Evening star., 1920-02-09
TALKS FOR SPIT BALL
AS NEEDED IN GAME
Manager Fred Mitchell of Cubs
Says Minors Want Pro.
lection,

| CHICAGO. February s-Wi,h tn.
| abolition OF the spit ball and shine
| Dali in base ball there Is likely to he
a oearth of pitching material in the
| minor leagues in the future, accord
ing 10 Manager Fred Mitchell Of the
| lawmakers of base ball ought to be
| careful In how they handle the situa
| tlon at the coming meeting of the
! rules committee Monday at the Con-
| eress Hotel. The Cub leader is of the
opinion that the molders of the law
or the game should not be too drastic
| IN their determination to eliminate
| from the sport all sorts of freak de-
| iiverles and methods of throwing the
| different kinds of benders
| Mitchell Talks of Pirchers.
L am in favor Of a modification OF
| the present rules of pitching" said
\ Manager Mitchell. but | do not ap-
prove entirely of taking away from
| the pitchers every form of striving
| to be effective. 1t is o. X. to discard
the shine ball never saw much
harm in the spit ball. Besides. there
are not enough of them in the
! leagues to make great deal of diff
terence in the strength of a clubs
| staff. The rules committee does not
want to be too drastic or 1t is likely
| to do the game more harm than good.
| Many pitchers use resin to assist
| them in getting faster and bigger
| break on their curves. Some use this
| hands sweat when they pitch, and
| apply it to keep the ball from slip
! ping. If they are deprived Of using
little resin it is going to be difficult
for them to twirl. and they are likely
| to be as wild as a March hare The
rules committee ought to guard
against this. and do not think any
harm will be done if the hurlers are
| permitted to use it, They merely ap-
i ply it to keep the ball from getting
away from them when their hands
I are wet.
| IF the rules on pitching are too
| drastic it is going to be "a tough job
| to develop pitchers in the minors. If
the committee is not careful it will
| make it difficult thing for the mi
! nors to find material. Curve-ball
pitchers are not made. Curving
| ball comes natural to a man because
| there is something each pitcher has
in the twist Of the wrist or the move
! ment of the elbow that enables him
to get a good break on the ball. Some
/ pitchers can never throw a curve and
| some can never be taught it, regard
| less of how much speed they have or
| how good their control is.
Had No Twist ON Ball.
iii give an example of that. While
| was with the Boston club as coach
fOr George StalllngS we mad three
pitchers with terrific speed. They
| were James, Strand and Davis. l
worked with those fellows every day
| for more than a year and not one of
them ever learned to throw curve
SO that it was effective. James was
| not any good until he acquired the
, spit bail. Had Davis and Strand been
] able to get a twist on the ball they
would have been good pitchers. but
they never could get it because they
were not gifted.
, the base ball laws ought to go slowly
i in legislating against freak deliveries
| and methods of throwing the ball. II
the youngsters in the minors are
stopped from using resin or some
substance to assist them in getting
faster and bigger break to their
curves they will be a long time in
developing and it is possible they
will never be any good. If that hap
pens the majors are going to encoun-
| ter some trouble in getting material
| for their teams.
Alexander is an unusual pitcher.
He does not use a thing in throwing
| ball. But there are few like him.
Pitchers may be able to throw
| curve. but to do SO they are com
| PEELED to decrease their speed. which
| makes the bender ineffective. There
| fore. why try to make it tougher for
them. They will have their hands full
with the spit ball and shine ball
abolished"