Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-31
BY J. ED GRILLO.

Almost every pitcher has some star
batsman's goat. and in the natural course
of events this situation frequently re-
verses itself One would marvel, perhaps.
to hear of a slabman who had famed the
mighty Cobb four consecutive times In a
single ball game In fact, the PERFORM
ance would give visions of some hercu'
lean monstrosity whose mighty arm pro-
duced such terrific speed that 1t was worth
a catcher'S life to stand behind the bat
1t must have been some superhuman be-
ing that accomplished this. you Will say
but not so 1t was a little pitcher; yes
one of the smallest men who ever wore a
major league uniform, and it was none
other than Clark Griffith.
That dimnutive twirler of a few years
back who will be in charge of our hopes
the coming season has this record. II
happened in Detroit in the season of 1909
Cobb had set the fans of Detroit on edge
by his wonderful hitting and. speed. AL
pitchers seemed to be- mere toys in his
hands. and when. one summer day. the
willy Griffith was carded to pitch. those IT
the stands sympathized in anticipation OF
what would happen when Cobb facec
him. About all Griff had in his twirl1ne
repertoire was nerve, good control and
this that he attributes the feat hereir
narrated. He struck Cobb out the frs
time he faced him on three slow ones
mixing them with fast ones. winch ne
reach. He duplicated this performance
the next time up, and again COBB fell
victim. Believing that he had nothing (
expect but speed and change or pace
Cobb set himself ready for these when M
came up for third time But now Grit
CO0h
down.
Cobb being baf1ed and not knowing
what to expect on his fourth trip to the
plate, Griffith shot three fast ones ovel
the center of the plate. and Cobb wa:
called out on strikes He had expected
even more than he had seen on his previ
Gus three trips to the plate the last tims
up, but with the usual Griffith style, M
got just what he did not expect, and tt
this day he believes that Griffith was tn,
only pitcher who ever turned this tricl
at his expense.
g A greater hitter than Ed Delehanty wa
perhaps never produced. He was one O.
the hard-swinging kind who drove terro
into the hearts Of every pitcher. right o.
left handed. who faced him, and yet Their
was one twtrler, and he was not grea
star, whom Del could not hit with {
plank. He was Billy Rhines who in thu
early nineties pitched for Cincinnati. H
had an underhand delivery, which wa
battling to Delehanty, and it was nothing
unusual for Rhines to strike him out thre
or four times in a game. Rhines' power owe
Delehanty was so great that on severa
occasions he took himself out of tn
game and allowed a much less impressive
hitter to take his place. simply because n
did not believe he could hit Rhines.
The average left-handed hitter dread.
to see a left-handed pitcher work agains
him, and yet it is a fact that when {
left-hander is competent he pitches jus
as effectively against right-handed hitter
as he does against those who bat from
the other side of the plate. It Is g. fact
too, that left handlers do not have thu
same effectiveness against their own kline
that they once possessed. There are nov
whole lot of left-handed hitters wh'
are just as dangerous against a south
paw as against a right handler. Cobb
and Milan for instance, are not bothered
by the south wing delivery. They hav
mastered the art of following that curv
ball, and there are many others who a.
not fear these deliveries. This. of course
because of the fact that they face NOR
left handlers now than did players
few years back. In those days left
| handed pitcher was virtually curiosity
| There were but asfew in the country
while now every team has two or NOR
Of them Naturally, the batters hav
| faced these pitchers so often that the.
have grown accustomed to their deliver
! les, and the fact that left handler 4
pitching is no longer the handicap it wa
| to a team which was largely made up o
southside hitters.
| II Griffith finds any apt pupils amon
| his corps of pitchers the slow ball i
| sure to play an important part in tn
games the Nationals twirlers figure in
| Griffith is a great believer in the chang
! Of pace. He considers it more effectiv
| than speed and curves. and especiall
| when the pinch donfronts a pitcher
| But he admits that 1t takes nerve for
| pitcher to send ball to a batter wit
| the bases full and none out that ha
| hardly enough on it to carry it to tn
plate. But he argues that the batter |
I more anxious than the pitcher. That h
| expects to see the twirler hurl the spher
| at him with full might. and when h
merely losses it up after much motion, h
| gets the batter off his stride. and TIN
result is a weak chance if he hits tn
| ball at-all. But Griffith has his owl
| ideas about the slow ball. 1t must no
| be arched so that the eye can detect it
| speed. It must leave the hand just a
| does the fast one or curve and go Of
L. AtzaiGht LIMA tQ .tha- Mate. 70 bas adac