Evening star., 1913-03-02

fred + dlkenDcfE. the clOHSoSS~
tNirler. once a member of the Nation
ais pitching staff. later with the CteFc
land club and now the star pitcher OF
the Toledo Mud Hens. is not only ten
min bowler of some note, but he con-
tends that indulgence in the popular
indoor sport not only does not injure a
ball players arm, but. on the contrary
should prove beneficial. Falkenberg is
at present in Toledo where he Is COM
netting in the tournament Of the Ameti-
can Bowling Congress. In his singles last
week Fred had a great start. getting 2'4
and 224 in his first two games. only 10
run into a series of splits, his last game
being l6i.
In an article in the Toledo Blade of last
Tuesday. Falkenberg discusses in an en-
tertaininG vein his position on bowling,
giving as alibis no less pcrsonages than
Manager Clark Griffith Of the Nationals
and Walter johnson. Washington star
pitcher.
Now and then We hear a lot Of bosh
about bowling affecting a pitchers arm.
says Lanky Fred. Every once In while
a pitcher, who has taken up the game
and has Il bad year the following sea-
son. i'm order to give IL good excuse,
blamcs his poor work on his indulgence
in tenpins; a manager who has had that
excuse offered takes stock in ii and ad-
vises his players to stay away from the
sport because it develops abnorimally a
diff crent set of muscles from those used
OH the diamond. And thus bowling is
made the poor scapegoat for multitude
of sins it rarely commits
For years I have followed the pin
game, but 1t has never affected my arm
Last winter was my best year on the al
leys: the sea son on the diamond succeed
ing it was tho best that ever enjoyed.
''In my case bowling has been won
derful help. instead OF detriment. /
could cite many instances or the same
kind showing cOnclusively that the ten
pin sport is by no means injurious to a
ball players arm.
The cry is made that bowling develops
a different set OF muscles from those
bowling develop them to that extent that
the slight evil cannot be completely
eradicated? To prove that it can be done
| will mention my own case. for want OF
greater familiarity with any other ex-
ample.
After ] have bowled all winter I will
admit that my under arm and lower
shoulder muscles are slightly ovsrde-
veloped because OF my work. Jherc-
fore. when first begin practicing for
the base ball season l will not use any
tE'ng but an underhand delivery for
week or so. Gradually notice that my
overland muscles begin to loosen UP
bit and before long I am able to fling an
overland ball with as much ease as eyer
before. Simple. isn't it?
ITO every rule there are exceptions.
and SO, also, to this one exceptions must
he made There arc some pitchers who
wound he better off if they let bowling
alone.
''As you will find pitchers on the mound
who have a graceful and easy delivery
and others with ierky and awkward mo-
tions SO also you Will find bowlers on
the drives with easy, natural dehverles
and others with-for want OF a better
word-herky- jerky movements
The. roller who uses nothing , onr ms ms
wrist. will find that he can do = lot OF
'On the other hand. the bowler who
goes through bunch OF waste gEratlohs
merely tires himself and does not make
his bail more effective. Among this lat,
ter class YOU will find some pitchers. and
these are the ones who had better sta!
away from the game. ] could mentlon
some fingers, since gone to the busheS'
who have attributed their i'll success TO
bowling but on Investigation 1t viii be
discovered that they were. bowlers who
employed lot Of speed and much unnec-
essary eXertion.
Instead Of hurting. I think bowling
aids pitcher in many ways. TAKE the
good bowler before delivering. He set
ties himself carefully, takes good aim
gauges his distance to nicely. calcu-
lates his steps then, striding forth
TdiuulN letS tue Dali iS dl tiiC pibP - o''A
"A point carefully determined In advance.
You never see good bowler, when in
tight place. toss haphazardly down the
alleys.
This same quality of calculating and
Judging can be used by pitcher. II he
has become fairly good bowler he Will
always calculate calmly and carefully be-
fore hurting. always shooting at a mark.
the same as In bowling. The qualities,
steadiness and control on the alleys and
steadiness and control OH the diamond,
run hand In hand.
Look at Bill Elwcrt. for instance. my
ideal of a graceful bowler. When you
watch him roll you see him pick UP
his ball. shufie around a bit until he
finds the spot where he wants to stand.
carefully gauge his distance and then re-
lease his ball. 1t is In the same way
on the diamond. You rarely see Elwert
make bad peg. Having bowled at a
mark for years, unconsciously he throws
at mark on the ball field
I'm conclusion, glance over your list
of star pitchers who have been and are
bowlers. When | attended college.
back in 1902 | often watched the star
Cubs and White Sox. Almost every
morning you could find Clark Griffith.
Frank Chance. Jimmy Callahan and
Denzer. then a great pitcher for the
Cubs. working out on the alleys, and
am quite sure this crowd would never
do anything that would in any way
affect their effectiveness. Then look at
your present day stars who are good
bowlers. Walter Johnson ie a bowling
enthusiast, Ed Walsh is another. while