The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1910-09-01
HOW TO WIN GAMES.
By ED. WALSH,

Whatever success I have had in
baseball is due to two things; first. the
patience and confidence in me shown
by President Comiskey and Manager
Jones, and second, hard study and
hard work.
When 1 came into the American
League, was a raw, green fellow.
strong and willing, but what I didn't
know about baseball would have made
good pitchers out of half a dozen fell
lows If ii could be scattered around.
To be frank, l was ready to run out
before ever was called upon to pitch
The very sight Of the other pitchers
and their work was enough to scare
me. l knew my arm was as strong
as theirs, and that I had just as much
speed as any of them, but il scared
me to hear them talk on the bench
about what they were doing, about
their mistakes, and how plays should
nave been made. From the first, both
Jones and Comiskey seemed to think
that some day / would be a good
pitcher, and it was their confidence
in me that kept me there. After /
got used to the surroundings 1 settled
down to watch what the other pitch
ers were doing. 1 had sense enough
not to ask many questions, but to
keep my eyes and ears open and try
to learn all 1 could. In those days
pitchers, men who did things, and
who used their heads all the time.
Every time ! saw one of them pull
off something 1 made a sneak over to-
ward the clubhouse and tried il my
self, to see whether or not I could do
il. 1 worked as hard in those days
as ever a man worked in a mine or a
mill. / was determined ] was going
to be pitcher. Comiskey and Jones
both coached me, told me what TO do.
and how to do it, but they could not
make me a pitcher. A fellow has to
do that for himself. When 1 began
TO use the spitball I worked like a
horse. I must have pitched two or
three games day trying to get control
and make that ball go where I wanted
it TO go. / used to get to the grounds
in the mornings before any Of the
others came and pitch for an hour
or more, trying every way to improve.
Then when they went away 1 would
pay some boy TO catch me for a
while longer.
No one ever watched baseball closer
than 1 did. When some good pitcher
for a visiting team was working l
never lost chance to crawl as close
behind the catcher as possible to see
what he was doing, to study how he
pitched to certain batters and how he
used his curves. Many games l spent
hiding under the stand behind the
plate to see what was being done, and
after that 1 would spend hours trying
TO do il myself 1 think spent near
balk motion that was not a balk, and
finally / succeeded. 1 defy any UNI
pire to say honestly that balk. and no
one can do it without straining the
rules.
was three years, almost on the
bench before 1 got my chance and
when it came / was ready. 1 was as
confident as If l had been pitching
ali the time. And then, after / had
become a winner, / did not stop, but
kept hustling and working and trying
10 learn more all the time. 1 knew
that a fellow must work and improve
steadily, must learn something new
or the batters will learn to hit what
he has. So / kept at it, and managed
TO hold up my end. So you can see
it was nothing but hard work and
hard study that brought me success,
and belieTe any boy with speed and
a Willingness to work can make him
self a winning pitcher if his heart is
in the game.