Omaha daily bee., 1906-02-14
CRACK PITCHERS OF PAST
Stars Of the Diamond Whose Names Are
Lovingly Recalled.
MEN WHO WON FAME At BASE BALL
Charles sweeney's Jncaualcd strike
out Record and Features OF the
Work of other Great
Tuirlers.

Christopher Mathewsons remarkable
pitching In the worlds series last fall,
which will not be forgotten by the present
generation of base ball fans, has been the
subject of an interesting discussion among
several old timers who recall some of the
performances of star twirlers during the
last thirty years In shutting the Athletics
out three times in succession many experts
have credited Mathewson with the greatest
feat in the pitching line ever recorded. In
many respects II was an Incompatible
piece of box work. but in days gone by
there were pitchers who were Just as SEN
sational and masterful George Washing
ton Bradley, now a Philadelphia policeman
was the star pitcher of the st. Louis team
back in 1886. He was noted shut-out
pitcher and whitewashed the Hartford club
three days in succession. John Clapp was
his catcher and together they made ia
nous battery. 1t was seldom that CLUB
played a series In the Mound City without
receiving a string of goose eggs from Brad
ley's effective twirling.
Going back even further, it Is matter
of record that the Boston club won the
"pennant" or rather the championship, IN
1872 1878, 1874 and 1875, with A. G. Spalding'
now a millionaire as the only pitcher. In
1875 Spalding pitched IN every game played
by the Bostons on their own grounds ana
won them ali. He had superb control OF
the ball used the old underhand delivery
and bowled the heavy slusgers over with
n "slow raise" It was in 1873 that John
NJ Ware was one of the pioneer curve
pitchers He started with Providence ana
in 1879 he was instrumental In winning the
championship almost single-handed ward
shut one team out that year without MT
and handed the whitewash brush around
literally. He had great speed. excellent
control and above all a cool, level head.
Hts curves and shoots were so deceptive
that he was one of the hardest pitchers
to handle and kept the agile Barney GILL;
gan. little Nava and Emil Gross, all great
catchers. on the jump.
wonder without Curves.
Thomas Bond, another star boxman In
the old days, was with the Atlanttcs, Hart
fords and Bostons from 1873 to 1883, nearly
every year pitching 80 per cent OF the
games for his team. Bond relied wholly
upon speed and control, coupled with mead
work. which helped him out of many
tight place But he had no curves until
couple of years before he retired from the
game Bonds best catcher was Charley
Snyder. who went behind the bat day after
day. despite the fact that such thing as
a big mitt or pillow" was not heard or
then. Tricky" Nichols was another IA
nous pitcher in those days but his best
ball a sharp, puzzling drop, was afterward
ruled out by the moguls. Then there was
the ONLY Nolan. who pitched for indian
| apolis In 1878 and shut out all the clubs at
d,rferent times that year. He had wide,
hA lad
with splendid accuracy. and had the big
hitters up in the air.
! Charley Sweeney Of the crack Providence
| team of 1884 was far ahead of his time In
point of skill He established a record of
mir eteen strikeouts in a single game which
has never been equalled Sweeney had a
| preliminary movement very much like
Mathewson's, and In the estimation Of COM
| petent Judges who remember his work in
| the box he was the most difficult man to
| hi that ever faced a batsman, and this in
| cludes the wonderful Amos Rusie and
Matty too. The keynote of Sweeney's sue
| cess was a "fadeaway" ball. identical with
| the one used by Mathewson. When he
struck out nineteen men one afternoon 1t
was not with the aid of foul strike rule,
| although the pitchers box was only forty
| five feet from the plate. This performance
was the talk of the country at the time
and Sweeney was looked upon as a genuine
phenomenon. His side partner on the Prov
| iderce team was Charley Radbuurne. "Old
Hoss" as he was Familiarity called, and he
was not far behind Sweeney in point OF
I pitching skill either Rad had wonderful
stamina. for after Sweeney deserted the
Grays he consented to pitch game after
| game. occupying the box about twenty days
| in succession and winning large percent
age OF these contests. Radbourne was an
artist at Change of pace" He could turn
| loose terrific speed when he wanted to. but
| he liked slow curve ball the best and the
way he controlled II was a marvel in it's
| way.
| whitney and Burlington.
| II was about this time that the Boston