New-York tribune., 1912-04-28

livery Of the spit ball twirlers.
In 1904 lack Chcsbro made a most Won
dcrful record. largely through the use OF the
.n;t hall He was one of the first pitchers TO
,Icrfcct the delivery, and he won torty-one
Gon,cs that wear out Of possible fltty-three.
IT, nadc the New York club a contender tor
tbc remnant until the very last day, when
the wild pitch of a splitter practically lost the
,,nnnant that he himself had all but won.
rbeshro's success against each one OF llc
c,,,h. was the same He was well nigh m
vincibIc. Other pitchers, quick to note the
nn,rcr Of the spit ball, began to experiment
uith l. In very short time, a year or tWo'
nr,cticaIlv every pitcher in the country
boastcd Of a spit ball. Ways and means OF
breaking ND the pcrniciouS activity OF inc
sniff haIicr5 must have been discussed DY
every team. from the number OF methods
aLontcd to minimize the effectiveness OF the
new delivery. .h,.
oil Of mustard and other concoctlonS thaV
nrovcd ANYTHING but pleasant to the mouth
Of the spit ball pitcher were first used. for
= time thc teams got away with TINS stunt
The pitchcrs soon became wise, however
and most Of them began to develop the sense
of smell 10 a greater degree. When IN douDI
as to whether any torclgn matter ITl -, n'''i li
applied to the ball, the pitcher uS'iaiIy N.Y.,
his nose to determine definitely. II sun II III
doubt. he asked the umpire tor new Dan;
Realizing what an unfair practice II vas dIl,'
that every team could use it to the same ad-
vantage. the clubs suddenly dropped IiIc
method entirely, and it IS no longer nc''rd o.
The fact that the spit ball pitchers nave DC,
come the exception instead OF thc RUE, anu
that only few Of them are much icared' mas
also cut down the number OF devices uSCI 10
curtail the effectiveness OF the VaP'r n'"V'
ONE big league manager put over very
~ clever stunt for sometime before beng
discovered. It WAS one Of the methods uScd
10 offset the splitter. The manager had the
ball, ,andpapcrcd whenever a spit pan
pitchcr was selected to oppose nm on Ihc
home grounds The effect OF the Sindpdpcr
wa, 10 make the balls rough ana WlnGy'
Since q smooth surface is necessary Tor the
p;tchcr 10 use spit ball effectively, It can
readily be seen what advantage was gained
bv ,hc use Of the ,lndpapcr The umplrcS,
II course. examined the balls each day; but
L, wcr,lug them Il triflc after they had been
..,nIrapcrcd. and then rubbing the leather
With the Grain. al evidence was removed.
When the pitcher threw the ball, rubbing ms
finger, agains, the grain Of the leather, the
.ui,,cr lost it, deceptive feature. here
mus, be- no friction in throwing the splitter
and the rough surface Of course created 'u,h
- condition. often during the game the
pitcher would complain To- the umpire that
thr ball w:ts wingy. The umpire, after look
ing +, over. would take il out Of play, only Z"
have similar complaint from the same
pitcher in the very next inning.
Bv chance one If the umprc- noted the
condition Of the balls before the start ~ the
zane one dav. He threw out about q Dozen,
and ,ha, afternoon put nothing but ne"
ball, INTO pav. He also notified the pres
den, ot hi. league of his discovery. \"
doubt the tricky manager va, severely
warned: for never again Wa there any COM
pIint from visiting pitcher on t""' score
FEW fans eyer connect the ground keeper
L with the success oi q team; yet some 81
them ON the major league circuits have
p'avci prominent parts IN many important
battle, on the diamond Usually they are
simply CARRYING OH, the orders Of someone
h,gh,r up: but every now ani then they
pr,i,., some feature that helps the home
team and until discovered work, 70 the
d,,rirurn, of the visitors, The built ny iou.
line, the elevated pitcher, box, and the
slowing up of the playing field by the USE
,,'r., '',. .-trt,-''riN ft-' on