Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-16
PITCHERS ARE TOO
STRONG FOR BATTERS
Good TwirIers Develop Every
Season, But Few Hard
HitterS Arise.

The development of star pitchers IS
proceeding al a fearful pace. but the
development OF star batsmen seems t.
he utterly at a standstill. At tho way
things are going there Will be regi-
ments of classy pitchers in few more
years, while the art of batting will die
out as soon the present crop Of
sturdy old hitters is extinct. On every
vacant lot in summer you can see am
bilious young pitchers at work, fling
ing, curving, learning the tricks of the
pitching trade. and so completely over
shadowing the young batsmen that big
strike-out records have become the
rule not the exception. al school and
college.
1t was Jim Hart, a few years ago, who
told an ambitious yOungSter to train him.
self for third baseman, not a pitcher.
because pitchers did not last, whereas
infielders could play the game for years
and would always be in demand. Still,
the modern pitcher, with any sort of
GOOD behavior, outlasts the modern i'll
fielder. Yes. He actually does. Despite
the wear and tear upon his arm, the
modern pitcher is good for IA longer dia-
! mond life than most of his teammates,
| and the records show il, too.
| How many men are now on the Giants
who were there when MatheWson began
| Big Six has seen Il leg on of them come
and 60 and is still good for many years.
| Wiltse, a lefthander. has been pitching
| IA long, long time. and is still capa BILE,
| though the old idea was that d lefthanded
pitcher soon broke down.
| Among the Hishlanders Jack Chesbro
only failed last summer after career
| that outwore most of the men with
| whom he started playing ball LOOK
| through the other league teams and see
how the pitchers have outlived the field
/ ers Wilhelm of Brooklyn was pitching
| at college before any man OH the Dodger
agcr. put uniform Brown. the
great pitcher of the Cubs, has outlasted
an army of in ard outiield stars.
Grif1ith's Career.
| Clark Griffith pitched, little league and
| big, for twenty years, and could prob
| ably work effectively again If he de-
| sired. Sparks of Philadelphia was pitch
| in, before his present team mates We're
off the lots. How many of the Pitts
| bllrgs have longer careers than Lever
Philippi and Wills. p1tcherS all three
] and still hllskyo
We all know that good old Cy Young
| begins his twentieth year of big league
pitching in the coming spring, and IN
Gle Cy is no SLOUGH, either. Where is
| there o. man who played in or out Held
l on the Cleveland team of lsW-where
Cy began-who is now an active factor
in the game? Bill Donovan of the Tigers
was pitcher before most of the De
| troits were even minor league recruits
Powell Howell and Rube Waddell of the
st. Louis Browns antedate a host of their
COMPANIONS while Hughes, Altrock and
Tannehill got through in this city last
summer, after many, many years OF
pitching.
Pitchers, instead of breaking early.
outlast their pals. Moreover, 1t seems
easy for the younger pitchers 10 acquire
| the tricks of the old ones, while the
| batters seem to fade into timidity and
oblivion One thing that seems evident
| to an old-timer is this: That the modern
| hatsmen in most cases do not try to get
| the pitchers goat the way the veterans
did. The vets were more terrible by far
when it came to facing a hurler. To-
day there are a few goat getters, but
not many The grim and massive front
put. by Wagner, Crawford and Lajoie
| scafes many u pitcher, while the conf
dence and mocking eagerness of Cobb
also frightens them. These fellows act as
ern batsmen simply stand at the plate
| hope that they may scratch out a single
| or draw base on balls.
Twenty years ago it was an impress
/ sive scene when Arson. Brouthers or
Pete browning came to bat with bases
full These giants of the game toted up
| huge bats, of bulk and denied fiber
ldented by the impact of a hundred
mighty drives. They sazed upon the