Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-10-06
As DANGEROUS
COACHING AS|N
HURLER'S BOX
His Keen Eye Caught Giants
Signs and Made EN- Look
Foolish in 1911 Series.
By J. W. McConaughy.

M Ie,ics mingle in the opening
4 w battle Of the big campaign
r,u will probably see long, loose
n HING dark-skinned athlete, with a
4 -,55 ostured smile and hair-curllng
A -raar making things uncomfortable
s,v The Giants by virtue OF MS
f sr,f .vements in the pitchers box.
A.. ether times you probably OBJ :
E ,srra him standing back Of either
s.st or third base, soft-tongued and
smiling as usual, but none the less
,,gLino things uncomfortable for the
Giants only in this case his Work
9.on,d he visible TO anyone but Nc
4 CIV and his battery. They will be
Trromfortable enough to make up for
sny naace Of mind that you may pre-
d serve Of the situation.
n We will not keep up the suspense
4 .,, longer This is a portrait of
a charles Albert Bender-"Chief' Ben =
4 5er-one of the greatest pitchers that
4 ever lived and unquestionably the
\ greatest signal thief in the history
a NJ baseball where he is more danger
a ans IN the box than on the coaching
\ lines The cleveland outfit maintain
& .h7t they would rather have him in
d h. box than camping out around the
4 bases. with his keen. black eyes
4 Watching watching, watching every
+ move and every ball.
Indian Tipping Bureau"
They roared an almighty roar after
rae onening series this spring. The
4 cleveland players charged that Con-
ME Mack had a tipping bureau"
. that he was corruptly possessing him
self of the strategy of other clubs
and so on. But II was only the
smiling Indian with his keen eyes anu
lick mind,
You know there are not many
aIugs TO signal about In ball game
and consequently the number of sig
In9, required is small. For instance,
the catcher signals the pitcher only
4 or fast BALI or a curve, with an
occasional signal for a wide pitch
when there is a prospect of an at
.empted steal
But these signals are all impor-
ant Batting is a good deal guess
. work The pitchers mix fast balls
md curves in such a manner that the
onstan. 3"enge Of pace on the bail
IS exceedingly battling when the bat
Ter must depend entirely on his eye.
4 You can see what a tremendous ad-
4 vantage over the pitcher it gives him
L the man on the coaching line lie
signaling to him before each delivery
Just what sort Of a ball he can ex-
DeCt
So managers are very careful to
make these signals as unobtruslVe
md hard To detect as possible. They
must all be changed whenever a
player leaves to go to another CLUB,
4 md in the American League they
nave to be changed frequently on
4 recount of Chief Bender. The Chicago
White SoX. for his especial benefit
i AYE developed a complicated double
4 system Of signaling between pitcher
4 md catcher which requires a double
i o0irma ION before any given sigma!
. becomes effective. Thus, while the
4 'a'cher may signal for a curve, the
pitcher disregards 1t until the sec
i md signal confirms or switches the
order. So far they believe they have
headed Bender off.
Stopped Giants Stealing.
Those who saw the last worlds
series between the Athletics and the
Giants will never forget how the
PHILADELPHIA defense made a farce OF
i ne Giants speedy and tricky work
nn the bases. The few times they
.>iyed "a double steal Collins cut off
ne throw and nailed the man either
~ the plate or barK at third by
dozen feet or so. They might also
remember, if they had been watching
'oseiy, how Collins edged in long be-
-ere the pitcher began his wind-up.
Frooab.y Bender had something to do
with that. too
hut the long-limbed Indian would
De worth any amount of salary to any
l'uD without his unCanny ability to
uHIaNel signals. When he is at the
'p OF his form there is no right
handed pitcher in the country who
gan spot him anything in a game OF
''SrotiL Matty beat him in the
opening game two years ago, but in
NE, W., ANALYSIS Of the pure pitching work
NallH did not come off with any
,oAofs. After that Bender beat the
I"ht7 twice. In 1905 he gave the
I.ohts their only lacing in the
words series.
pas tremendous speed and
ztai p-nreaking curve. nerves of steel
..lr and a heart of ice. Nothing
o.."' nm, He is impervious TO
'iS from the coaching line and
rr -j'hSued conversation and de-
L''r movements have shaken the
We OF many an experienced batter
'LISls Of a big game
- Chief Loves a Crowd.
~. '2ief Is different from many
-ES IN that he loves crowd.
rt. .-ser the crowd and the more
Pm. . ~. game, the happier he Is. and
ill., '5'lrE ne pitches. He frankly
- 7gpause He likes to get out
ar. '9.ooo fans and tie world
H. ,'gGS patsmen in half bitches for
t5a p.e'S'lre of the populace. And II
m g,.tt '"0 appears in New York
ar,. ago 1t doesn't make any differ
ME- I'D the Chief He smiles and
hes and 'in equal parts. and
evan me smile nor the pitching is
so, ,.ley tell me you can hit speed,
h. rem orked to Snodgrass. with
& ovs, smile, then he put three
s,r. ,..e groove that hit Thomas q
& e. vain sound like caressinR "a
r., oed with a plank.
la mere is a whisper through the
& vs,, NAT the Giants NAV get re
i 5aar Is ialL The Chief hos not
s nm Sung. good as ball players
q To- ... ''e doesn't seem to be able
hi. out the nine innings with
nors strength and certainty. But
Il 77nf,, -AeSe students of affairs are
geor,- !, gamble heavily on this de-