Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-05-09


crisis. He must not only be an ordi.
narily good receiver, able to hold the
speed Of the twirler, but he must be
game to the core, not afraid to stand
up at the plate when 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
foul ball is going and not afraid to
bump into the grand stand, If neces-
sary, to catch that ball after making
a long, hard run for it.
young catchers would do we'll to
study carefully the way great back
stops in the game today handle them
Selves" says Manager Chance of the
champion Cubs. "Catchers are, be-
lieve, the hardest men to ind when
you are going out after q really great
player, and more depends on them
than any other single cog in the base
ball machine. It is easy enough to
find 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
first tryout In the big league display
weaknesses that are almost impossi-
Bile to overcome. For instance, II a
man is SO built that he is afraid Of
getting spiked by base runner COM
ing IN from third; who 10 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
rs 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
eluding the catcher, though the latter
may have had the ball in plenty Of
time to put 1t on him. The demand
which il 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. ID
There are many catchers' in the
business with great throwing arms
and still they are not regarded as par.
ticularly dangerous; y, 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 we'll 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
~ to take a chance on5nipping him OF
second at critical moments Great
catchers seldom throw to bases pro
miscuously. They 60 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
a man more than the one who Id con-
tinually heaving to the inielders 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 conserve
tive.
1.-THE greatest Illustration of the
value Of the conservative throwing
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
ball field. We had q. lead of two
runs, the Tigers not having scored.
That inning OLeary led of with a
base hit over Tinker, and Crawford
shot another between short and third.
Cobb was up and the situation was
dangerous. Every one remembers how
Brown forced Cobb to bunt toward
third, forcing O'Leary out at that bag,
Then came Kings great throw to
Tinker, at second, catching Crawford
OF that bag and removing the posi-
bility of a run for the American
leaguers should Claude Rossman, hit
safely. Those two plays --Cobb's hunt
to Brown and Kings throw catching
Crawford insured the second worlds
championship for the Cubs. w.. ~,
"Outguessing q batter and knowing
in which direction foul ball il. going
are two things no catcher can ever
be taught. There are certain general
rules about how to mix up curves,
speed and slow balls to q batter. but
they are not absolute, and it t. M to
the catcher to figure out what it Il
the man with the stick IL looking for.
and then cross him. There II whore
hsad work counts II it doesn't any.
whore else.
"A catcher can be taught the weak.
nesses Of the batsmen. but he must
possess this quality as well or he Il
merely . mechanical player. The abil.
ity to know which way to turn to 20
after . foul ball II intuitive: It cannot
49, <a,.~hx - a~~v -*Sf