Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-16
PRETT|EST FEATURE
OF A BALL GAME
Throwing Excites Little Com.
ment, But the Accurate
Tossing Is Remarkable.
By Umpire Billy Evans.

OF the sport.
When one carefully considers how fast
a ball must be handled for the sue
cessfu completion of any play 1t Is
really wonderful the way the Ameri-
cans perform on the diamond. The
precision with which they can hurl the
base ball under any and all conditions
is truly marvellous.
one who has never played base ball
cannot fully appreciate the difficulty
of accurate throwing Any one who
has ever played base ball and then for
some reason drops out OF the game for
n year or more can justly appreciate
the situation. and soon realize how hard
il is 10 get back to old-time form. Ac-
cUrate throwing is a test of the eye. just
as much as the arm, often more so
There are many men playing base ball
today who have strong throwing arms.
yet are unable to get good results, be-
cause of their inability to judge dis
lance
The average American fan likes to
sec good throwing. but the ability to
hit and run the bases makes much
more favorable impression on him. Take
any foreigner who has never seen Il
hail game to a major or minor league
contest and invariably the first thing
that attracts his attention Is the wonder
full strength and accuracy of the Amer1-
can throWers.
/ happened To be working a game in
Philadelphia several years ago, when a
number of prominent English cricket
players were in attendance. During the
practice periods the EnSlishmen simply
maryeled at the hurting of the ball. ana
the way the players, especially the out
fielders could bound the ball to the plate
To them. this department of the game
was the one big feature of base ball.
The biggest surprise for the English
men. however. was reserved until the
last After they had watched the in
feeders. outfielders and catchers heaSe
the ball in all directions, from every
Imaginable position. Connie Mack sum
moned Pitcher Jimmy Dygert from the
playing field. and invited the guests uE-
der the g-andstand to see Dygert give
an exhibition of throwing the SOFT
ball While some twirlers have i'een
more successful in winning games pv
tht. use of the splitter" it's a good bet
that no one using the vapor float can Go
more with the ball than Jimmy Dysert.
This wonderful little fellow has made
Il careful study OF the possibilities or
the spit ball. how by wettins IT IN
different WAYS. by using varying AMOUNTS
of saliva and by delivering the ball II ON
various angles he could make the bail
break just about as he pleased
quite number OF the foreigners were
REGARDED as crackeriacks at the cricket
game. and while they could see that
thc ball had a peculiar break 10 it, still
few OF them were confident that 1t would
he possible TO hit the ball atout as easily
a. any other curve. Those deslrous or
trying to connect with one of DvEe-s :
.tSpitiers'' were given the privilege, the
largest bat in the Philadelphia collection
being given them. 1t l remember cor
rectly. one fellow made foul. One OF
a-tr tn try q
tvgert and he was supplied with mask,
glove and protector. He managed TO
catch about every other ball, but the
ones he failed to capture hit him either
on the protector or wrist. so that at the
conclusion of the experiment he was sat
isiied that he had never been cut out for
d catcher
People in the grandstand or bleachers
do not appreciate the feat, when WaS-
ner, Bridwei1. Lajoie. Lord. Bush or any
of the other star infielders stop difficult
drive. throw the ball without recovering
their poise, and successfully retire men
like Cobb, Speaker, Collins or, in fact,
any other player possessing enough class
TO secure a berth in the major leagues.
Practically nine out of every ten men III
the majors run the distance from nome
to first ninety feet. i'll the nelgnbor hood
OF four seconds. This means that the IN
fielder handling n drive from the batter
must get the ball. often hurl 1t twice the
distance the batter has TO run and get II
IL complete the out.
Ever since the Inauguration of the
spit ball there has been u continual
cry against its use. because OF the de-
crease in batting and the TACT that IL
klowed the game up considerably. Lit
tie mas been said about the relation be-
tween the use of the splitter and the
throwing end of the game Ask any in
tie,der in any league what is the hardest
l. n
has TO contend with and a majority OF
them will tell you without thc slightest
hesitation that nothing IL so difficult
~ the accurate throwing OF BAH That
= covered with saliva.
y great many OF the pitchers using the
eNpectorator put great deal OF saliva
the ball To make the break all the
more deceptive. Often such ball comes
10 the in:icider on the first bound in very
wet VI slippery condition Ordinarily he
has not sufficient time to look the ball
over and select a dry place, 50 II he hap
pens to be unfortunate enough TO get hold
of wet spot on the ball there is nc
telling what the direction of the throw
Will be; it's simply d matter of luck
II may hit some distance in front of the
player TO whom IL has been thrown. oil
may soar ten feet or more over his head
Few infielderS are more accurate thar
Bobby Wallace of the st. Louis Browns
yet / saw Wallace make a heave that
is Just about the record for the New
York American League grounds Howell
was working for the Browns that day
and he was more than using the saliva
The game was close. both pitcher.
were practically unhittable. the Brown.
leading by Il run. Late in the game
with two down and two on the bases. one
az the New Workers. hit u slow boundns
grounder To Wallace. Retirement of The
batter practically meant the winning o
the game. and as he was quite a fas
man Wallace was compelled to hurry TIL,
bah Unfortunately for him. and tn,
Browns he got hold of the spit ant
the bal! went on a line into the first has,
bIsachers about half way up. The gam,
was over. the Browns had lost, but Mr.
Spi. Ball, not Wallace. should have beer
credited with the error.
Its very Questionable if there is any
man playing ball today who has any
thing on Joe birmingham of the Cleve
land team 10 throwing. Birmingham
has wonderfully strong throwing arm
AID even better, combines marvellous
accuracy with distance. II is not al
uncommon thing for base runners I,
stand fat-footed on the bases when tn.
pill is driven i'll the direction of Birming
ham. During his career in the Amer
throwing that cannot be appreciated D,
The telling, but must be seen
The extent to which accuracy can IL
developed by major league players wa
wei illustrated BY little incident tina
took place at one of rile American IIeaSu
parks last year. During the battlnl