Evening star., 1909-05-30
EDDIE PLANK TELLS
OF PITCHING GAME
Athletics TWirIer Shows How
a Batter Can Be
ThWarted.

left-hander works lot different from
4 right handler. This is something the
southpaw should bear in mind, says
Pitcher Plank in the Philadelphia North
American.
In the excellent article which Mr.
Sparks wrote for the amateurs he gave
lot of good advice that every9 pitcher
ought to study, no matter which hand
he throws with.
But, in addition to these. there are some
other important points that apply solely
to the portsider. and to these / shall con
fine myself in the suggestions / have to
make
Only In the last ten years has the south
paw come to his present important place
In base ball Once a left-handed pitcher
was a novelty; now he is almost as fre-
auent as his brother who hurls from the
other side.
Twenty years ago there were not more
than half dozen in the National League.
Now every club in the big show has at
least one. and some have two OF three
To large extent the coming of left
handed batters developed the need for
left-handed pitchers.
One can easily trace the progression.
More men are naturally right-handed than
left-9Q per cent, perhaps.
The boy who threw with his right hand
slso batted right-handed. Therefore, In
the early days of the professional game
not more than one two men in the bat
ting order of club would he left-handed
hitters.
Left-Handed Hitters Come.
Then managers began to find out that
the t-handed hitters enjoyed big ad
nay Ga bpyY
and Roger Connor were sluggers of the
carly days who showed what could be
done. Young players began to initiate
them. and the crop of left-handed hitters
grew, until today perha ps 40 per cent of
the big leaSuers are on that side of the
plate.
But the left-handed hitters were early
found to have one weakness. While they
could kill rfght-handed pitchers, they
had their troubles against left-handed
twrlerS, and so the hunt for southpaws
began. 1t is still on, and the southpaW
kid who has anything need not worry
about his future. lie can get plenty of
chance.
What Mr. Sparks says about control
is absolutely correct. 1t is the most I'M
portant of all pitching qualifications. No
use to try to make good without it. Get
that first.
In my career in the American League,
or. rather. since l learned to pitch prop
erly, l have never Intentionally thrown
ball square over the plate. This would
seem to me to be the most fatal of
blunders. Any time l gave hitter a
straight ball right over the heart 1t was
an accident.
When | know that a man is going to
try to hit the ball. 1 exhaust every eff
fort to work the corners. and If he has
me in a hole and is playing for a base
on balls, even then l don't pitch it ex-
actly where / think he will want 1t, for
fear he may change his mind, take a
wallop and put the ball out of the lot.
Cross-Fire Is Valuable.
Once you have control. then learn the
cross-fire.
This, as most boys know. is high, fast
ball, thrown side arm. When the ball is
pitched the southpaw takes a step to the
left 50 that when the ball is switched
up. to the plate it seems to come at the
batter sidewise. instead of straight al
most as If the first baseman had thrown
it.
When I joined the Athletics / had never
seen this delivery. Chick Fraser and my
dear friend, Doc Powers. to whom l owe
more than. ever could have been repaid
explained 1t to me. l caught the idea.
found I could control the ball. and it has
been my pitching mainstay ever since.
The crods-fire never goes squarely over
the plate. That's why IL is hard to
hit. 1t comes shooting past the eyes so
quickly that 1t takes a lightning fast
swing to get anything more out of it than
chop hit, which cannot go very far.
The ball is likely to be close to the
handle that there will be little force to
tine drive.
am speaking now of it's use against
left-handed hitterS, and this is where it
will be found to give the best results
But right-handers don't find themselves
comfortable while dealing with the cross
fire Ii shoots SO close that it will nearly
nt ty-ny a n
natural position. and once you can do
that you will come pretty close to getting
him on your staff.
The most serious weakness of many
left-handers is wildness. / have a theory
to the cause of that. In my judgment
they work too much with curves.
Any left-hander can throw a curve ball.
il is the simplest thing in the world for
him TO do. Something in the muscles of
the left arm imparts twist to the ball.
That is why you don't see many left
handed infieIders, saving at first base.
They couldn't make good at second, third
and short, for their throws would curve
so that the first baseman couldn't handle
them.
The first baseman. who, by being a left
handler is in the right position to make
quick throws for plays in the infied.
finds trouble right along from the way
his throws curve. Chase and Donohue
are samples.
With a Ieft-handed pitcher in the box
the batter is all keyed up for curves.
Fool him by using your straight one and
mixing it up with your cross-fire. You'll
find you'll deceive him, and that you also
will keep your control. which Is the most
important thing of all to do.
But don't put the straight one over.
Never do that. Put II high and close or
low and on the outside-alWays where the
particular batter will have trouble to get
good crack at 1t.
Waddell Used Straight Ball.
Rube Waddell when at his best was a
good example OF the left-hander who used
high, fast. straight ball. When he was
right Rube pitched this bail most Of the
time. and 1t had a regular hop on II.
Schreck used to be able to tell in the
first inning whether or not the Rube was
right.
On his good days he would get such a
jump on his fast one that they would aim
underneath the ball.
III I saw daylight between their bats
and the ball. Shreck used to say, with
the ball above. there was nothing to it
the Rube was there. Then they might as
well go home"
Left handlers have also been noted for
the drop ball. 1t comes easy to south
paw
The most wonderful drop ball known In
the history of base ball belonged TO left
han6er-Tommy Ramsey.
Lave Cross. who caught Ramsey when
A~f1