The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1917-12-04
Aerial Attack Against Straight Football Is PROSPECT

free swing. In addition to tie physical
qualities he must have plenty OF nerve
and reso,lrcefulnoss, Yet there ar. many
eatters with Al oi those Important ouall-
fioatlons who do not succeed In becom.
ing leaders In the art Of putting the
sphere OUT OF reach OF the fAlders
The one thing which many hatters
neglect" said Lajoie. rs 10 make a clnse
study of every opposing pitche. IL Ia
worth great deal 10 the man al the
plate, who 10 constantly trying 10 out
guess hiS opponent In the box. 10 know
what Kind Of hall the pitcher In going
a. toss up. Pitchers gain the advanta 90
p toolng the batter, or At least by keen
hg him In ignorance Of the kind Of de-
liN'ry they are going 10 use In any par
uculaf case.
Motions OF Pitchers
"Rut ! have found In my career that
practically every pitcher makes some mo.
'inn Mhen intending to pitch A curve ball
slightly different from tho one no uses
when he ~ going to pitch a faAt one
Pit, hers, Of course, attempt to conceal
their delivery and they are pretty sue
cessiul In doing so. unless the batter ls
flght on his toes. But they all have
some very slight motion, often purely un.
conscious, which can be detected by close
and careful observation II Il batter viii
put hfs mind on It, ne can almost
always detect some httlu shift of the
elhoW, or some insignificant twist Of tho
fingers. which viii signal to him the sort
oi Dali that " about to be thrown. Pitch
ers are smart but each one has his lit
tie pecullarities OF delivery II takes
times and strict attention to dlscover
these things. hut II can be done
II batter viii devote his time while
sitting on the bench to close study Of
-, ~
discover lot Of things To his benefit
Once In a while he viii make mistake
and he takes "a chance of being hit hy u
last ball when he is looking for curve
but he will be right most OF tho time
and his knowledge, gained by close OBJ
scrvatlon, win be OF the greatest help
TO him"
Davis Expert on Signals.
lnioIo went on TO say that Harry Davis,
captain Of TIM Athletics for so many
years, when they were In their prime
and In u GLASS by themselves as slug
Cling OUTFIT was II past master I'm the art
OF detecting the battery signals Of the op-
position. Davis studied We opposing
pitchers with great thoroughness and
tipped of 10 the batters what was being
served up, from his post on the coaching
lines. lIe taught Chief Bender and 9th
ers OF the team to do the same thing
and some Of them became very proficient
In solving the myEteries of the style Of
the battery defense All Of theNthletIc
players always tried TO steal the catch
efs signals when they got down 10 see
ond bHHc. Several members Of this great
team owe large part Of their reputa-
tons Rs htterS to the foxy methods OF
obtaining tho Signs Of the pitcher and
catcher.
Every batter kur~s very well what a
relief II is 10 he sure Of the kind of ball
that is Rolng TO be- thrown to him. II
he s sure that n fast ono u coming II Ia
easy 20 set ones self for hard wallop
II II is a curve ball that II going 60 creep
up 70 the Plate. the batter II prepared 10
II every young batter would take the
pains 10 study pitchers, as LaJoie has
done all his life. there would b. great
improvement In hitting and some players
would stand very much higher In the
averages than they do now.
Pitching camoufIape.
Manager Mnthcwson OF the Reds lis
tened to Laioe's talk and then said :
Nap, You have the right dope. and II
has always surprised mo that moro bat
tcrs do not study. pitchers closely, But
you must remember that the pitcher him
self can use little cAmonflage, too.
When | was pitching the tade-away, !
developed q habit OF throwing my left
leg up and forward when making the de-
livery. soon, discovered the batters
were getting wise 10 me and would be
looking for the fade-away Whenever they
saw my leg come forward. 80 would
fool them by sometimes shooting n fast
one through with that same motion OF
tho leg aud how surprised they would
look ! used 10 smile 10 myself some
times at their discontinue All Of which
goes 10 show that great ball playerr,
whether hatterr or pitchers, use their
brains continually In Hn effort 10 deceive
aud bewllder tho enemy. and much of
their success depends upon this clever
outguessing of their opponents