The Washington herald., 1910-07-06
INSIDE" BASEBALL
Foxy Clarke Griffith Hands
Out the Dope.
UPON TwIRLER DEPENDS GAME
Strategy of the Managers In PIac-
ing Field for Batter Hal Chase on
Brown TaILs-What the High
Ianderz Are Doing.

Ever since the Baltimore Orioles of
amazing memory began to anticipate
plays instead OF merely waiting for them
TO happen there has been a lot OF talk
about inside ball"
II has been said that the Chicago Cubs
are the legitimate successors to that
lightning fast outfit from the oyster
town, and every once In a while some
Chicago gent will arise 20 prove that
Frank Chance and his hired men have all
the inside ball'' in the world sewed up
in a sack. copyrighted. patented. and
copper riveted forty ways from the home
plate. This is not strictly true, but it
is true that the baseball OF to-day is
miles and miles ahead of the baseball of
fifteen years ago. when the main idea
was to tear the trade mark off the ball
and take a chance that the other fellows
wouldn't be able 20 hit quite so hard.
There is no question about F. lie Roy
Chance being quite a young strategist-
He is all that and then some on the side
He doesn't sit down and wait for some
thing to happen; he knows what ought
TO happen, and then he lays plans TO
meet that happening a little more than
/ half way. Inside baseball as practiced
I by Frank Chance. John McGraw, Hughey
Jennings. and the old fox. Clarke Griffith,
| depends TO a great degree on forcing the
hitter to do certain thing and outguess-
ing the opposition.
A team OF second-rate performers,
working together as one man, under the
guidance of a baseball general Ike
| Chance or McGraw, or Griffith viii worry
any team in either league.
/ Foxy Clarke Griffith opened up the other
| day and said a few interesting things
about inside baseball Somebody had
been trying to tell the old boss that in
side baseball was more OF less the bunk.
Not on your Paris panel" said the
manager Of the Reds. But you've got
10 have some regular pitchers before
you can pull of ouch OF the inside stun. -
Depends Largely on Pitchers.
| With a pitcher in the box who isn't ex-
actly sure when he lets the bah so where
it is going TO cross the plate. il AZ all.
/ it isn't much use to attempt the fielding
| shifts practiced by the Cubs and Giants.
| With a pitcher who can cut the plate at
will, or keep the ball over any corner, as
/ he chooses, the game becomes as soft as
a conjurer's trick when the cOnjurer
I forces the victim 10 take the card out OF
/ the deck which was selected for him at
/ the beginning
! Suppose, now, that the eminent Mr..
/ Brown is pitching. The Cubs are signal
| ed that he is going to throw a fast one
on the outside OF the plate. The whole
/ team swings over to meet a hit toward
right field. The action is reversed for a
curve on the inside. The Cubs have
about 80 per cent the best OF il before
| the batter swings his club.
But" says Mr.. Griffith. the Fox.
there isn't thing doing when the pitcher
/ cannot control the ball. The minute he
] loses control all your inside stuff is
knocked into a cooked hat"
AS an evidence Of this, give a look al
/ the pitching record OF Mordecai Brown OF
| this season. The star twirler for the
/ Cubs has not been effective and even
] with the great inside ball" OF the Cubs
| behind him, he has been trimmed nearly
every time he has stuck his nose into the
box. II Mordecai had been able to hold
/ that ball of his and put it squarely
where he intended to throw it, he would
| have gone away in his usual stride.
! Pitching control is the secret Of the
/ defensive side Of inside baseball.
I There is also offensive inside ball, as
/ well as defensive, and this makes runs
/ instead Of cutting them off.
Bully If They Make Good.
Every manager and team captain has
his own ideas about this sort Of play. Hal
Chase believes that it is mighty good
thing to mix up the plays once in a
while. For instance. it has become the
absolute rule in baseball. with a man on
! first base and none out, 10 sacrifice the
runner to second base. The opposing
! players lay for a bunt. because they
know that the second man up viii try
| TO lay one down with an eye toward get
ting the man TO second, even # It costs
a life to the hitter. Chase believes that
! il is a clever thing 20 mix up The OBJ
posing team when confronted with a
situation Of this sort
That is why the Highlanders do not
always attempt to sacrifice a man.
Every little while the second man III
Will try 10 slam a single through the
infield.
Other managers refuse TO allow thei.
players TO do this They count the
chance of the double play and believe
that 1t IS good baseball to advance the
runner 10 second rather than take a
chance on getting two men out.
Some managers viii not try the squeeze
/ play. The Highlanders revel in that bit
Of baseball strategy and If the hitter
| can dump the ball any old place inside
the lines the fans Will rise up and say,
Bully! Immense" But II the hitter
happens TO miss--oi yoi! What a rotten
thing that squeeze play is,
When you come right down to cases on
the proposition inside baseball is lovely
when II works, and Mr.. c. Griffith, old
he fox OF the big leagues. put his finger
on the heart Of the whole thing when he
| said:
with the Mathewsons and Browns
working you can use stgns and shifts and
signals galore. When your pitchers have
| perfect control OF the ball you can plug
up the grooves, but If the twirler is I'M
steady-good nightT'