The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-07-27
SMALL PITCHING
STAFFS CARRIED
Modern Managers Rely on Fewer
but Dependable TwlrlerS,
IDLENESS PROVES INJURIOUS.
Foolish to Have Many Slab Artists
While Most Of Them Sit on the
eeneh-Pilots In Big League Be-
ginning to Realize Folly of II.


eeneh-Pilots In Big League Be-
ginning to Realize Folly of Il.
That long pitching strings are no
longer necessary and that four or Eve
dependable men are worth two or
three times that number of ordinary
twirlers is a fact.
Previously the necessity of having
seven men, each one ready at all times
| to take his turn at box, was a point
that was emphasized by managers.
And during last season, too, the major
league manager who did not have at
least six available men for the box
figured that he was heavily handicap
ped in the fignt for the coveted bunt-
ing.
Things have changed, however. The
wonderful work Of the Pittsburg
pitchers last season and the now very
patent fact that four twirlers prac-
tically did the brunt of the work for
the Pirates have given managers and
owners cause for believing that too
many pitchers are worth hardly as
much as none at all.
Last season. with Camnitz, Willis,
Maddox and Leitield performing in
their turn. the Pirates were up in the
race throughout the entire season, and
they finally drew away easily from all
other competitors at the end. In pre-
vious years 1t was the pitching of
Mordecai Brown, Pfeister, Overall
and Reulbach that won for the Cubs,
and every one for years has realized
that Christie Mathewson has been the
real mainstay of the Giants. This
only goes to show the value of one
good pitcher to a team. With four
dependable boxmen the ordinary man.
ager should be reasonably well salts
fed.
In 1909 the Red Sox had one of the
biggest strings of pitchers in the coun-
try. They had Hall, Karger, Wood,
Cicotte, Matthews, Arellanes. Pape,
Wolter and Schlitzer at the seasons
end, while previously there were Ryan,
} Chech, Steele and Morgan as members
of the pitching corps. And yet had
; Morgan pitched the ball for Boston
that he did for the Athletics and Young
had been retained, these two, with
Arellanes and one other reliable man
to take his turn in the box, might easi.
ly have beaten out both the Athletics
and Tigers and brought the pennant tc
Boston.
The better part of the pitching fol
Connie Mack's club was done by foul
men, Plank, Bender, Krause and Nor
gan, and they are doing the same thing
this yeS. Four or five regular meT
on any team would be worth double as
much as a string of nine or ten mer
with only one or two of them in first
e class pitching condition.
Too many pitchers are a hindranct
{ instead of a help. If Cicotte, WOOD
and Wolter had been in shape to hell
out Arellanes last season the pitching
staff of the Red Sox would not have
: been the weakest In the American
{ league. But the wildness Of Wood, tn,
. injury to Cicotte and the bad start tina
: Wolter got in the spring handicapped
, lne team 81 he"fhS 'h"I Aieiiahes W."
= forced to do pretty nearly half tn
pitching for his team.
5 Managers and owners both are be
ginning to realize the folly Of keeping
five or six ablebodied men upon tn
; bench while the bulk of the work /
left to a couple of good men and 10
;, of second stringers. Travelling is eS
. pensive. and salaries today are at
. pretty high figure. If the work coul
= be got out of FIVE men the savin
= both in travelling expenses, salary an
; general efficiency would be consider
" able and owners would be willing I
tack a snug slice on TO the compensi
ton of the five dependable men VIII
. could 60 in and do their regular stunts