The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-04-02
SAYS SPIT BALL
|. IS HERE To STAY
Ed Walsh Claims yapor Float
Is Necessary to Good
Pitching.


With the spring training comes that
sixyearold discussion about how long
the spit ball delivery will last. writes
flied Walsh in the Chicago Tribune.
have noticed of late that some Of the
critics have discovered that that par
ticular delivery is on the decline, and
that in a short time, if there is no
baseball legislation against it, the moist
shoots will be thrown into the discard.
Now, | might just as well take the bull
by the horns at the start and say that
the successful pitcher of the future, un-
less he has some other equally effective
delivery, will have to come to the
spit ball or fall behind.
Does the spit ball put the pitcher g
arm out of commission sooner than any
other kind Of delivery7 1t does not. and,
in fact, might explain that it is the
easiest of all the styles / have. Clark
Griffith, now manager of the Cincin-
natl team, told me five years ago that
of that particular delivery Well, I have
used it this spring and it works Just as
good as ever.
Few outside of the players on the
team know how much I use the ball in
actual games. Well. sometimes nine out
of ten balls / throw are of that style
of delivery. At Houston the other day,
after the first inning l used it right
along, and ] believe the opponents got
one hit.
They say that the ball can't be con-
trolled. There is where they are wrong.
| use 1T time and again on the third
strike with men on bases. 1t is just as
easy to handle as the overhead drop,
for instance. which is one of the hard
est on the pitchers that | know of. Now,
Mordecai Brown has been an artist
with that, but I think right now that
he would have found the spit ball less
wearing on his arm-a great deal less.
Chesbro OF the New York Yankees
tried to get me to quit the delivery, but
as | found afterward he had an ace in
the hole. He claimed it ruined any
man S arm. He returned to it and used
at longer with effect than any other
kind, but Griffith took his cue from him.
To my way of thinking it is the com
ing delivery, and more and more pitch
ers will uses it, | would not advise
young pitchers to try it TO the eSclu
sion of everything else but if they once
start they should keep at 1T until they
have mastered il. There are other eff
fective deliveries, but none that is cas-
ier on the arm, critics opinions TO the
contrary. Also there has been the idea
that it can e be controlled. That is
another fallacy
To show how much I believe in it
was on the point of using it in that
game at Cleveland in 1909, when with
the bases fun and Lajoie up TO bat
third strike was needed to put the
Frenchman out and defeat Cleveland
for the peunant. Also, there was Sulli-
vans opinion of it There were two
strikes on Lajoie when Sullivan signaled
for a spit ball. it was ticklish and
nodded my head. then something made
me change my mind. "crossed - Sui
ly, one of the few times I have ever
done it, and shot the ball straight over
the plate waist high Lajoie died at
the plate. but should 1 again meet the
same emergency ! would use the spit
ball.
have had sore arms. all right, but
the only time ever hurt my arm in
pitching was on fast straight one.