The Washington times., 1919-09-27
EDDIE CICOTTE AND WILLIAMS ARE
ONLY RELIABLE GLEASON TWIRLERS


Chicago pitchers, all arguments enC
with Eddie Cieotte and Claude vii
liams. This splendid little pair form
Kid Gleason's pitching staff.
Up to September 8, when thesc
averages were compiled, Cicotte and
Williams had won almost two-thirdl
Of the games won BY Chicago this
year. Cicotte then had won q and
lost 2 for a percentage Of .794. and
Williams won p and lost for q
| percentage Of .788.
They are certainly two little iron
men, Their most valuable assistant
In the latter part OF the season has
been little Dickie Kerr, who like
/ Williams Is a lefthander. This viii
/ be the shortest pitching star ever en-
Fte-od into a world series. The three
OF Them stretched out would meas
ure only seventeen feet. Cicotte and
Williams are each fVe feet nine
inches and Kerr Is I'VE feet six inches.
That's q pony stan for you, all right.
But what they lack in size they
make UP in quality. All three are big
little men. Though Cicotte hasn't
much length, he Is stOeky and well
knit together, He has a powerful
pair OF shoulders and the native en-
durance so characteristic Of his race
the French canadian. For physical
strength and endurance he has few
men his e4ual in baseball
CIeOtte Ranks Ahead.
For general effectiveness Cicotte
ranks ahead Of any other pitcher in
either major league today. and that
despite the fact that he is thirty-fve
years old. The writer can recall no
parallel case TO that Of Cieotte, where
player in the middle thirtles gets
better the farther he goes.
Much has been written OF what
Cfcotte pitches. His delivery has been
dubbed the knuclle ball, talcum
powder ball, shine ball, resin ball,
and lately just a. plain mystery
ball" ] have heard numerous play
ers, particularly members OF the
Yankees and Giants. discuss just
what Cieotte pitches and few Of their
views are alike. The Giants were
not particularly impressed with what
CfcOtte showed them On 1917.
BIZ Donovan, former Yankee man
ager and In his prime one OF base
balls greatest pitchers, probably
gave the best explanation Of what
there was considerable uproar about
him pitching the talIoW ball. Every
body watches to see what Cicotte
puts on the ball" said Wind Bill He
may use some foreign substance, but
much Of this g Tor. erect The Batter
IS 50 anxious TO see what Cicotte IS
putting on the ball that he is men
tally upset and often his faculties are
not centered on the pitch.
Use EznuskIo Hall.
"As to Cic6tte's best delivery. it is
the knuclxle ball Eddie Summers
used it in Detroit and It can tie a
catcher into knots IL he is not ae-
customed to its breaks. Only Cicotte
through patience and study. has Il
controlled better than Summers had
It. The ball can be pitched with diff
ferent variations and comes up TO the
batter with such a spin that II is ex-
tremely hard to meet the ball
squarely.'
That's what CicOtte pitches; the
meat N4GaAA4A AEa " AAa-N AF@Ae 49,
Reds be able to do about it?'
Claude Williams, the lefthander, is
built on similar lines to CiCotte,
though he is about ten pounds lighter.
He also is a wonder for endurance.
He has been hit harder thin Cicotte
this year, and several times IL looked
as though he were about to crack,
but he would follow up a poorly
pitched game with q shutOut or a
small hit a day or two later. In
many of his games he was helped by
the hard hitting behind him, but after
a rocky spell I'm midsummer, he again
is going great guns and at present
is as effective as he was in the spring.
Kerr Was q Boxer.
Kerr is a novice in the big leagues
this year, but he Is a game little
creature. He was a former boxer and
IS very ambitious TO get along in base
ball. Kid Gleason was taken with
the lads ambition and aggressivenessI /
at the SOx training camp last spring
and has done everything to advance
him From present indications, Kerr
will be the Kids third pitcher. though
Cicotte and williams probably will
work most Of the series as did CIcotte
and Fabsr in 1917.
It has not been unusual for man
ayers to rely on only two pitchers in
a series. McGraW won with Mathew
son and McGinnity in 1905, Mack with
Coombs and Bender in 1910, and Row
land with Cic0tte and Faber. Last
year Jim Vaughn and George Tyler
pitched a six-game series for the Cubs
all but two innings.
Urban Faber, who won thrPe games
from the Giants in 1917, may get into
the series as a dark horse, but he has
been bothered with a lame arm most
OF the season. though he has taken
mart in twenty-four games. He won
ten and lost nine. He has been doing
little pitching since July, though there
is talk OF Gleason resting his arm for
the series.
May Get Relief Jobs.
Bill James and Grover LoWdermilk. I
the six-footers, . who are the very
antithesis of the tiny Cicotte and /
williams may get into the series in |
relief roles. Both are unsteady and /
though James has |
won two shutouts from Washington |
since the Red SOx shipped him TO /
Chicago.
Erskine Mayer, taken over from I
the Pirates, figures among the !
White Sox pitchers the same way as
does Roy Mitchell on the Cincinnati [
stan. He doeBn't figure at all.
The SOx pitchers do not hit near as
we'll as the Red men, their star /
.vnrare hefnr IT3 against PIP for ]