The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1910-07-28


fast arc, OF by jerking his hand at the
proper instant, make the ball go in
almost straight line. perhaps 80 feet
and zen dart suddenly down and out
ward.
There are many players, however
among them members of the Detroit
team who faced him in the final game
for the worlds championship In 1908
who believe Overall's curve a more
marvellous one. In that game the Chi
cago giant had one Of the most re
markable curves ever pitched. AT
times the ball darted down two feet
and struck the ground while the bat
ters struck more than q foot over It
overall pitches his curve with a
wide, sweeping overland swing, re
leasing the ball over the side of the
index finger as his hand turns down
ward.
The odd thing about pitching is
this-a ball which revolves In the air
appears much smaller to the eye than
one that fails to revolve and the more
rapid the revolution Of the sphere the
| smaller Il appears. The slow ball,
floating in the air and dead" looks
as big as q balloon" as everyone in
the bleachers remarks. and II does not
deceive the eye In fact II slow balls
of that variety are pitched three or
four times in succession they look so
large that an amateur can hit them
out of the lot. Successful use of that
kind Of a pitched ball consists en-.
tirely In surprising the batter, foolinl
him when he expects something else
The batter may miss the ball foot.
yet his eye is not deceived. He saw
the ball perfectly but was of balance.
Just as he was for the slow pitch
On one occasion a team playing in
Washington called on President Cleve
land. and the chief executive laughirgly
declared he could pick out the pitch
ers among his visitors by their grip.
The discovery of another kind Of
SLOW ball, and the most successful
pitched ball ever used, arose from the
fact that to deceive the eye the ball
must be made to appear small and
that revolution, and rapid revolution
at that, is necessary to deceive the
eye into the idea of smallness and
speed when It is slow. "Hoss" Rad
bourne, working on that theory, began
to develop a slow ball that revolved
rapidly. II seemed impossible, be-
cause a ball that revolves rapidly
usually has great speed. the greater
the speed, the greater the revolution.
But Radbourne, pitching for Provi-
dence. kept practising until he found
pitcher before that, and after his dis.
covery he became one Of the greatest
the game has ever known.
No one could understand his sue
cess, yet his discovery was simple.
He found that II he held the ball ex-
actly as II pitching a fast ball, with
the thumb on one side and the two
first fingers on the other, and at the
moment OF releasing It from the hand
clinched the finger tips tightly into
the seams of the ball and jerked
backward with the hand, the ball not
only would revolve rapidly but would
travel almost on a straight line-yet
slowly.
But the ultimate and greatest devel-
opment Of that slow ball was left for
Mathewson of New York, in whose
hands II became the most effective
ball ever used; the "fadeaway," which
is only a development Of the idea and
the style used by Radbourne and
Griffith, is ball which almost all the
pitchers In the country are trying
with more or less success to initiate
Yet before Mathewson learned the
trick of pitching his "fader" there was
one who pitched the same ball In even
more wonderful style. Virgil Garvin
a tall, slender young Texan, with ex
traordinarily long fingers, pitched the
ball before Mathewson, but he did
not understand It's use and worth
He pitched 1t with his middle finger
Tapped over the index finger and when
he released the ball his hand was
turned almost upside down. He
1erked the hand downward and back
; ward, the ball going over the sides OF
the Tapped fingers, giving It rapid
. revolution that resulted In the i'm
preston Of great speed.
Mathewson achieved his "fadeaway'
. by holding the ball exactly as Griffitt
, did his slow ball and releasing 1t ovei
} the side of the middle finger. BY the
sharp holding pressure and draw
, of his fingers he put the reverse Eng
lish" on the ball. causing 1t to revolvt
rapidly for distance, then lose speed
and fade" toward the ground and in
; ward like left handed pitchers slow
curve. The action of the ball is ex
. actly that of massed billiard ball
! and when the ball fades" 1t really II
striving to get grip enough on the all
! to return toward the pitcher.
. Scores Of pitchers have initiate,
/. Mathewson's "fadeaway," some will
. success. Falkenberg of Cleveland
) Willis of Pittsburg and Reulbach o
z Chicago can pitch 1t well. "Vic" VIII
' lis, a veteran, ranks as one of tn,
I cleverest of pitchers and his use o
, slow curves is revelation to younJ