The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-02-03

Of course, 1 had seen Matty be To me he was pretty nearly the peri He had the stature and strength al
 That speed was the thing every I ody talked about then. Occasionally he had been able to use 1t with great success and by careless management they had permitted him to drift along as best he could. As yet he had not begun to study pitching as an art.
 Had Lost Control
 You must remember that Matty was then but a gangling boy just out of his teens. He simply floundered around in the box with little sense of purpose. By constant efforts al speed he had become wild. Not knowing exactly what to do about his case some one thought he might make a great first baseman. That, inciden- tally, was the last place he should have played
 After sizing him up for a little while I put him in game or two. He had so many faults that it would be difficult to enumerate them He simply knew nothing about pitching at all. His wonderful equipment was Icing wasted. Even as boy, though,
 
 serse and. being well educated, was eager to be directed. Mathewson never forgot anything in his life.
 First Big Break
 The first big break in his career came in game in which we had the opposing club beaten by 2 to score up to the ninth inning. There was a runner on base and the next batter up was Jimmy Slagle.
 All of us who had studied batters closely knew quite well that Slagle was a fast ball hitter of the most dangerous type. On curve he was eak.
 I was never more surprised in my fife when Bowerman, who was catch ing, gave Matty the sign for a fast, high ball. Putting everything he had on it the young fellow shot the ball over like bullet-right in Slagles groove.
 "Bangw
 Single Hit Homer Jimmy caught the ball squarely on the nose and slammed it for a home run. We had lost the. game. Didn't you know that slagle all ways hits a high, fast ball?" l asked. Hes notorious for that
 No, I didn't" admitted Matty. BOWerman Slgneu TOT IL anu l burned one through"
 Well. don't ever do that again. I said. a little tartly. If these fellows here don't know what the different batters usually hit ask me. I'll give you the sign"
 You know most of them. don't your" he asked.
 "If don't I will before we go through season. told him. Now let me ask you something, young follow--why do we bring the infield in when there is a man on base?"
 Why, to make a play at the plate. We don't want the ball to get through the infield."
 should Throw Curve
 "All right. then, what kind of ball would you make them hit so as to prevent it going through?"
 T see," he said. "A curve, of course. They'll hit that in the dirt"
 Exactly. Now don't ever pitch a man, a fast ball when the infield is 6rawn in. It's just the thing he can hit through if he gets hold of it."
 Matty looked at me hard for a moment, nodded his head and smiled.
 T won't do 1t again. I got the idea" he said. What does that fell low hit best?" he asked, pointing to an opposing player the next day.
 I happened to know and told him. That particular batter could hit a curve ball around his knee. He never got another from Matty.
 I never had to tell sfathewson any thing a second time. In addition to my instruction he watched McGinnity closely, picking up other points. Fro'a that first day, it seemed, Matty care- fully studied all opposing batters. Once he learned what they could hit and what they couldn't. he never for got. In few years he had in that wonderful brain of his chart of nearly every ball player in the Ma tional league.
 Realizing that pitching to weak nesses had to be exacting, he started i in to perfect his control. He worked 1 and studied all the time. By watch | ing McGinnity he picked up the idea | of change of pace and perfected it. To this day Matty has one of ths n ost remarkable memories l ever have encountered. He could tell you right now the strong and weak points of every batter that faced him l in the worlds series of 1905. An 1 evidence of his retentive memory IS l his wonderful success as checker 1 player. l have seen him play eight lthecker experts simultaneously-yes and beat them all. That used to be a favorite stunt of his on the road He could even blindfold himself and remember the moves.
 Didn't Make Mistakes l There was never another pitcher like Mathewson. doubt if there ever will be. For him to make a mistake was the rarest thing in the world. Always, 1t was g pleasure tc | work with him. He accepted dis 1 cipline cheerfully and did not have I to be told to keep in practice. Base ball pitching was as fascinating a 1 science to him as playing checkers He loved the art of it.
 Another important factor in his | greatness was his team spirit. All ways he worked for the club and with the club, whether in the game or not when he became master l of his trade he was an inspiration I 10 the other pitchers. If in the box himself he would instinctively turr and sindicate to the outfield wha' 1 position to take. according to wha he would pitch.
 Conserved His Strength l Early in his career he figured ou l the necessity of reserying hi. strength for a pinch. Matty figured l at a pitcher should be just one | ninth of a team and not try to pla, l the whole game. Until his reserve strength was needed he would let thu l batter hit the ball and depend upoi I the rest of the club to take car' l of the ball. Only in tight plac' N ould he deliberately try for a strik' out In othei words. Matty nevel exerted himselt until it becam, l necessary. That's why he had sucl tremendous strength when 1t cam to A pinch. In critical situation watching Matty was just as com l i&ti finn