Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-20

Our left-handed hurlers of this day and
age of the world do not exactly taiiS Win
the southpaws described in the Scrip
lures AS general rule, left-hanoed
throvers that have taken up base oaA
pitchins as a means Of recreation or hVe-
hhood find the lack Of control STUN
bling block to ultimate success. The ma
iority of left-handed men are naturally
good throwers. In throwing base Dali
they have a sweeping side motion OF the
arm that sends it shooting along In Pc
cuIiar zigzag course. This Is more no
ticeabie in young left-handers.
They impart all sorts OF strange anu
weird breaks to the ball In their attempts
To master the curve. SO IL taxes the
southpaw much longer to gain controi
than his right-handed brother.
Base ball has had many left-handed
pitchers that were wonderfully successful
and became famous. But the majority
Of them failed and for one principal rea-
son-lack of control.
They so along all right until they strike
he big leagues. where the experienced
and crafty misunderstanding their croWn-.
ing weakness-wait wait, wait until the
youngster is crazed. He has been used
to the batter reaching after his curve and
biting at his pet drop" ball. These young
'phenoms" have everything but good con-
troll, and by the time they acquire that
they have lost their wonderful curves and
shoots And unless they have the re-
quired amount of brains and nerve they
are relegated to the sphere OF the ordi-
nary twirlers.
Wild as q Hare.
In the early nineties Philadelphia Ma
tionals signed a twirler by the name
OF Killeen from the Three-I League
He was left-handed and possessed can
non-ball speed and had an astonish-
ing assortment of curves. but he was
as wild as the proverbial hare. and to
make bad matter worse he was
cross-eyed-an awful combination for
Il batter to face.
In his first tryout he certainly kept
the opposing batters on the jump. for
none of them could judge the course
Of the ball 1t was just as liable to
sudden downward flight and smash a
toe. He was turned loose without
further trial. This is about the style
the average southpaw made his debut
IN big league society two decades ago.
Today they handle them differently.
IS in the cases of Marquard, Benton
md many others. They are coached.
groomed and trained for year or
more IN major league tactics.
Two left handlers that made them
-,eIyes famous for lack OF control were
-BiIly" George and Bently Seymour;
both pitched for the New York Ma
tionals. George was with them In
1897 He certainly had everything but
control; he had as much speed as any
of them; so much 80. In fact, that
when he cut loose to his limit he
would almost tear the cover OF the
ball But he was SO atrociously wild
that the sod in front and around the
plate would be plowed up. At that
did slab duty for New York ten years
later. "Cy" could make the widest
kind of a wild pitch: in fact. his eff
rectiveness was largely due TO his ex-
sreme lack of control. When Seymour
had on one of his wild streaks no bat
ter dare stand up to the plate. He
had a record of passing eleven men In
one game, and offsetting this by strik-
ing out eleven.
Richmond the First Success.
DR.. Lee Richmond was the first por,
side finger to make pronounced sue
cess Of that style OF pitching. Richmond
wonderful deliveries. Shaw, the wiz
ard" followed Richmond, and demon.
strated TO the base ball world what q
valuable asset finished left-hander was
10 ball team Ed Norris started hi.
base ball career as a catcher. but showed
such wonderful throwing powers that Id
was induced to try his hand at pitching
He proved a success from the start, and
IN less IMAM TWO years. MOTIFS Wat
known from coast to coast as one Of
americas great left-handers. The IA
nous Charles LADY, Baldwin, from 1855
until 1887, was considered a king bee
among the great southpaws of those
days His control Of the ball was remark
able
Tom" Ramsey graduated from tn,
Southern League In 1885 with a marvel
GUS pitching record. The Louisville clul
III the American Association securet
him. and while with that team. durin,
lsS6-S7 he made a record that will liv,
in base ball history as long as the gam
exists. Ii is conceded by the majorit!
OF writer's and critics that Ramsey ha'
the most wonderful curves. with tn
greatest amount OF speed on them, Of an!
pitcher before his day or since.
Ed Cushman. another great left
handler, who made great fame for him