Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1909-01-20
CLASSY cATcHERs NEEDED.
Places Waiting Behind tha--Bat for
Youngsters.

Young man, if you aspire to a ca
reer as professional ball player, learn
TO catch. If you want to get a good
job, at a fat salary, get a mask and
mitt and try to pick 'em off behind the
bat There are more catching jobs
and fewer good catchers floating
around loose than any position on the
diamond.
The recent trade of Lou Criger for
Hippo" Spencer and $4,000 in real
money emphasizes the lack of really
classy catchers. Here is Criger, an old
man as baseball goes, not overly
strong man so skinny he appears in
imminent danger of breaking in two
every time he throws to second base,
a man with not mora than three or
four years of baseball service in him
at the most commanding $4,000 and a
live young person in trade. Why? Be-
cause he is a real catcher.
Every ball club in either major
league has at least one top-notch
pitcher who can NOV down the oppo-
sition with considerable ease, and
whose services would command many
dollars if he were put on the market.
How many good catchers are there
that is, just catchers, with no refer
enee to hitting or base running abil-
ity?
Street tho Goods.
fDAs AAOhlS Dd0 OAl5CLs &uACdbO has
Billy Sullivan, and Washington has
young Mr.. Street, a youth SO far as
major league experience goes. Look
over the list of catchers owned by the
other American league clubs and see
how many catchers there are in a rel
alive class with Young. Walsh john
son., White, Waddell, Joss, Rhoades,
Tom Hughes, Powell, Donovan and
half dozen other top-notch pitchers.
The classy catcher is a rare bird. 1t
often looks as though the magnates
spent too much time and money try
ing to build up a great pitching staff
without seeking good receivers. OF
course, these same good receivers are
few and far between. Probably the
chances of injury and the thankless-
ness of the job make youthful baseball
aspirants steer clear cf the catching
position. Go out and catch a good
game and you are credited with do
ing what you we're paid for. Have a
few passed balls and n axe a wild
throw or two and the pGpulace rises
up and howls it's a shame such a good
pitcher can't have little support.
The catcher, rather than the pitcher,
however, is the handspring of the
baseball machine. Being stationed be-
hind the batsman, he has greater OPP
portunities than the pitcher for OBJ
serving what a certain batter can and
cannot hit. Knowing the man with
whom he works, he can tell If his
curves are breaking right. can make
him work slowly when inclined to hur-
ry and can make him hustle when he
inclines to slowness.
Watcher of Bases.
The catcher is the chief watcher of
the bases when occupied, passes the
signals for the pitcher throwing to
catch runners too far from the bags
and signals the proper time for deliv-
ering the ball to the bat.
Aside from all this mental effort he
must snatch off any sort of curve the
pitcher lets loose, mus dig up wild
pitches that go into the ground and
must chase the elusive foul fly. He
must block runners who slide into the
plate and must take his turn at bat.
These few things are calculated to
keep a man of average intellect and
physical ability quite busy.
Yet the catcher, so the fanatic thinks,
is a mere machine to stop the curves
the pitcher throws and the batter
misses. Catching is a difficult Job in
more ways than one, and good catchers
are scarce. How often has it been OBJ
served that many young pitchers go
along as only ordinary performers I'M
til some smooth heady catcher COM
mences to work with them, and then
suddenly they blossom out as stars.
Offer Billy Sullivan and Ed Walsh
for sale, and it's dollars to little green
peas two clubs would break for SuIli-
van, while one would go for Walsh.
The pitcher would be a good man with
any catcher who could hold him. but
the catcher could take a lot of ordi-
nary piachers and get good work out
Of them.