El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-10-05
Veteran Is Picked to Play
Leading Role Against Giants
Oldest Pitcher the Greatest Left Handler in Baseball
Has Been in the Big League Game for IL Years.
In All But One Season He Has Won More
Games Than H e Has Lost.
cBy J. w. MeCOnaughy.)

wv YORK, Oct Eddie Plank'
n Of the Athletics. the Oldest
4 pitcher and the greatest left
handler in baseball. is picked to pitch
the leading role against the Giants
He has been at it Is years, every year
in the big league and in all the time
he came down to the finish of the
season hut once with record of hav-
ing won more games than he lost
This was the year that the Athletics
finished sixth.
Remarkable Career. y
Other pitchers-Matty, for instance
have been pitching big league base
ball as long as Plank, but there are
features of the slim Athletics per
Torrance that make his career even
more remarkable than Mattys- In
the first place he is a left-hander,
and left-handers are VIGOROUSLY
short-Iived- The constant hard throw
ing with the left arm has bad Ell
feet on the heart and drives LETT
handlers out of baseball Plank has
long OutliTed every other southpaW
who started at the time he did
This is probably due to the fact
that he began playing baseball much
later in life than any other DIE
leagusrs-later than any American
boy. 1t has been reported that ne
> BEGAN pitching on the day the battle
slightly erroneous It probably arose
from the fact that he was born IN
Gettysburg in 1875, but it was IN 1899
before ne had ever had a baseball in
his hand That's right. Twenty
years old before he ever handled a
baseball and in America all that time.
Began when 20 Years Old.
It was shortly after his introduc-
ton to the national nuisance that
young Plank cast his eyes upon Get
DO "a
headed for the fountains OF learning
about the time that that most youths
are Wiping their lips and backing
away. He was 25 when he qualified
as pitcher for the college team, and
this explaining the fact that he IS
still hale and hearty. In pitching, as
IN pugilism, it is the strain on the
boy that eventually crumples up the
man.
An oId-time pitcher, Frank Fore
man, was coach of the Gettysburg
squad at that time When Plank came
out to try for the team he handed
out few specimens OF what he called
"a slant ball" It is what we know
now as the puzzling cross-flre-' he
stepped way out to the left and shot
the ball in at sharp angle across the
plate. It was this weird method OF
casting a baseball as demonstrated by
the young Mr.. COvaleskie that tied the
Giants into a LAGOON group on the
historic occasion when the Giants
nearly won a pennant and didn't
When coach Foreman saw the
youthful Plank shoot few of these
at the batters he cast himself upon
his bosom and wept tears of JOY
stick with me. young man, ne
told him, and I'll make you the
greatest pitcher in the country.
Foreman Tipped Mack
Plank was a whirlwind as a college
pitcher, but the scouting and tipping
system of the big leagues was not
working as carefully in those days
and he passed unnoticed until Fore
man went to Boston One night he
nailed Connie Mack in hotel with
these remarks:
Connie. the best college pitcher in
the world is throwing his arm off at
Gettysburg. You better grab him
while the grabbing is good.
Mack made a few long strides to
the telegraph counter with the result
that Plank reported TO the club in
Washington a few days later with
his heart Just at the root of his
tongue" as he put it. It, the heart,
must have moved back to its proper
place in a hurry. for he jumped into