New Britain herald., 1915-08-04
N B1anG 1h
 
IS 4 CURVE BALL
 AN nLUSI0N?.
Some Players Say it Is, Others it
 Ain't, So Take Your Choice

Alu U DU IaAO lVul UuUlUG
 Is there such a thing as baseball 1 curve? N ! Foolish question 9,999,e99. vol,
 answer. Yes, and I agree with you. z But I have been asked to answer the l question satisfactorily and completely
 ---and here goes for . try at it. 1 First, must tell why such an ap-
 parently absurd query about a feat that you and I know is possible is be- ing allowed to live long enough to be answered. One day not long ago man who is we'll known to the players of my club. the Phillics, came to our 2 bench and said: .
 1s a baseball curve an optical Illusion ?''
 The boys all exploded. They looked at tho fellow who asked the question out, because I happened to be , pit cher, suppose, and began to talk to me.
 Tn not kidding,' he said, as he pulled 9 newspaper clipping from his pocket and handed 1t to me. You'll find there where :. writer puts up some strong arguments to prove that there is no such thing as curve ball in reality and that the batter only thinks the ball curves because his eyes fool him. K
 We'll, old pal. I'll tell you how we'll decide this,'' said one of our pitchers with a good curve ball. Get that scientific writer out here at our ball yard, put his scientific noodle behind pole a foot in diameterur derstand, I can't see his head from the pitchers slab where am stand ing 60 feet away, and, of course, he can't see me through the pole. There lore, neither of us can be a victim of an optical illusion
 I'll bet you fifty bucks that in three shots, can curve the ball around that pole and plumb on the silly bean of the scientist. And therein be enugh smoke on the curve ball to dent his head so that you can pour some sense into his dome, too. A curve an optical illusion I wish they were, and I'd quit pitching, become an outffelder and hit more home runs in week that Gavvy CraVath hits in a season.
 It is true, though, that we players , were interested in the argument a scientist would advance to prove that there was no such thing as a. curve < ball. preserved the newspaper clip- ping and read 1t carefully. And now, y 5Tnf niv,,r fx,8Ff FfS.xyt t%<,f fa11 why there is such a thing as curve [ ball, and why know that there is K will quote in part from the state ment of the scientist. A thing greatly | to be desired is a testing place for baseball curves he starts off Con- tinuing, he writes:
 Here could be carried on for con siderable length of time an accumu- lating, confirming series of tests, as to how often, relatively, balls curve out of the plane of parabola; if curving is ! caused only by twirling the ball; if i it can be done at will, or how fre- quently; by what pitchers or class of pitchers; which revolutions, right or left, produce which curves, etc. Bet ter find out what really happens, and how much, before trying to explain how or why it happens
 Now I am going to enter into a scientific battle with the gentleman who wrote what quoted above. know little about science, but I think know something about curving a baseball. and, therefore. Il guess am qualified to tell him in my own way that know a baseball curves.
 The baseball will curve just as often as good pitcher holds the ball properly. and gives 1t that necessary twist of the wrist when 1t leaves his hand.
 2. It may be done at will by a good pitcher, though the successful big leaguer mixes them up and saves his j arm by pitching a, few fast ones; on the other hand, it is true that atmos- pheric conditions have something to do with it.
 The class of pitchers doesn't enter into the question, for I have seen high school boys who could curve q baseball easily six inches in a sixty foot pitch. From a basball viwpoint it isn't question of how far the ball curves, but the speed behind 1t, the control of the arm and the baseball brains in tn pitchr,s head.
 4. The revolutions vary according to whether it is a riglt-hander or southpaw pitching, and the way he lets go the ball and the twist he puts on it.
 don't know whether my answers will be scientifically satisfactory, but I'll gamble that I'll prove every one of them to be correct if the scientist < will visit our park some day when I'm