Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-09-07

Charley DOOM taught me my dehVery.
They. with others. smoothed on mAny
Of the rough edges and ] give az. wno
helped me due credit But SUI
nt,nhor car,t he taught that mode OF
hurIlnq the baseball In week. or
,,ear or two. 1t has 20 be his natural
nation. This is principally because tne
sile-arm delivery is believed TO be haruer
10 control than the more natural 'ONer-
hand motion of the arm. -.
Control is the one great asset TOT any
pItcher II he can't place the paseos,l s
might lust as we'll give up big league
dinging. a man may have all the curves
end sneed I'm the world, but they won
get him anywhere in his profession un,
less he can control them. worked haru
for several seasons to learn 10 ny wy
mark shot at, but once l got the coh-
trol I managed to retain It pretty we'll
And / am telling the truth when | say
that the control of my curve bail uld NOT
bother me nearly as much as II ulo 10
get the fast one where / wanted u 10 so'
That's my principal argument asaihst ~ ~tne
theory that the curve ball will wear my
arm out II Is the easiest delivery lor me
TO control and for that reason l pitch IL
more naturally than I do the fast one.
I have been able to 60 through nine
innings on days when my curve bah was
not breaking properly, and on other Gays
/
have its accustomed zip, But | always
am seriously hampered and usually de-
feated II my control happens to be poor
When say that my control was poor,
I do not mean that l could not get the
ball over the plate. ] could get II over
too well-probnbly | should say l. had 10
get it over In these days, pitcher
doesn't think he has control when he
shoots the sphere over the heart of the
home plate He is satisfied only when he
is cutting the corners or placing ms
pitches where he knows the batsman
can't hit them effectively.
Control has kept many pitcher on
big lea que staff when his arm was about
gore He placed the ball where he
wanted il to go and where he knew the
batsman couldn't bang II. And he got by.
That's why you hear 1t said that so and
so Is all in, but he's getting his big
checks on the 1st and 18th because he has
n head" A wise set of brains will win
a ball game where curves and speed Will
fail-that is, when the brains are COM
| bined with good control.
There have been days when have been
| hit hard and 1t has been said, well.
| he's losing his effectiveness. He must
bs overworlted or he's using too many
| curves" The trouble was that | did not
| have my accustomed control. ] do not
| mean that issued many base on balls
| the chances are | did not walk a mar.
| But could not find the corners. | either
hurled the ball away from the plate or
directly over the middle. And at the
| same time I had as much stun" as
! ever had in my life.
| | mention all these things to prove TO
| you that ii Is not necessarily curve ball
! pitching that makes a man ineffective.
J Manager Moran, of our club, is strong
for side-arin pitchers when they have
control. And he gives as his reason
that when, they can put the ball where
they want IL to go, they bend it, more
naturally and gracefully and don't hurt
! their arm.
There is nothing remarkable about my
control of the curve ball, Why shouldn't
! l get it where l want it to go when II
Is my easiest delivery. | have my own
| system for keeping my arm in shape
and retaining my control One custom
/ of mine is never TO take day off after
/ / have pitched, unless II happens to be
| n Sunday when he are playing in the
| East, and then ! like TO get some sort
of exercise. When my club plays the day
| after | have worked, l chase flies In the
/ outfeld, bat fungoes and work out the
| stiffness l don't pitch much because
that doesn't seem necessary for me.
repeat that curve-ball pitching should
! not cut short the career of a side-arn
finger. And If | am fortunate in othei
ways-I mean do not suffer injuries-Il
show you an arm that will be strong for {
good many seasons. My baseball fortun,
depends on my control, as does that o.
| any other pitcher When l can retain
that. I'll let somebody else worry abou
my arm going back on me because o.
the unnecessary hooks" / deliver.