Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-06-14
PECULIAR THUMB
DIRECTS SPLITTER
Ford Vets Ball But Little, as
Digit Does All That Is
Necessary.
GIVES THE SIGNALS
INSTEAD OF CATCHER
For Some Peculiar Reason the
Batters Cannot Lift the
Spit Ball Into the Air.

NEW YORK, June 14.-Eddie Collins
turned author last month and wrote
story about brainy pitchers 1t was an
interesting article for the fans to read.
but it did not contain Iacts. One Of the
features of the story was that Russell
Ford. the New York Americans star
finger, did not possess a think factory.
Collins stated that Ed Sweeney. Ford s
battery mate, was the brains of the cou-
pie.
Which is altogether wrong. Sweeney
is a wise catcher, one of the shrewdest
in the business. but he does not direct
Ford. The big spit" ball HEAVIER does
all the signaling and Sweeney accepts
anything his partner may desire to serve
up
Collins goes on and tells many other
weaknesses of great twirlers. And not
in single instance is he right. His
article has earned him no friends, be-
lieve me. All over the American League
circuit. and l presume it Is the same in
the National League, he has made enc
mics.
1t is bad enough for the ball player to
be panned by the scribe, but when one
of his own profession starts knocking it
is the limit.
Now let me tell you something about
Ford. He has three separate and dis
tinct spitters. By a slight change of
his thumb he can make the ball break
in, out or down. 1t all depends upon
the position of the batsman as to which
he may dish up. Sweeney is forced to
ride" with the ball and has to guess,
like the batter. which way the pellet
is going to shoot
The success of Ford's pitching is a pc
culiarly shaped thumb. The digit bends
back and the second joint seems to be
double jointed. He throws all of his
spitters off the freaky-looking thumb.
BY simply twisting it different ways he
makes the ball break accordingly.
Vets Ball But Slightly.
Ford vets the ball very little. and. de-
spite the fact that many players have
claimed their errors were due to grab
bling a damp spot. it is not SO with
Ford's ball. He doesn't wet a spot any
larger than a dime.
But it is different with other spit"
ball twirlers. For instance, Jack Ches-
bro. father of the wet fling. would
dampen his ball SO much that 1t resem-
bled a sponge filled with water.
Big Ed Walsh is another pitcher who
gives the ball good, thorough soaking,
and the White Sox infielders have to be
careful how they heave it to the bases
after making a stop.
There was some talk a year or SO ago
of having the splitter abolished. There
isn't chance in the world of 1t ever
being done. In the first place, it would
be almost impossible to prove that a
twirler was pitching it. Every twirier
dampens the end Of his fingers before
winding up so as to get good grip On
the pellet.
And. in the second place. the spit" ball
pitcher today is in more demand than
ever. The balls have been made more
lively and the wet finger is the only one
who can keep the ball down. The pitcher
with speed and curves Is likely to be
pounded all over the lot.
But it is not so with the spit ball
artists. The demon clouters cannot
seem to raise the new ball any more
than they did the old one. l have
this season. and l find that more as
sists have been credited to the infield-
ers with him working than any other
man on the New York pitching staff,
who is not possessed of the splitter.
The hard-hitting Athletics could
hardly get ball outside of the diamond
in the game with the Yankees in Phila-
delphia ten days or so ago. RUDE Old
ring told me that the harder he tried
to raise the pill off Ford's delivery the
harder it seemed to hit the soil.
BY the way. the lively ball has not been
a success. The fans are getting tired
of these one-sided smuggling matches. II
is changing the scientific style of attack.
where formerly the team WITH the III
side stuff was winning games, any team
with hard sluggers holds the upper hand
now, and the game is getting to be a
slambang affair.
Ten years ago base ball games were
nothing but plain smuggling games Year
by year the game has become more scien-
tific, and last season found the pastime
a perfect sport. Now it threatens to go
back ward to the style that was in effect
when Cap Arson. Dan Brouthers and the
other old willow wielders knew nothing
but to so to the plate and take mighty
heaveS.
Pitchers Battle Is Remembered.
A pitchers battle in which a team may
win. to o. will be fresh in the memories
Of the fans ten years later. while a 8
to game is soon forgotten.
And the new ball is going to raise havoc
with the en-thousand-dollar pitchers
arms They will have to keep travelling
at top speed even when there are two out
and rome on the bases. for a good.
healthy swing these days is likely to re-
suit In circuit cleaner.
For years there has been talk about in