Bisbee daily review., 1909-09-18


 Constitutes Good Receiver.
 The catcher Is the pivotal point of a
 iall club; on him hangs the fate of
 the game. He is the man that Is ex- pected to outguess the batter and tell the pitcher what to put over in the crisis. He must not only be an ordi- narily good receiver, able to hold the speed of the twirler, but he must bs game to the core, not afraid to stand up at the plate when a runner is tear. ing in from third attempting to score, ready to put the ball on the opponent regardless of the danger of getting spiked. He must be a good thrower to bases, and must use judgment in making such throws. He must have the intuition to know which direction 9 foul ball is going and not afraid to bump into the grand stand, if neces- sary, to catch that ball after making long, hard run for it.
 Young catchers would do well to study carefully the way great back stops in the game to-day handle them. selves" says Manager Chance of the champion Cubs. "Catchers are, I be- heve, the hardest men to find when you are going odt after really great player, and more depends on then than any other single cog in the base ball machine. It is easy enough to Ind mechanical catchers. There are plenty of them. both in and out of the big leagues; the truly great ones can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
 Too many youngsters getting their nrst tryout in the big league display weaknesses that are almost impossi- ble to overcome. For instance, if a man is so built that he is afraid of getting spiked by base runner com ing in from third, who is making a desperate effort to score, and who is going to jump in hard, feet first, there Is no way to overcome the disposition to back up from the plate to take the ball and attempt to tag the runner as he slides by, rather than block him of the rubber and put the ball on him. Many and many a game has been won and lost on exactly this kind of play, the base-runner succeeding in elQding the catcher, though the latter may have had the ball in plenty of time to put 1t on him. The demand which is becoming more and more in- sistent, that the catcher stand directly in the path of the base-runner and block him of from the plate, is what has led to the use of shin guards to protect the backstop from the injury resulting from the spikes of the run ner.
 There are many cotchers in the business with great throwing armx and still they are not regarded as par. ticularly dangerous; certainly not as great backstops The chief reason is that they do not use the proper judgment in the use of this ability. Base runners soon come to know how well any catcher throws and what liberties can be taken with him, how big lead can be taken of any base and whether the catcher is like ly to take a chance on nipping him off second at critical moments. SGreat catchers seldom throw to bases pro- They go after a base runner only when he becomes too bold and gets too far of the bag. making the play practically sure of success. Base runners soon come to fear such q man more than the one who Is con. tinualIy leaving to the infielders. The catcher who is constantly throwing to get base runners stands just that much chance of making bad and costly throws than the one who is conserva, tive. =
 "The greatest illustration of the value of the conservative throwins catcher was in the fourth game of the worlds series played in Detroit last fall between the Cubs and Tigers. The fourth inning of that game was one Of the greatest ever played on a ball field. We had a lead of two runs, the Tigers not having scored. That inning OLeary led of with . base hit over Tinker, and Crawford shot another between short and third. dangerous. Every one remembers how Brown forced Cobb to bunt toward .hird, forcing O'Leary out at that bag. Then came Kings great throw to Tinker. at second, catching Crawford ,ff that bag and removing the possi- 1ility of run for the American eaguers should Claude Rossman hit Iafely. Thoss two plays-Cobb's bunt .o Brown and Kings throw catching Crawford insured the second worlds for the Cubs.
 eOutguessing batter and knowing n which direction foul ball is going Ire two things no catcher can ever ,e taught. There are certain general jules about how to mix up curves, Ipeed and slow balls to batter, but hey are not absolute, and 1t is up to he catcher to figure out what 1t is he man with the stick Is looking for. md then cross him. There is where 1ead work counts if 1t doesn't any. where else.
 "A catcher can be taught the weak. iesses of the batsmen, but he must possess this quality as well or he is merely mechanical player. The abil. ty to know which way to turn to go liter foul ball is intuitiye; 1t cannot oe taught to any man"