El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-10-08
Indian Dangerous
on Coaching Lines
AS Well As In Box
By J. w. NIcConaughy.

| HEN the Giants and the Ath-
M letics mingle in the opening
| w battIs of the big campaign you
! will probably see a long, loose hung
| dark skinned athlete, with a good nat
! ured smile and hair curling speed max
! ing things uncomfortable for our boys
| by virtue OF his achievements IN the
| pitchers DOX.
AT other tunes you probably observe
| him standing back OF either first or
third base, soft tOngued and smiling,
as usual, but none the less making
things uncomfortable Tor the GlahtS-
only IN this case his work would De
visible TO anyone but McdraW ana anu n M
battery They will me uncomrortaDIe
enough to make up Tor any peace %
mind that you may preserve through
ignorance of the situation
We Will not keep UP the suspense
any longer. This IS portrait OF
Charles Albert Bender-'Chief' Ben
der-one of the greatest pitchers that
ever lived and unqueSuonaDly the
greatest signal thief IN the history OF
baseball With ball players II is a
question whether he is more dangerous
in the box than on the coaching lines
The Cleveland outfit MAINTAIN tnat
they would rather have him in the DoX
than camping out around the bases,
with his keen black eyes watching,
watching, watching every move ana
every ball.
Indian a Chipping Bureau
They roared an almighty roar after
the opening series this spring me
Cleveland players charged that CONNIE
Mack had a tipping bureaus" that he
was cOrruptly possessing hlmSeII OF
the strategy of other clubS-and so on
But it was only the smiling indian with
his keen eyes and quick mind.
You know there are not many Things
to signal about IN a ball game, ana
consequently the number of signals re-
--ad fe
catcher signals the pitcher only for
fast bali or a curve, with an occa-
sionaI signal for a wide pitch when
there is a prospect of an attempted
steal.
But these signals are all important
Batting is a good deal guesswork. The
pitchers mix fast balls and curves IN
such a manner that the constant shange
of pace on the ball is exceedingly baf-
fling when the batter must depend en-
tirely on his eye You can see what a
tremendous advantage over the pitcher
it gives him If the man on the coaching
line is signalling to him before each
delivery just what sort of ball ne
can expect.
So managers are very careful to
make these signals as unobtrusive and
hard to detect as possible. They must
all be changed whenever a player
leaves to go to another club, and in
the American league they have to be
changed frequently on account of Chief
Bender. The Chicago White Sox, for
his especial benefit, have developed
a complicated double system of sig
mailing between pitcher and catcher
which requires a double confirmation
before any given signal becomes eff
fective Thus, while the catcher may
signal for a curve, the pitcher disre-
CARDS it until the second signal con-
firms or switches the order. So far
they believe they have headed Bender
off.
Stopped Giants Stealing.
Those who saw the last world series
between the Athletics and the Giants
will never forget how the Philadel-
phia defence made a farce of the Giants
speedy and tricky work on the bases
The few times they essayed a double
steal Collins cut off the throw and