Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-13

mile if they were to his fancy. 1t was ap-
parent that fast ones on the outside would
always meet with his approval, and | de-
cided he would get none of that kind. He
was natural left field hitter and swung at
the ball late. l doped it out that fast ones
on the inside which Ellis would have to hit
with the handle of his bat if he hit them at
all, were the proper medicine for reducing
the young mans batting average. That is
all he has been getting since, and now when
he makes a hit off of me he holds celebra-
ton in honor of the event.
BASEBALL is largely game of trying to
- outguess the other fellow. Each side is
trying to do the unexpected, and at the same
time attempting to keep up its defense by
constantly doing its best to anticipate what
the other fellow really intends to do. Per-
haps there is no cog in baseball machine
that plays a more prominent part in the
teams success or failure than the catcher.
Not many catchers use their gray matter
to better advantage than did Billy Sullivan,
the veteran backstop of the Chicago White
Sox. Very few opportunities to work harm
to the opposition were passed up by him.
His conception as to whether or not base
runner really intended to steal was almost
uncanny. Seldom did he get his pitcher into
hole by calling for one waste ball after an
other when the base runner was only bluff
ing. Time after time he spoiled the hit and
run when the execution of the play would
have meant the game. The consistency
with which he broke up this play for the
various teams led to many an argument. l
have heard players on hundreds of occasions
insist that Sullivan had the signal for the
play. have heard them plan shift of sig
nails, and seen Sullivan butt in again and
spoil the play. Don't misunderstood me,
Reader, and get the idea that it was i'm
possible to execute the hit and run against
Billy Sullivan. l simply point to him as one
catcher who was great aid to his club be-
cause of his good judgment.
Never in his life did Billy Sullivan use
offensive language to a batter. Yet he was
always thorn in the side of the man at bat.
He never failed to impress on him the lmpor
| tance of his position when he stepped to the
plate in pinch. He pictured to him what a
hero he would be if he hit the ball safely, and
what dub he would be if he struck out.
There was never any intention on the part
of Sullivan to offend or to anger. He carried
on his line of conversation simply to detract
the attention of the batter from his purpose
as much as possible.
1t would seem the height of folly to give a
fast straight ball, right across the heart of
iIleLC " oliS VI Vic SeliiS SlSdeSoC iiiC-
tiers when the pennant depended largely on
the outcome of that game. That is just
what Billy Sullivan made Ed Walsh do in
one of the most important games of the 1908
campaign. There were two strikes on Larry
Lajoie, and hit meant game. If Larry
had only known that Walsh was going to
serve fast straight one he would have muir
dered it. Not for an instant did he look for
such an offering. But Walsh did the unex-
pected, and even after Umpire O'Loughlin
had called it the third strike Larry could
scarcely realize what had happened
To strike Lajoie out is something of feat,
and to turn the trick three times in one game
is out of the ordinary. Walsh and Sullivan
did it one day in 1911. l umpired on the
bases in that game, and saw the performance
If my memory serves me right, Larry swung
at only two of the balls. Johnny Mullen,
who was working with me at the time, called
the other seven. Not once did Larry kick.
Each time that he walked past me l asked
him what Walsh was using.
II don't believe Walsh has thrown me two
spit balls today" said Larry. @He is just
crossing me all the time. I'm constantly
looking for the splitter, and he keeps slipping
the fast one right over the heart"
Larry got even the last two times up, how
a,-ar Nv, u,it1, Wo1cb'c difficult