bat with
leather an soak the leather soppin'
wet It was the old principle o the
sucker that we used to make when we
was boys Where that slippery ball
had tipped off dry wood bat and
couldn't be knocked no distance at all,
nor not straight at all. why, the
soaked leather bat o Piuch's just
sucked onto the hOTsehide o the ball
enough TO give YOU q chance to paste
it hard an line it anywhere you liked.
Usiu' that bat ended Haskins an his
web fingers and his water pail and, as
I said, Pinch was siCuin' for some
thin new to try that great brain O.
hisnu on.
And it came We had no mOren
begun to win games reg'Iar again after
diSpOSin' q the Web-fugered pitcher
than stories began to come up from
ClOVeTdale of the remarka BILE pitchin'
Of Elnathan Enders and the disap-
pearin' drop. The stories said't the
ball left his hand slow an looIin' as
big as q pUmlSin, but by the time it
had got up TO the batter it was the size
q a marble an goin' like lightning.
Some said il really disappeared al
together, an some said it squeezed
down TO the size o q double 3 shot.
but the majority o the stories was that
it stayed in sight though very small.
Elders chief trouble was with his
Setcher, who he said had a gross,
worldly mind that didn't stay in the
proper receptive mood or he Cd SEE the
ball through all its flights an have 10
trouble ketChin' it; for the ketcher had
been fooled a number O times. thinking
he had a. ball the size of a marble to
ketch, only 20 find a regulation sphere
an a couple O busted fingers IN his
hands after hid closed onto II.
Concentrate vow durn inro- SEN
sitiveness onto me, If GU got any. you
EaIoot," EnderS'd say TO his ketcher
when them things happened. Let
your hull soul gaze into my eyes an al
low your hull bein' to be dominated