New-York tribune., 1921-12-04
George Sisler, Famous Star of the Browns,
! Was Great Pitcher During College Career
Mainstay of Michigan
Team i'm 1915 Made
a. Record as Twirler

1t was in the spring of 1915, at Ann
Arbor, Mich, that two young southpaw
hurlers were engaged in pitchers
battle. Sisler, of Michigan, and Koob,
of the Kalamazoo Normal, we're the
principals in a pitchers duel that will
be remembered by the students when
they reach the grandfather period.
The game lasted fifteen innings and
no runs were scored by either team.
Koob held the batsmen of Michigan
to pair of singles and famed thir-
teen batsmen. Sisler didn't pitch the
entire game. At the end of the fifth
he was shifted to the outfeld and made
the only hits registered off the south
paw curves of Ernie Koob. In the five
innings he pitched no hits we're made
and twelve batsmen struck out. The
recount of the game tells that Of the
sixty-seven balls pitched by Sisler fifty
seven were strikes.
This was one of the early events in
the career of two college lads who, in
later years, were team mates on the
st. Louis Browns. Koob stuck to the
pitching game and sisler, who pos
sessed infinitely more skill than Koob
when it came to pitching baseball,
cut the pitching game to bat his way
to fame and fortune, which he is doing
to-day with phenomenal success.
Showed Great Batting Ability
When the now famous Sisler signed a
contract he was slated as a pitching
possibility. but showed batting ability
which overshadowed his value as a
hurler, at least so thought the man
of
make it stronger this college-bred ath
lete demonstrated that he could play
first base little better than the aver
age big league first sacker.
The st. Louis management couldn't
make mistake in playing Sisler in al
most any position, but, at that, there
was lost to TIE game a hurler whose
southpaw curves would have dimmed
the wonderful records of a Morris. a
Ramsey or a Kilroy if fate had des-
tined him to follow the pitching game.
That another Killian, Breitenstein or
a Needles" Hahn was ushered into big
league baseball was the verdict of the
fans after George Ssler pitched his
team on July 3, 1915, allowing but
seven singles and whiting nine bats
men, and it was the opinion of the
experts who saw the left handed re-
cruit work and give demonstration,
of curve pitching that he had stuff
equal to any southpaw the game ever
had.
Scouts on His Trail
1t is doubtful if ever college CAM
pus produced greater ball player and
hurler than George Sisler, and his
work from 1913 until 1915 was Of such
a nature that every scout in the land
bad lines out for him. Sisler won
fame in college circles with the stick
as well as being a pitcher of rare abil-
,,ty., The idea prevails that college
hurlerrs have. as a rule. weak opposi-
tlon, that the average college batsman
swings at everything offered by a
hurler who possesses good curve.
This incident will give an insight as
to how puzzling Sisters curves were
and what splendid control he had. In a
game against the University of Syra-
cuse in the spring of 1915, when that
school had the best baseball aggrega-
Jlon in its history, Sisler struck out
twenty batsmen in game that went
thirteen innings. The remarkable fea-
ture about his work was the fact that