The Washington herald., 1909-05-30

AC1As ~
The catcher Is the pivotal point OF 2
bah club. or him hangs the fate Of the
game. He Is the man that is expected
10 outgGess the batter and tel the pitch
er what 70 put over IN the crisis. He
must not only be an ordinarily good re-
ceiver. able 70 hold the speed OF the
tsvfrler, but he must be game % the core,
not afraid to stand up ct the plate Whe1
q runner is tearing in from third At
tempting 10 score. ready 70 put the bail
on the opponent regardless OF the danger
OF getting spiked he must be q good
thrower 10 bases and must uss judgment
| in making such throws. He must have
the intuition TO know which direction
foul bah Is going and not afraid 70
bump into the grand stand, Il necessary,
/ 10 catch that ball after making g long.
| hard run for It.
Young catchers would 60 vel 70
study carefully the way the great back
stops IN the game to-day handle then
selves" says Manager Chance. OF the
/ champion Cubs. .'Catchers are. 1 be-
4 2.
are going out after e really great player.
and more depends On them than any
other single cog ID the baseball machine
II is easy enough 10 ind mechanical
catchers. There aFe plenty OF them both
IN and cut Of the big leagues; the truly
great ones can be counted or the fngs-s
OF one hand.
Youngsters Generally Weak.
| s,--. - -. --...ss. .a-.s-
first trycut in the big league display
weaknesses that are almost impossible 10
overcome For instance, Il e man Is 80
built that he Is afraid OF getting spiked
by a base runner coming IN from third,
who IS making g desperate effort 70
score, and who Is going 20 jump IA hard,
feet first, there IS no way 20 overcome
the disposition % back - from the plate
to take the ball and attempt 20 tag ths
runner as he slides BY, rather than
block him Of the rubber and put the
ball IN him Many and many e game
has been won and lost on exactly this
kind OF play. the base runner sucCeed-
ing IL eigding the catcher, though the
latter may have had the bah In plenty
Of tine 70 put It on HIM The demand.
which is becoming more and more IN
I
in the path OF the base runner and
block him or from the plate. IS what
, has led 70 the use OF shin guards 10 pro-
tect the bsckstOp from the injury re-
suIsing from the spikes Of the runner.
There are many catchers q the busi-
ness with great throwing arms and stili
they are not regarded as particularly
! dangerous; certainly not as great back
stops. The chef reason is that they &c
not use the proper judgment II the use
OF this ability. Base runners soon come
70 know how vel any catcher throws
T aid what. Liberties can be taken with
hin, how big a lead can be taken OF
any base and whether the catcher 3;
/ likely 70 take chance OF nipPiug hin
OF second al critical moments. Grea'
catchers seldom throw 70 bases PTomis
cuOusly- They 90 after a base rInuei
4 only when ne becomes too bold and gst.
Il too far OF the bag, making the plsy
= practically sure OF success. Base run-
uers soon come 20 fear such e man unor'
: than the one who Is continually heaving
y 70 the iu6elders. The catcher who I
Q constantly throwing 20 get base runner.
stands Just that much more chance o.
e making bad and costly throws than thi
. one who IS conservative
5 An Illustration.
d The greatest illustration of the valui
d OF the conservative throwing catcher VIZ
: in the fourth game OF the worlds serie
l. played IN Detroit last fau between II
= Cubs and Tigers The fourth inning @
le that game was one OF the greatest. # no
= the greatest, ever played on q bal feld
:. We had q lead OF two runs. the Tiger
K not having scored. That Inning O'Lear
- led OF with q base hit over Tinker au
Crawford shot another between sbol
= and third Cobb was up and the sifus
81 ton was dangerous Every ore rsmem
P bers how Brown forced Cobb 10 bun
:, toward third. forcing O'Leary out az tha
" bag. Then came Kings great throw z
- Tinker. at second. catching Crawford Oi
- that bag and removing the possibility O
a -uu for the American Leaguers shouI
> Claude RossmaE hit safely. Those w
q plays-Cobb's bunt 10 Brown and king
,e throw catching CraWford-insured u
7, second worlds championship for e
In Cubs.
= "Outguessing a batter and knowing 3
which direction a foul BAH Is going ar
- two things no catcher caa ever be tsugh
81 There are certain general rules abOJ
ne how 20 mix Up curves, speed, and sl0
u balls TO q batter. but they are rot absC
20 Lutte, and Il is ur 10 the catcher 70 Agur
7y out what Il IS the man with the stick
y looking for. and then cross hin Ther
=. is where head work counts Il 4 dOesn
40 anywhere else
ID a catcher can be taught the veal
he nesses OF the batsmen. but he must pos
ct sess this quality as ven OF he is merei
al a mechanical player. The ability TO kne'
which way 20 turn 10 90 after foul ba
re is intuitive; st cannot be taught TO an
er man."