The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1920-04-17
SPORT NOTES
BS John n. Foster

this yearn Perhaps YOU made the
selection before you decided on your
new spring suit, but If You haven T.,
take herd go slow,
All baseball conditions are differ
ont Even the schedule is not like
thai cf 1919. That change alone may
-l-lvc ne old baseball races such a
different aspect that neither Of them
viii recognize Itself # photographed.
ono hundred and forty games were
played last year. This year the
9rawny brains OF the aspiring sth-
lntes will sprawl throug l54 games.
Ge sure not to overlook that fact
when making bets with your neighbor
Fourteen additional games mean a
lot when the weary toHers have come
- tho last three weeks OF Of the drive
About July ia teams begin to wake
mp 70 the possibility within them.
IF they are within lighting distance
n first place by then word quietly
passes down the limo that every
wealth or beaten son Of St Louis, or
Boston. or whatever other city the
athlete may represent will please roll
IN his sleeves, and night for the honor
n rjs hailwick Al that the poor
heeAled boob Of a momentary tighter
may live in Spiegei Pass, Texas.
- up The manager carries a Road
n tho club house and on the bench
The fang carry about 900 Old
goads everywhere. The nervous hall
player, who loses a game by an er
rer. is likely 10 60 to bed a worrying
wreck and remain one. That's the
tough part OF 1t. The strain r%yer
ceases. The other hail players or the
team are frantic TO win. if they think
the team has chance, and every
body sees the mistakes Of everybody
else and is blind to his own,
I am reciting all this because x Is
part nf the new baseball fight. The
fourteen additional games 20 be
played IN 1920 viii test the staying
ealiher Of the clubs in the big leagues
more than it will test the staying
power Of the clubs that arc able to
show something hr july -Four
teen more games than were played in
1910 may break down the mental fibre
nf some organization which now looks
pretty good
Therefore when you rtli your
winner pick fo- endurance. as vigil
A skin. Don't hank too hesyiv on
a sprint. It's the history Of baseball
that sprinters seldom win champion
ships especially when handica pped by
a schedule of 15A games
The games OF the spring training
trips indicate that better groups Of
pitchers have not been assembled in
long time, Keep that in mind
Pick with the pitchers in your
thoughts Never worry about the
fieiders II team hasn't got the
batters. il will not win anyhow
Changes have been made In the
pitching rules, whicn are sure to
A,v-iHgr huFL~ y iezb ri s~1]
fashioned pitching that prevailed
prior to the intr oduction OF the dis
gusting spit ball. We are going 10
soc games of the kind that our dad
dies saw. when they talked them
selves blind over tho duels between
a host Of real pitchers without
saliva spray attachment
Dig into the National league pitch
ers and into the American league
pitchers by record, and by showing OF
this year. and try to make a selec-
last through the season. In the Ma
uonal Brooklyn and New York. Chi
cagn. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati. each
car offer for exhibition an assemblage
~ pitchers which the daddy organi-
zation collective has not been able TO
place before the public in many years.
In the American league. Chicago,
New York St Louis. Detroit. Cleve-
land and Washington more than fifty
per cent are nitcher~ strong Per
hans Connie Mack mas something
nifty hidden away In his old Phila-
deiphia club and the only club which
seems to bo little nitcher shy az
compared with the others. is Boston
have received n number Of in
quiries asking whether the freak ball
cannot he used by the pitcher in
srfni- professional and amateur games
II both sides agree. IF both sides
agree 7 suppose that II would be in
order to run bases the reverse wav
in q ball game. but il would NOT be
standard baseball
NY advice is-"Don't Use the Freak
Bail"
Tho new rules were passed in base
ball n get rid OF an infringement
was beginning 10 lose about ali the
integrity IT ever had. With his peck
cts filed with everything from slip
merry elm 10 emery paper, Br'er
Pitcher was fitted out TO multilate
the inoffensivo bail the moment he
could get his hands on 4 Suppose
thH batter been equally eager 70 saw
@fT the bats, and some BODY else cut
down tire size Of homo plato. while
sti1l another placed second base about
fifteen feet out TT it's truc position-
Would that have been bacnhali@
Presidents Johnson and Heydler
and the members OF the rules maxi
inF committee deserve Iaurels for the
action they took in revising the rules
and discouraEing horse play tn ma
tional game. In a little while-rive
tho seed time to bear frult--we shall
sec coming forth ii fine Ski1fuI Tot