El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-05-17


, and even better control Of it. Then
Higgins turned him loose and the
] Cincinnati Reds grabbed him i don Z
| know whether Moran ever saw Fisher
pitch, but he probably did, and the
l fact that he grabbed the veteran
shows that Pat is stin the same good
Judge OF pitching he always has been
There is going 70 be considerable
I trouble this summer over the doping
l Of baseballs unless the league officials
order the umpires TO be more strln-
gent in enforcing the rules, or else
cut out the restrictions entirely and
tell the pitchers to go 10 it.
After one game in which five pitch
ers worked 7 had the pleasure Of ex-
aiming a bunch OF balls which had
been used in the contest Ae least
two Of the pitchers had been scuffing
or kuicking the covers Of the balls
and one had been glazing the surface
with parafin or some kindred sub
stance.
Used Both Substitutes.
In one game lcOrice and emery
both had been used on a bail. and in
another doped glove was detected
before the pitcher started TO work.
The work Of the umpires is hard
enough as IL is Tt is extremely diff
cult 10 detect the use Of foreisn sub
stances on the surfaces Of the bali.
but it Is equally easy TO tell whether
something has been done the minute
the ball is pitched. BIZ Gleason is
bail ought TO be cut out entirely. The
managers who have spit ball pitchers
.retort that CicOtte and Williams
ought TO be made to cut out the shine
bah.
The truth is that neither the
umnires nor the League officials
can prevent the use Of foreign
substances and that the easiest
way out OF the situation would he
TO tell the pitchers TO 20 TO IL and
use anything they please
II this free-for-all use OF foreign
substances should be permitted how
ever, batting would almost become a
lost art The public demands more
batting As the leagues stand now
the pitching Is far too strong for the
attack TO overcome and IL looks to be
a season Of low scores and extra in
ming games. The proper thing. OF
course. would be to instruct umpires7
to enforce the rules laid down strictly
and 10 provide penalties which would
make pitchers hesitate to use dope. A
warning. a fine for the second Of
tense, and expulsion from the game
for the third might stop the viola
tons.
Jack COMBS was telling an odd ex-
perience the other day. He never
used a spit bail or experimental with
it. relying always on his curve and
change Of pace. But one day he got
into tight same at Boston and was
forced to extend himself 20 the ut
most bis arm was tired in the extra
innings and could not get as much
stuff on the bah as he had been get
ting and Duffy Lewis banged a
bounder back at him which knocked
most OF the end OF one finger off
There was one out. runners on third
and first. and Boston needed a run TO
tie. The finger was bleeding pro-
fuselv but Jack knew no other pitcher
was warmed up and that a change at
that time probably meant defeat He
determined 10 stick it cut The count
was two and two on the batter when
COomhs cut loose what he thought
was a fast ball The BAN suddenly
darted down and inward. the batter
missed 10 a foot and struck out. [
Coombs then discovered that the
cover OF the ball was wet with blood I
and that he had pitched a bloody ball /
and saved the Copyright. 1913. I
by The Bell Syndicate. Inc)