Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-04-12
SP|TBALL BEST
DELIVERY, SAYS
BIC Ed. WALSH
White Sox HurIer Tells How to
Throw the Most PuzzIing
"Chuck" of All.
By Ed Walsh.
(Greatest spitbalI Twirler Baseball
Has Ever known)

~ PITBALL pitching is the greatest
form of twirling ever discov
cred or invented More has
been written about it than any curve
or drop ball. but 1t never has been
satisfactorily explained. 1t is such a
wonderful ball that it is impossible to
describe it accurately.
Elmer Stricklett, the Californian
was the first man I ever saw throw
that ball He Joined the White Sox
at Marlin Springs, Texas, the spring
Of 1904.
AS soon as I saw him throw it 1
recognized the possibilities of 1t.
noticed how he threw the ball, watch
ing him for hours at time.
Immediately l started to work to
perfect 1t. That is how l became sue
cessful.
Practiced Two Years.
For two long years / practiced with
this ball before / used it in league
game. l found out how to control it
so that 1 knew which way the ball
would break.
Most young spitball pitchers make
their mistake by not getting control
of the ball. They are not real spit
ball pitchers. Some days they are
wonders, but the next time they go
gu. they are knocked out of the box.
Do not use the spitball unless you
are fairly sure that you can place it
where you want it. A couple Of hours
practice each day will remedy lack of
control.
How Ball Is PREPARED,
Here is how l prepare the spitball:
I select the place on the ball where
the stitches are farthest apart. l wet
a place as large as a half dollar. Then
/ take a little dirt and rub it on the
moist part so that it will become
black.
I do this because do not want to
wet any more of the ball than is alb
solutely necessary. If too much Of
the sphere Is made slippery the spit
ball can not oe thrown.
Place the first two fingers Of the
pitching hand on the wet spot and
the thumb below. Because the spot
where the fingers clasp the ball is
wet, it slips off easily. But there Is
friction where the thumb grasps the
dry part and the ball spins out of the
nand with a downward twirling mo-
ton.
Can Control Break.
Now comes the part over which
scientists and ball players have ar
gued for years.
The ball speeds toward the batter
and suddenly dives toward the
ground. Sometimes it goes straight
down, at other times to the right or
left / have learned how to control
the break
I claim it is the resistance Of the
air together with the downward
spinning motion. that causes the ball
to drop so sharply.
Take a five gallon tank of water
with glass sides. Drop a cue ball into
it and it will not go straight to the
bottom. 1t will veer to one side.
The slow ball also is another exam
pie This ball goes up to the batter
in a zigzag motion at times 1t must
be the atmosphere that does it.
Like Matty's FadeaWay.
When / throw the splitter with a
real overland motion 1t breaks
straight down. If | use a half side
arm it breaks like a curved ball.
These are the TWO forms / use almost
exclusively.
But | have experimental with the
others and can control them, too l
can throw a splitter like Mathewson' 5
famous fadeaway by throwing the
ball from over my head If I throw
an underhand splitter the ball shoots
up.
But no matter II there are a num-
Der Of different explanations regard
ing why the spitball breaks the way
It does, the fact still remains that 1t
is the greatest Of them all
The splitter breaks so sharp that a
batter has no chance to swing at the
ball. Imagine what effect it has on a
batter when a pitcher throws a ball
that has a big hop on it and the next
one is a splitter