Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-01-16

ing pitcher. In addition, there was the
mud ball." the "f1ngernail ball." the
'tafcum BALI and a host OF others too
numerous to mention.
There is no denying that the success
of the emery ball was the cause of all
the other new inventions in pitching
deliveries. 1t is now a matter of his
tory that Russell Ford's great success
was because of it's use. Ford led the
public, press, players and umpires to
believe he was using the spit ball.
but Russell was fooliug everybody and
possibly himself When the ball was
legislated against Ford had nothing to
fall back on to deceive the batsmen.
1t is also contended that the continued
use of that ball robbed him Of much of
his speed and also hurt his curve.
When the penalty for using the emery
ball was made so severe that pitchers
feared to dabble with it they began
to experiment with other methods that
would create the same result, cause the
ball to sail in and out, or dip down.
Experiments proved that the use of a
coarse dirt slightly moistened would
ma Ike trouble for the batters. The use
of talcum to create a smooth. slippery
surface also was resorted to by some
pitchers. A good many others found
that it was possible to get a rough spot
on the ball not unlike that made by Inc
use OI emery paper ny usib5 tuc hHS
nails.
Old-Style Pitching.
In fact, 1915 was year In which a
good many pitchers would have been
more successful If they had stuck to the
old style methods, although every now
and then some pitcher would meet with
phenomenal success with a new-fangled
delivery. All year long other American
League clubs insisted Shore Of Boston
! was doping the ball. American League
such a belief, for Shore managed to get
, as much stuff on brand new ball as
an old one. In one respect the new de-
livery has been very costly.
1 wager it was necessary to use almost
twice as many balls in 1915 as other
years, for the moment pitcher got his
fast ball to sailing the batter would in
sist on an examination, "a rough spot
would usually be found and the ball
would be cast out of play. In most
cases the rough spot was caused by the
ball coming into contact with the con-
crete stands. Minor league pitchers
dabbled with the new deliveries as ex-
tensively as the major leaguers. Dave
Danforth, with Louisville in the Ameri-
can Association last year, is credited
with having the very best thing to offer
in the way of new-fangled mystery
balls.
Dave Danforth is the name OF a new
pitcher who comes to the Chicago White
Sox from the Louisville club Of the
American Association. According to
players and unipires in the association,
Danforth will bring with him fast ball
| that does everything but talk. No one
seems able to describe just what Dam
forth's puzzler does. but the batters say
the easiest thing in the world to do is
miss it. IT is described as a combina-
| ton of the fast ball. the spit ball and
the emery ball. If you can imagine Just
| how such ball should act then YOU
| have solved the mysteries of Dave Dam
forth's effectiveness.
Danforth Lacked a Curve.
Several years ago Danforth Joined
Connie Maclks club. He was sent to
| Mack by friend in Texas. who had
| seen Danforth do some remarkable work
among the Texas college teams He had
/ no professional experience whatever,
, and as is Macks system. he allowed
Danforth to pitch to his players in bat
| ting practice, and warm the bench dur
| ing the game. Danforth received his
| first chance under most trying condi-
tons He was sent in to relieve one
of the veteran pitchers with the bases
! filed and no one out. He came through
with flying colors.
Danforth showed good speed but