The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1907-12-04
THE BASEBALL CURVE.
An Old Timers Story Of the
Game That First Saw It.
IT WAS USED BY AN AMATEUR
According to This Old Professional
Player, Arthur Cummings Mas the
Young Pitcher Who Was the Oriai.
nator Of the In and Out Shoots.

T'dyeT' HTtuuT 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
10000 a 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, a tall,
thin young fellow with hair al blond
as a chorus girls. How he came to
discover curve pitching l don't know,
but it was generally believed after
ward that he hit on it by accident.
He tried 1t out for the first time in
1867 in a 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 n suggested that the
young New Workers who had come
over with the Excelsiors make up a
scrub nine and play a nine Of Wash
ington boys as a sort of comic inter
lude.
The suggestion vas 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
tionals, the crack amateur team of
Washington.
cummings was a rising young pitch
err. 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 washington
mans began to look surprised.
It's the darndest thing / yer saw
said this batsman. Il struck right out
at all three balls, and every II 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
1T puzzled Jewell, the catcher, too,
not to speak of Al Mills, the umpire.
Jewell caught all of the balls because
1t was then the custom for the catcher
to stand far back and catch on the first
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 ooked to him as
il Cummings We're wild.
"'Just keep your head there he said
to the third batsman, and you'll get
your base on balls
This third batsman had a 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 rs
~ was Z lCtt VI 81 Nv ~ N"i ~
out and missed the plate by Il foot.
Mills called a 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 a level will
the batsman's eyes.
THAT scared him, and he just stood
there without making a move until 4
succession of wild balls sent him t
first base. The fourth batsman struck
out so easily that it was pathetic.
Well, sir, Cummings began to gel
more control over the ball after tina,
first inning, and Mills had to admi'
that it was coming over the plate; but
except by accident, not a single Junior
National batsman could touch it. Il
jumped; 1t sank; it wabbled from side
to side. Mills rubbed his eyes and won
dered how the thing was done. Cum
mings merely smiled.
"In the fifth inning one of the Ma
ttonals by dumb luck landed or the
sphere and drove it into the next coun
ty. There were two men On bases a
the time, and this home run brought
them home. That gave the Nationals
three runs. So far as l know, they
made no other runs in the whole game
after it was all over the whole
town buzzed about Cummings queer
pitching. AS for him, he was as silen'
rs the grave.
"'How do you make the ball curve:
asked a hundred persons.
docs it curve?' Cummings woul,
say, i~nnocent-like.
And then he would shut up and be
come a clam.
when he got back to New YorE, III
was signed by the champion Athletic
and became their star pitcher. Otha
pitchers watched him and got or t
the trick, but it was three years befos'
anybody did it as we'll as he. Duri.:
those three years his team kept TIL
championship.