The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-06-09
BY HARRY HOWELL,
s.. Louis American League Club.


description Of this almost unhittable de-
vice Of the pitchers has been given the
reading public which takes an interest in
baseball At least I have never read
anything that ar all approaches lucid
explanation or description of the ball, and
read a great deal Of baseball news.
shall endeayor 20 describe as far as
lies in my power. and as far as the carry
ing virtues Of ink and paper will allow.
what the spitball really is.
Elmer Stricklett. a Californian. later
with Brooklyn. accidentally discovered
the virtues Of the ball He noticed, as
had most pitchers. that on days when the
grass was wet the ball took curious
shoots Many pitchers and players had
noticed the same thing, but Stricklett
was the first man to dream of putting
these puzzliug accidental shoots. deemed
detrimental. into a valuable portion OF
the pitchers repertoire.
He tried wetting the ball with water,
then moistening his fingers with saliva
lie found saliva superior to mere water
owing to the amount of oil it contained.
Spitter's sharp Break.
The great virtue of the spitball is that
u breaks much more sharply than any
curve bail. and that throwing il does not
weary and stifen the arm, which throw
fng the curve does. Another great merit
the epftter possesses is that it comes to
the batsman without revolving. and with
a peculiar dead heaviness which makes Il
hard TO drive even should he eaten II
fairly with the bat.
Being hit with a splitter is ten times
worse than being hit with any other sort
Of bali no matter how fast u may be.
The "spftter" comes with the dun. dead
penetrating Ecaviness Of lead, while the
curve balls have rotation or english
rpon Them. take ''bite" of jhe object
thev strike. and bound away. Not SO the
splitter" tt has no english on 1t, and
sinks dead f.
one day LIST fan I threw spithaii
n q batter. Spencer caught g. A runner
was stealing second. Ed threw 10 stop
him. He got his fingers upon the exact
spot I had mine-Qp the moistcned p2T-
tion-and losing control. hit me IN the
hack as [ stopped TO let him throw ovT
my head That bail almost went through
me I could feel it for two months. A
drv ball would not have done more tnan
make a painful bruise.
TO pitch a perfect spitbal you must
have q hall with "a perfect cover new
one is best for its purpose While You
can throw the suItters with all sorts or
balls. "a wingv OF rough surface Of cover
makes Il uncertain. You see, you must
have a perfectly smooth surface 10 slip
the first two fingers over The least o.-
of rorghness is liable 10 spoil the break.
and bang, your ball goes 90 the fence.
Must Not Grip seams.
You must not touch the seams when you
want 70 throw a splitter. This is an in
version Of all pitching practices. for in
throwing all other balls we want a good
rough seam. If YOU want 20 throw a spit
Ter never grip it between the seams.
You must not use a full swing as when
YOU throw the curve, or even three
quarter motion of the arm. The splitter
must he thrown with a smart short mo-
ton ~ the shoulder, and a snap of the
wrist The fact that the two first fingers
have really no influence upon the ball de-
prives 1t Of life and spin. II goes away
with good speed. but. being without spin.
there is nothing i'm the ball itself to help
carry II along
Every one who has thrown q ball with
any degree Of skill appreciates how much
q certain twist or spin helps it on its way.
i YOU want 60 make q ball carry afar.
Won let it slip over the end Of your two
80 go - -. a.. -.
Of this is that after the ball carries fifty
feet or so 10 will catch the banked air
anu 'p -. -. -
e.. ~. ,t., 80. - ....
ID ~ -. 80 - ~ t.,
= -. 80 49,, slr,. 49, H.. r,,..
-, 49, 49, .,.r.-. ~, -
So - ~, D., ,. .,,
-. &C.. sIl1.,,.. 10 ,r,,. I'D r--,,l
-. ,.r - 80 go 10. r, g. -.
--.t,1I ~. ,f.-,, md r,o-5 70 l,i+ Inn, ne
-. -.-.,..g,,,sf,. rar,erl,a5 rgrd q, ,e.
v, nc. No., erec5 and n gsrt,f. Tor,
torcr r.. ee- g.. T. the Wind lie batin.
80, 3, min not v-,rl- R-t tho ola srfttcy
= ,r-,--,.- v..ftr Won
The snlthail is almost an exact inver-
sion Of the old raise" Instead OF the
fingers imparting a spin 20 the ball they
hafug rbrfcated. have no influence what.
e,er rra7 IT. Therefore fine hall leave.
-. - -,..t- .,f.,.,r,,,.1,. ~, ..,,;,, nh.
,.. 49,, E.. A., .,,,.-, cd. +h. {-f.,.f .-,
Ie,r.v Unmarried N II nv vour sbouIde,
dies IL has nothing 10 carry fl floating
So it ducks" rather than shoots and
no living man can hit it.
I can uGthfully say that l have never
yel h3' perfect StI''a" h't on me
com. - '-e, l''.H -, iolI vi one
.-t 1 10" ~ --'.'. ..,.1i ~, !.
.. o. $50. =. &c s.
u-5'N' ''7'''' ''' man ''''' Cd ''''- d. 'oi
"
no" nan" d Is ~ it,l mag 'e una siiie'
"IeA any catcher VIII 's" you in'i IL is
So'-s 'l'''9 'SSI.5.5 10 go, aI.u ',''.'