The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-08-08
News of Diamond, Tennis Court,
Golf Links, Track, Arena, Aquatics
FEW HURLERS Use
DECEPTIVE SPLITTER
Leaguers Realize That Moist
Fling Shortens Career on
Mound.

The spit-ball is falling into disuse.
Very few of the twirlers in the big
leagues are using it today, and those
who do are using 1t sparingly. The wise
pitchers have cast it aside, knowing
that even though the use of the moist
fling may add to their string of VIC
tories it will mean the shortening of
their careers.
Jack Chesbro used it back in 1904
when he almost pitched the Yankees
into the leadership of the league. But
tho use of the spit-ball practically ruin
ed CHESHIRE as star performer. Ed
Walsh used the spit-ball for several
years and his success was phenome-
nal. But the price was high, for
Walsh's arm today is in such condition
that he never knows whether it will
serve him the full route or whether a
kink will appear and force him to sur
render the hurting job to relief
pitcher.
JEFF" Tesreau used the spit-ball to
great extent when he first landed on
major league SOIL But he isn't doing
it with such reckless abandon as of
yore. JEFF soon learned that the spit
ball "kinked" the arm, If used freely,
and now he throws it only in emer-
gencies.
Few Cling To II.
There are several other pitchers in
the big leagues who still throw the
spit-ball, but they are throwing it just
about half dozen times during the
game. Some of the fans believe they
throw it oftener because of the decep-
ton practised by the pitcher-of put
ting the ball up near the mouth and
seeming to lubricate it. Batters aren't
fond Of spit-balls. They hate to see
them coming. So the pitchers who
have discarded the use of the dampen-
ed twister, very often bluff at pitching
one.
The passing Of the spit-ball comes
as good news to the infielders. In the
years when the spit-ball was generally
used errors were frequent on account
of the spit-ball. A pitcher would gloss
the ball freely with saliva and slippery
elm or tobacco juice, batter would
hammer it to the infield, the infielder
would grab it and start to throw, only
to find that the slippery ball had glid-
ed from his fingers. Quite often when
the infielder was able to get the ball
away in the direction of the base the
ball would take a wild slant and re.
suit in horrible error
Stop Sport Writing.
If the guiding spirits in the world
of athletics don't stop making rules
concerning the athletes there won't
be anybody but reporters writing arti
cleS for newspapers.
The last crushing blow dealt to Eau
thors" has been handed out by the
United States Golf Association which
decided that amateur golfers who were
receiving money for writing newspaper
articles in which they explained Ger
tain golf shots were guilty of profes
sionalism.
In view of the fact that most of the
leading golfers in this country have
been doing that very thing, it woulG
seem that we haven't any more anna
teurs in our midst-that is, none bu
the buffers.
But the U. S. A. isn't going to be
overly harsh on the fellows who have
| been writing and posing as amateur.
at the same time. 1t probably will sent
word to them that as soon as theil
! present contracts expire they must de
sist, or lose their amateur standing
but that no penalty will be meted ou
for their past offense. They probabl,
will be forgiven on the pretext tina
they didn't know any better.