Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-05-08
Bv Percy H. Whiting.


~ regular first baseman. Earl
n Sykes, the Cracker first
sacker last year. will be carried on
the bench as utility frst baseman.
If anv outfelder or infelder is hurt
Al o'Dell will be sent to fill his
place and Sykes Will go to first
base.
OF course this arrangement
hinges on o'Dell's ability to show
more strength on first base than
Sykes can. And right now the
former third baseman is on prooa-
ton OF course. if he does not
show ND as we'll as Sykes, he viii
20 TO the bench as utility man ana
sykes will return to first
Thus far O'Deu has shown such
ahilirv at first that Manager Hemp
hin is delighted with his work ano
It appears that he is to be ~
lanta's regular first baseman TINS
year.
Despite the fact that Dessau mas
had arm and has been suspendeo
nrtil he comes around, despite the
fact that Ira Hogue has not oeen
ohle TO show Southern league form
and seems slated for release, ana
Notwithstanding the report tlia'
miller is to be released. CharleN
Hemphin has issued a forHal oe-
NAL that he is after any pitchers.
That seems to mean that ne pc
1iAvee Atkins, Johns. Paige, Dessau
and Sitton will do for a regular
,,i+cbing staff this year For 1t IS a
cinch that 1t is now or never Win
Atlanta in the matter of getting
ritchers. The big leaguers Will
6nisb cutting down in few days
And after they have finished, get
ting pitchers is as pleasing ana
simple an operation as cutting eye
teeth.
g rGNAL stealing is getting lot
y of publicity these days. AS
matter Of fact. the honest kind is
no new thing Teams have oeen
irving 1t all the time and getting
awav with it occasionally for years.
nv honest" signal stealing Is
meant the variety which q PLAYER
in the game acquires while watch
ing the opposing catcher and pitch
er dopes out for himself and passes
nm TO the batsman. That sort OF
signal stealing is all in the game
and as much a part of 1t as trying
10 guess the signal for the -hit-and-
run used by the opposing batsmen.
Owing to the obfustication Of
affairs by the highly cultivated ana
nops 30 accurate magazine writer's
on baseball subjects the public has
been asked TO believe that INSIDE
baseball is a tremendously COM
nIicated thing and that the sig
mails" used in the game are as mys-
+erious as the secret code of the
United States navy-which, IN the
language of the true lovers
they amt"
1t doesn't take any Sherlock
Homsean brain to pipe off the sig
nails by which the catcher indicates
to the pitcher what sort Of ball
he wishes thrown.
These signals are as simple as
picture puzzle. Most of them are
made bv the catcher, by placing the
6neers of his ungloved hand against
his glove. A closed hand might
mean a fast ball one finger pitch
ont two fingers spit ball, the
Stamping of the fingers q drop and
50 on through the list of pitchers
repertoire
Now. naturally enough, If you
CON get in a position where you
can see the signals of the opposing
catcher it will not take you long to
and out what they mean If two
fingers against the glove" is fol-
lowed by a palpable pitch out
and goodness knows there is moth
ing on earth more palpable, unless
II is an uppercut or a kick in the
shins-it doesn't take professional
signal THIEF long to diagnose the
sign.
About the only way that a catch
er can guard against signal stealing
is either to make his signals in such
a way that they can be detected