The Washington herald., 1906-10-14

Rube waddell. the gigantic southpaw OF
the Philadelphia Athletics, is a wonderful
pitcher. and has recently furnished proof
that he is now capable of pitching the
most brilliant baseball OF his entire career.
| His performance at Hartford on last
Monday afternoon. when he pitched for
the Athletics against the Washington
/ and shut them out, in behalf of charity
was a most remarkable feat. and the fact
that he struck out every man on the team
is evidence Of the effectiveness of hiss de-
/ livery.
1 II is claimed for him that the striking
out of sixteen men is new record for a
nine-inning game. but there may be some
doubt on that point.
/ The fact that eight Of the strike outs
were in succession certainly has the ap-
pearance Of a new record. but those little
details. while interesting, are not i'm
portant.
Charles Sweeney. when member Of the
/ Providence -Grays in 1884. struck out rine-
teen men fn game. but.it was an extra
inning contest.
Sweeney was also a great pitcher, but
when he began TO deteriorate he never re-
gained his effectiveness. He went steadily
down hill till he was unable to pitch 1T
al. In one Of the last games he pitched
/ the Detroits made seven home runs and
numerous other hits of his delivery.
Sweeney and WaddeH.
There is a marked difference between
Sweeney and Wadden IN that the former
! became ineffective and remained that way,
while the latter seems to lose his ability
! denly to regain hts effectiveness and pitch
with the greatest brilliancy.
That is a faculty that seems TO be pos
! sessed only by the eccentric Philadel-
phian. and his exploits In the matter Of
! losing al his ability just when he is most
sorely needed, aud then becoming exceed
/ ingly formidable when there is no neces-
\ sity FOR Il, has aroused the wonderment
OF the entire baseball community
These sudden reversals Of forrn on the
part OF the southpaw have been ascribed
+ by MS indulgent friends TO the singulari-
( ties OF disposition exhibited from time 10
/ time by the pitcher and It has been said
I in his behalf that he is nothing but a
/ good-natured big boy and would not
D
Reversal OF Form in 1905.
That is a charitable view to take of the
! case, but WsddeII will always have diff
/ Guilty In satisfactorily explaining the as
/ tonishing reversal OF form on his part
since the fan OF 1896. when the Athletics
relied on Aim to pitch effectively against
1 the Giants, and when he refrained from
/ taking part Ia the worlds series on the
/ plea Of q lame arm.
I II will be remembered that his arm was
so slightly injured by aa alleged accident
/ that he was able TO 80 on the slab early
in the spring Of 1sOs and pitch cham
pionship ball. So effective was he that
| he was in the habit Of sending his fielders
tc the bench and striking out the side.
! Those feats he has supplemented this
/ fell BY a remarkable record against .
| heavy hitting team. and II appears that
he never was more effective IN his lfe-
A short time previous 20 the worlds
So ries OF 1905 WaddelI won a tweuty-in-
ning game from the Bostons, and il is
seen that Immediately before the series
and early in the spring thereafter he was
/ in his best form.
League should Have Investigated.
He asks an Indulgent public 10 believe
that a trivial injury, the cause Of which
never was satisfactorily explained. kept
him out Of the important worlds series,
IT. which there was much money and
/ glory for him.
/ 1t was the duty OF the American League
TO investigate thoroughly the conduct Of
this man in remaining out of the world $
series, for ugly charges were made At the
time. 1t was alleged that Waddell had
been influenced to stay out OF the series
by certain persons interested in seeing
/ the Giants win.
There can be no question that had Wad-
dell pitching in his present form or the
form he showed just previously 10 the
series. gone into tho box the series would
certainly have been a bitterly contested
one. with the chances in favor OF the
| Athletics.
WaddelI is wonderful pitcher. but he
is more wonderful when he does not want