Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-03-05
LACK OF CONTROL PLAYS
HAVOC WITH MOST PITCHERS
Some of the Greatest Twirlers Insist That
Control Can Be Acquired, if a Careful
Effort Is Made in That Direction.

'fleIu makes One-lentn the mistakes mat
wild pitcher seeks to charge against
them. In this connection | recall in
cldent of the American League campaign
of 1915 which APPLY illustrates the point
| ] am trying make.
Grover Lowdermilk. who started with
the st. Louis club and was sold to De-
tro1t. ought to be one of the greatest
pitchers the game has ever produced
He has terrific speed, dazzling curve
and peculiar style of delivery that
ought to make him consistent winner
with most any old club. Lowdermilk
however. is sadly shy control. In most
of the games he lost last season bases
on balls. rather than hits. caused his
downfall 1t is superstition among
players that base on balls means a
run. While it is often the case that a
base on balls does not affect the result
OF the game. still in great many cases
IL is possible to trace defeat to a mo-
mentary lapse of control on the part
of the pitcher
Pitched a Wonderful Game.
l happened to be assigned to St Louis,
just after Lowdermilk in the short
space of a week had lost two or three
hard luck games because of a spell
of wilfness at some stage which
proved to be the turning point in the
game. The trouble had evidently got
III tHe piS pItCHeT nerves, Tor the day
mt ST. Louis one of the papers con-
| tanned a lengthy interview with Low
dermilk. in which he blamed the UNI
pres for his wildness. He claimed the
umpires We're constantly getting him
in the hole by calling perfect strikes
by another name.
Lowdermilk was scheduled to work
that afternoon against Cleveland. I
was to work the balls and strikes. I
had been amused at the interview and
decided to debate the point with Low
derml!k. II so happened that he was
seated on the bench when i came on
the field. ! greeted him in this man.
ner: -
! see by the papers that the umpires
nave been the cause of your wildness.
Grover" The big fellow only smiled.
J decided to press the point. Il will
admit you have lot of stuff Lowdy
but did YOU ever figure there are a lot
of other good pitchers in the Ameri-
can League who have to stand for us
fellows" Now there is Walter John
son: he is pretty good pitcher. and
Walter never accuses the umpires of
getting him in the hole" Lowdermilk
continued to smile, but said nothing
me to keep il up. Il am afraid you
pay too much attention to the umpires:
the idea is to fool the batter not the
umpire. | suggest that you let me do
the unipr!nE this afternoon. Grover
and will let you do the pitching. Such
"A system is at least worth one trial.
LoWdermllk agreed: he was willing to
agree to anything to get away. as his
fellow players We're having a lot of fun
kidding him while | was conversins
with him. That afternoon he beat
Cleveland easiIy--in fact. shut the In
dams out with only one hit. and that
was Il scratch.
Chief Bender. always noted for his
control. has always insisted that fail
ure to pitch properly in practice is the
cause of a great many pitchers wild
ness. Bender insists that pitcher
when warming up before starting a
game should pitch the regular dis
lance. and make an effort to get the
ball over regular sized home plate.
Most pitchers simply toss the ball. and
pay little or attention to direction.
Bender of the firm opinion that such
"a system is all wrong. The former
AthIeti c star believes most pitchers
shirk such duty. They prefer chas-
ing balls in the outfield. or taking their
turn in batting practice. rather than
pitch. The crafty Indian claims that
few pitchers improve their hitting by
the batting practice, that chasing fly
balls doesn't help their fielding much.
and tina, the same time spent in per-
fecting their control would result far
more advantageous1y to their teams
chances There appears to be a lot OF
common sense in the chiefs line of rea-
soninE.
copyright. 1916. Icy W. u. Evans,