The Washington herald., 1919-06-10
Cicotte Doctors Ball,
But Un,ps Can't See 1t

They called il the Shine" ball for q
time. and later II was called the
''parafine" ball. II appears now that
the ball which Eddie Cicotte has so
completely mastered should be known
as the mystery ball. Cicotte or
some other member of his team is so
skillful in his massb ge work on the
pellet that even the umpires are in a
haze about ii. Once in a great while
ball is thrown out, but most of
them stay in the game, despite the
numerous protests of opposing play
ers.
In yesterdays game at the Polo
Grounds the Yankees did not make
much of a fuss about what Cicotte
was pitching. But it was evident
that Eddie was geaing in some fancy
work, or at least that somebody on
the Chicago club syas giving 1t the
special treatment that the ball gets
SO quickly when Cicotte is working
on the mound. Ray Schalk, behind
the bat. put up wild protest in the
seventh inning when the Yankees bat
boy was moving toward the New
York bench after recovering a ball
that had been fouled. Schalk called
Bill Dineen's attention to the fact
mat a Odll was bCih6 hluildPpcN anu
Bill called for the boy to shoot it
back, which he did.
why the Eagernessf
When the Yankees were in Chicago
recently Schalk raced half way to
the grand stand for a slow rolling
foul ball, as IL the game depended on
a speedy recovery. Whenever the
Yanks put up a kick that the ball was
being doctored there was the usual
defence put up by the home players
that there was nothing strange about
the ball Yet there is such a marked
effort made to keep certain balls in
play when they are fouled out that
there must be a reason. If one par
ticular ball is not doctored, why the
exertion to keep it in play in prefer
ence to any other ball?
There is no denying the fact that
Cicotte Is as smart as any other
pitcher in the game, smarter than
most Of them; also that he has plenty
OF natural ability and probably would
be a consistent winner without the
freak delivery which he alone seems
to have mastered. But 1t Is likewise
true that when he is pitching the ball
takes an uneven discoloration that
can be noticed in the grandstand
Umpires examine it. realize that it is
>discolored, but regard 1t as within
the baseball law. Last summer Joe
Finneran of the Yankees used the de-
live o. with some success but nothing
like that of Cicotte. At Comiskey
Park the Chicago players put up pro-
tests against Finneran, but Billy
Evans. who was umpiring the series,
\ o.
Finneran was pitching since he fig
ured it was no different than when
Cicotte was working.
Finneran's mode of doctoring the
ball consisted in rubbing parafine
into the seams on one side of the
ball. BY pressing his glove into the
dirt and rubbing the ball into the
palm of the glove the dirt entered
the seams and stuck there, thus
making the side of the ball contain
ing the paraffine and dirt heavier
than the other. Without the paraf-
fine the dirt would not hold but the
wax substance kept ii in. Finneran
could make the ball take peculiar
Gyrations in practice, but he could
rot properly control it in a game.
Jim Shaw of the Washington club
has done considerable experiment.
ing with the same ball. When the
Yankees were in Washington last
week they held several inspections
of the ball. but the unpires did not
throw any out. Shaw's uniform has
a dark spot near the right hip on
which he -rubs the ball continually
before pitching. Cicofte showed no
traces of such a spot yesterday, but
it usually is much in evidence,
Yanks Doctor Ball.
When the Yankees were at CO.
miskey park three weeks ago they
did some doctoring of their own to
offset the effects of the treatment
which they contend Cicotte gives to
a ball Eddie beat them that day,
but he did not weave any such spell
over them as on days when he had
the delivery working properly. The
box score showed nine hits and
some more were cut of by the great
fielding of Collins and Risberg.
Shawkey pitched for the Yankees
and he found it difficult to control
the ball that had been SO much doc
tored.
In the late innings the Yanks de-
cided that they were handicapping
shawkey. and let the ball alone.
cicotte showed more in the late in