Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-11-09
PITCHING SHORT
ROUTE T0F ANE
IN BASEBALL
BY Damon Ruvon.

9~DNAA peg Ct, clIA You md
him fooling around frs base or
the outfield. or the secon or +bir5
OF even peering with infatile eae-
erness through the n1e.es If q,
mask. lead that youthful Artv on,
oehihu the Darn ana nave speech
with him.
Ut Oh a catching slovelnd ex-
anime tne CONDITION OF his footing
arm. He may have a whlv IN
suspected hope to his ia. hall
along with a nice curve an,some
change of pace. Such beit fine
case, it becomes your parentadu+v
TO admonish him to enter lif,as
pitcher of baseballs
Speak to him as follows.
Son. there is great deal
class to Cobb, but consider IT,
skinned thighs which come fror
the sliding appertaining to the run.
ming of bases. Consider too. tNa
daily labor-the 1874 games of base
ball, during which the man who
would be a Tvrus must pound the
pill for better than 400, or lose
caste among his people.
Consider the enormous amount
of energy which must be expended
every two hours out OF the "a by
the Hal Chases. and the Houus
Wagners and the Larry DOVES Of
our time. Each and every day they
have the same old strain and wor-
~; each and every day they must
perform their work with marvellous
efnclency or be PANIED to a whis-
per. No alibis go in their cases
And then, my son. pause and
think of the life, of the .slothfuI
ease of the pitcher, who works two
or three times a week, but who gels
practically as much money. and
exc as much fame. He wins his
game and the labors of the Cob5s
and the other men behind him are
forgotten in the gossip of his Prov
ess; he loses and the men are sacri-
feed for their shortcomings. ana he
is excused on the ground Of an off
day.
BE a pitcher, my son-be a
MatheWson, or a Wood. o.. a John
son, and you viii find the path to
the vaudeville stage as easy from
the mound as it is from the out
field"
Scout Sent to Take a Peep.
Having concluded Your lecture
all you have to do is to turn yol.
son loose with a baseball in his
hand and let him wander through
the bushes until such time as some
big league manager locates him or
the advice Of fiiends. A big league
scout may stumble. across him ac-
cidentally, but nowadays the man
ager usually hears about the pin
mons and then sends the ivory
hunter to confirm or deny the news.
The demand fer pitching material
is never satisfiedain the big league.
The box is the surest short cut 10
fame. a managsr may have TIVE
or three men sitting on his bench
who are better in sheer ability than
men playing in his regular line
and the manager nay know that to
be a fact-but laci of experience,
or other reasons, nay keep them
long in the background, whereas
the pitcher usually inds big league
opportunity crowdirg him at all
stages.
1t is sometimes nly after two
or three years of steady playing
that an infielder or an outffelde.
reaps the reward of sbility, where
as young pitcher nay step I'M
mediately into the limlight Claude
Hendrix, tWo-year man; Larry
Cheney and Jeff Tesreiu, who have
had only year of Bit league en-
perience, are the pitching leaders
of the National league Hugh Be
dent gained great fene after a
few months on a major bench, while
Jimmy Lavender, anoth,r first-yeal
man. mopped up much glory this
last season.
OF course. a Ty Cob or TITS
Speaker can not long be denied
but these are exceptional cases.
Every big league m.nager Is
grooming youngsters VIII will one
day be stars Of the BASEBALL world.
but meanwhile. while the are gain
ing their education, young twirlers,
who Joined on after the did, are
slipping into sudden fave.
1t might be argued thatwhile the
pitcher does not work hard as
the other players, neithe does he
last as long in the big lague, but
that argument is answered by the
fact that several Of the foremost
figures in the game todayare vet
ecan beavers.
Mathewson in Harness I Years.
Christy Mathewson hs been
pitching for twelve years, nd is to-
day one of the highest. salaried
men in the game. He is ecounted
we'll off in this worlds gods He
Is good for several years lore. Ed
Walsh is a congratulated
ana still one of the fivegreatest
beavers in the world Tire is no
reason why man like. Walter
Johnson should not 60 Oh as long
as Mathewson. or why Ia,quard