Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-04
NUMEROUS SCHEMES DEVISED
TO WIN BASE BALL CONTESTS
Heinie Wagner of Red Sox Had Original
Plan to Trap Nappers-Many Games
Decided on the Bases.

I these grounds the catcher who ordi-
| narily experienced no trouble CATCH
| ing the left-hander. had more than his
share of difficulties. He would drop a
great many pitched balls, and every
| now and then would have passed
! ball, because he lost sight of the ball
| temporarily. in much the same manner
| that an outfielder loses a fly ball be-
| cause of the sun.
The catcher always complained Of
| difficulty in following the ball when
| playing on these grounds. and also told
his manager that the home players
complained of their inability to see
| the ball clearly. 1t seemed when
ever the pitcher resorted to his cross
| fire, which was his main stock in trade,
his arm would extend on a line with
the many figures and letters on the
score board. Naturally this maze of
figures and letters formed poor back
ground for the batter and seriously af-
fected his vision.
manager to thinking. If the batters
were really so troubled by the arrange
ment, why not get all the advantage
possible by placing the scoreboard on
Three days before the close of the road
trip he sent the southpaw home with
instructions to have the scoreboard on
the home grounds changed from left to
center field, and located where it would
bother the visiting batters most That
/ the opinions of the players were cor
rect was proved by the remarkable
showing of the pitcher during the re-
! mainder of the season. He was well
nigh invincible.
Doctor Dirt on Diamond.
Not many years ago a manager who
has acquired much fame for his clever
handling of major league teams put
over a stunt that worked to the disad-
vantage of visiting clubs for several
months. The practice is still resorted
to. 1t is customary for the average
pitcher to rub his pitching hand on the
ground in the box many times during a
game. The primary purpose of such
practice is to dry the hand, so that the
twirler is enabled to get a better grip
on the ball. which tends to help his con-
troll, as well as his speed and curves
No player perspires more freely than the
pitcher, and this makes it necessary for
him to resort to the dirt treatment.
Batters also make practice of patting
both hands in the dirt prior to stepping
into the batter's box The motive is
the same: it being done to dry the hands
and assist the batter in getting firmer
grip on the bat. thus lettering his
chance of hitting the ball. Now for the
scheme.
position with the dirt in the batter's
box and the pitchers box, which
would render that dirt slippery. The
players on the home team were given
positive instructions that under no
condition were they to use the dirt
in these spots for the purpose Of dry
ing their hands. Batters were to
make it a point to pick up some dirt
a considerable distance from the bat
ter's box before they faced the pitcher,
and twirlers on the home team always
stepped back on the grass and scraped
loose some fresh soil with their spikes.
Visiting players. being entirely igno-
rant Of any scheme to minimize their
efforts, went about their work in the
usual manner. the batters carelessly
patting their hands on the ground in
the box. and the pitchers time and
again resorting to the dirt to help to
steady their efforts in the pinch AS
result of the maneuver the hitting
of visiting teams suffered considerably,
while the lack of control of visiting
pitchers was the talk of the circuit.
The scheme worked for several
months. and might have been of even
more advantage had not the fact that
the dirt had been tempered with leaked
out 1t was not long before every club
in the league was wise, and. of course,
when the trick became generally
known. there was no further benefit to
the home club, and the unfair practice
was Immediately discontinued.
Copyright. 1917, by W. C. Evans.)