New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1907-10-09
THE BASEBALL CURVE
An Old Timers Story of the
Game That First Saw 1t.
1T WAS USED BY AN AMATEUR
According to This Old Professional
Player, Arthur Cummings Was the
Young Pitcher Who Was the orisi-
nator of the In and Out Shoots.

Player, Arthur Cummings Was the
Young Pitcher Who Was the Oriai-
nator of the In and Out Shoots.
Speaking about the early history of
baseball the other day, an old time
professional player said there were
many things not known generally.
There is, for instance, the matter of
curve pitching. Who pitched the first
curved ball? No; don't name any of
the men that won pennants and got
$4,000 year. The pioneer wasn't a
professional, but an amateur-that is.
he was an amateur until his curves
made him famous.
His name was Arthur Cummings,
and he was a New York boy, tall,
thin young fellow with hair as blond
as chorus girls. How he came to
discover curve pitching don't know.
but it was generally believed after
ward that he hit on it by accident
He tried it out for the first time in
1867 in game between two scrub
teams in Washington
"The famous Excelsior club of New
York was then visiting Washington as
the guest of the old National club, and
the two played a series of games on
the old White lot Toward the end Of
the series some one suggested that the
young New Workers who had come
over with the EXcelsiors make up a
scrub nine and play nine of Wash
ington boys as sort Of comic inter
Jude.
'The suggestion was adopted, and the
New York nine consisted of four or
FIVE Excelsior substitutes and a num-
Der Of other young fellows, among
them Arthur Cummings The Wash
ington nine was made up in the main
Of players belonging to the Junior Ma
tonals, the crack amateur team Of
Washington
Cummings was rising young pitch
er, but no one thought that there was
anything remarkable about him, and
the Junior Nationals prepared to knock
him out of the box. But when the first
batsman famed out the Washingto-
mans began toslook surprised.
It's the darndest thing ever saw
said this batsman. I struck right out
at all three balls, and every one OF
them seemed to jump aside just as it
got near the plate One jumped out
ward, another inward, and the third
seemed to rise. Maybe I'm beginning
to see things
ut puzzled Jewell the catcher, too,
not to speak of Al Mills, the umpire.
Jewell caught all of the balls because
It was then the custom for the catcher
to stand far back and catch on the frst
bounce, but it made him dizzy.
The second batsman Of the Junior
Nationals went to the bat and wal
loped the air three times too AL
Mills came up close to the plate to see
what was wrong. 1t looked to him as
II Cummings were wild.
Just keep your head there be said
to the third batsman, and you'll gst
your base on balls
'This third batsman had steady
hand, and, sure enough, he got his base
ON balls. Cummings pitched the ball,
and it seemed to be coming straight
for the plate, when suddenly, Just as
It was ten feet or so away, it curved
out and missed the plate by foot.
Mills called ball
"The next ball came straight on. but
the batsman, hoping to hit it and profit
ing by his experience, swung his bat
far out. But, instead of curving out
like the last one, it seemed to jump.
1t crossed the plate on level with
the hatsrnan's ewes