The Washington times., 1924-02-25

| over the 11ICy years OF organized
baseball and limit himself to any
ten he considers the greatest.
Here" we might state, was thu
list he had compiled.
"I've subdivided those pitcher;
into right-handers and left-hander
and old-timers and the present era
Take a squint at them"
We did. Here's the roster:
Old time right handlers - Amo
Rusie, John Clarkson, Jouett Nee
kin. Tim Keefe, Charlie Radbourn
Kid Nichols, Ed Crane, Bobb!
Matthews, Cy Young, Joe McGin
nifty, Jack Chesbro, Bill Dineen
Present-Christy Mathewson, Wal
ter johnson. Chief Bender, Jacl
Coombs, Ed Walsh, Grover Alexan
der, Mordecai Brown, Urban Faber
Old.time left-handers-Matt Xii
roy, Toad Ramsey, Theodore Breiten
stein, Eddie Plank, Nap Rucker.
"NOw don't be confused" con-
tinued the oracle, cover the fact
that some Of others that 1 have
included in the present era have
retired from the game. The
/
separate those who played early
in the history of organized base
ball and those who were going
good within ten years or less.
ITO get down to business, and
separate these choices into various
compartments and subdivisions, so
to speak. Take sped. There are
four hurlers who stand out head
and shoulders above all the others
for smoke. They are Amos Rusie,
Cannonball Ed Crane, Walter John
son, and RUDE Waddell.
"a man might have his choice as
to the speediest enc Of these three,
but he wouldn't go far wrong to
lump 'em together as the boys who
had more smoke than any of
their brethren.
eff you wanted to choose the best
spitball artists there wouldn't be
much to that either. You would
have to hand the palm to Jack
Chesbro, Ed Walsh and Urban Fa-
Der.
Personally, IL were to pick the
one pitcher who had everything,
the boy who could throw all the
hooks that the other boys had and
still had the old noodle and the
knowledge Of the batters, I'd string
along with Christy Mathewson.
'Take Joe McGinty. That boy
would win the palm FOR durability,
when he was fifty-twO years old.
He also was the best underhand
pitcher who ever tossed a sub
marine curve. His old Mary Ann,'
q rising curve, was unhittable.
That boy could go in there day
after day and twist 'em over.
when It comes to iron men, my
pick of the lot would be Charlie
Radburn with Providence and Bos-
ton forty years ago and less. Old
Hoss, as they called him, went in
every day and did thu work OF a
pitching staff.
why one season he hurled sew.
epty-two games, l think, something
like twenty-five or thirty of them
In q row. That means day after
day in there-none of the iron men
who worked In later years touched
the Old HosS.
Garrison was a great curve
pitcher, with plenty of speed. So
was Meekin, Chief Bender, Jack
Coombs, Grover Alexander - they
were fast ball and curve pitchers.
Old Cy Young had genteel curve,
but binding speed.
"Now take the left-handers.
Among the old-timers Matt Kilroy,
who lives here, and Toad Ramsey,
the old Louisville pitcher, were the
best to my mind. Kilroy had the
noodle. He was a marvel watching
men on bases. think he niped six
or eight off first base in a single
game.
Ramsay had everything. Plenty
Of smoke and lots of curves. Toad,
when right, and Matt, when going
good, ranked with any pitchers in
the business, either in their day
or now. The same goes for Breiten.
stein and Killian.
"Rube Waddell was q marvel.
He had as much speed as RuSie
or johnson, to my mind. He had
wonderful curves and great con-
troll. That is what makes q south.
paw great. Give a left-hander
control and he's bound to be a
great pitcher. II RUDE Waddell
had the head that Matty owned,
he would stand out In my mind
as the greatest pitcher that ever
lived.
Eddie Plank was a wonderful
southpaw, perhaps the best of all
the modern left-handers, because he
was twirling grand baseball at an
age when a lotta men are taking
up golf to fool the undertaken.
go all over that list and you'll
see that I've picked out twenty
seven men. I'll bet something on
the side that there will be plenty
Of old and present-day fans tell ne
that I've forgotten some of he
best. That's true, too. guess
But II only illustrates my point
You could pick ten pitchers out
! Of my list, and say that they were