The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1910-08-26
TOUCHING
!. SECOND
8 NH NV
BY johnny Evers and Hugh Fullerton
Continued from last weekly.
BY Johnny Evers and Hugh Fullerton
Continued from last weekly.

shifted exactly in'the opposite way.
% Every. club worthy the name use
the same system, but it is in the ma
jor leagues that it reaches its high
est perfection.
The system of signaling used by
major league teams is so involved that
it requires constant thought and a
good memory to follow the signals,
even after knowing them. No team
deres use the same signals for any
length Of time. Some players become
so skilful in detecting the signals OF
/, opponents that they sometimes COM
pei the other. club to change them two
or three times during a game.
To show how complicated the sys-
TEN is, the Chicago Cubs catchers
each have five signals which are plain
ly visible to the second baseman and
shortstop. If the pitcher gives the
signal, the catcher repeats it by a diff
ferent code. The catcher uses his
hands, feet, knees or eyes in signal
ing. The commonest code is n fiji
ger in various positions for a straight
ball. two. fingers for a. curve, a snap
ping of the thumb for a spit ball, a
closed fist for a slow ball and the
palm out If he wants a "pitch out"
the ball being thrown wide to prevent
the batter from hitting it when the
defensive side suspects or knows a
hit and run play is to be attempted.
Sometimes the signal is given by h
position of the feet. Schmidt of De-
troit, using hands to signal when the
bases are clear, signals with his eyes
when runner are on bases, also
using his hands to deceive them. In
the worlds series between Detroit
and Pittsburg last year Tommy Leach
of Pittsburg tipped off Schmidt's sig
nails repeatedly by guessing that when
Smith signals one thing with his
hands he was flashing the opposite
signal with his eyes,.
The second baseman and short stop
see the catcher's signal and verify 1t
by signaling to each other, deciding
which is to cover second base. Also
the intention of the pitcher is signaled.
to ever member of the team.
In addition the second baseman and
short stop have a code of their own,
consisting of two signals, given with
the hands, feet, arms or eyes-some-
times by spoken words that are mean.
ingless to any one else-by which
they understand which n is to- take
throws at second base. The manager
also has his private set of signals by
which he directs the movements of
the team. Each man on the defensive
infeld has at least nine signals he
must remember, most of which are
changed, in meaning at least, every
day. Each batter has six, three with
the three preceding batters and three
with the three men following him, ma
king Is signals a day, besides the
ones used by the manager. The Sec
ond baseman and short stop have
from twenty to t%wenty-four signals to
keep in mind, most of which are
changed every day and sometimes
three times during a game. In 1909,
when the hint had gone through the
American league that the New York
team was stealing signals, the Chi
cago White Sox changed signals nine
times in one game, no signal meaning
the same thing in any two innings.
There is no betrayal of secrets to
explain how these signals are used
or what they are, since they are
changed SO often that they may mean
anything. Chance usually signals for
a runner to try to steal by changing
places with some n on the bench.
He orders hit and run plays by look
ing over the bats. He orders double
steals by lifting his cap and some
times varies this by using the names
of players. If he calls "Sheckard" he
means steal, If Schultz" hit and run,
if Hoffman," go on the first ball.
1 always shall believe that Detroit
lost the worlds championship of 1909
either through bad inf1eld signaling
or through too much signaling from
the bench. Detroit's system is rather
intricate and confusing because Jen-
nings continually signals from the
bench and the coaching lines. His
signals to batters are given with
hands during his famous grass-pulling,
and with his legs while doing his ia
nous "E-yah" act. From the bench,
however, he uses sometimes spoken
words, sometimes signals with his
hands. l may be mistaken and some
of his men wrong in charging the
Tiger leader with the fatal blunders
of the series. He may have given
orders and the pitchers may have
failed to get the ball where he wanted
it to 60, or the Pittsburg players may
have performed the seemingly impos-
sible and hit balls in the wrong direc-
ton. However that may be, Leach
upset the entire defensive infield work
Of the Tigers. On three occasions,
Moriarity was running in fast Wnen
Leach, who was at bat. drove the ball
past him, and once Bush was moving
to cover second when the ball went
down "the groove" Four Of Wag-
ner's long hits in the series were to
left field and two of them at least
were made of balls that were ordered
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