The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-12-21
Regular Work Essential
In Pitching, Says johnson
Twirling Star Tells About Long Distance Games
In Which He Has Worked

git for anticipating curves. OtnerS are
strongest against straight or fast balls.
All these things double up a pitchers
problems, and then you have got to con-
slider right and left-handed batters.
"Then another thing to be considered
is how to pitch to the various batters
when men are on the bags. In such
case, the pitcher is up against the prob
lem of not only keeping the batter from
hitting, but from keeping the base-run-
ner from advancing as well. These prob
lens are always shifting, always chang
ing. and always calling for different So
lutions.
L0ng.distance Games
''These things come up naturally more
frequently in long-distance games, in
some of which 1 took part wholly and
in some of which I acted as relief pitch
err. / remember one long-distance game
we played against Philadelphia on Sep
TENDER II, 1912, which ran for 10 in
nings and which we won by 5 to 4. We
with Philadelphia and we wanted to win
that game. Two games were to have
taken place that day, but the game last
ed something over four hours and
couldn't have gone any further on &C.
count of darkness.
1--WE scored four runs in the first two
innings, but after that the veteran Ed |
die Plank held our team to no runs and |
six hits for 16 consecutive innings. Here
was Plank, a veteran of IL seasons at |
that time, pitching against two young
sters like myself and Groom and almost |
first nine innings of that game and was |
compelled to leave the box when Phila-
delphia punched four hits on him in that |
inning and tied the score. At that I
believe that Groom could have finished |
the game. He was a good, strong pitch
er.
Goes Into Box
"When I went in, in the tenth. I had |
no idea that the game would last 10
innings. Eddie Plank was still going |
strong and he had the edge on me. The
only thing that saved me was the bril-
liant fielding of the boys behind me- |
especially the work of Foster at third
and Mcbride at short. Time and again |
I was called upon to face pitching prob
lens that seemed impossible of solution,
but 1 must confess 1 had the breaks IN
my favor, and / was pretty lucky to
come out with a victory. With the score
tnally lost the game for Eddie when his
wild throw brought in a runner from |
third.
"'It was great game while it lasted
and it was hard game for Eddie Plank
to lose. 1t was not his fault that the
game went against him.
"That wasn't the only long distance
game that Washington has been in. In
h. I'll IN N
game lasting 10 innings. Detroit used
only one pitcher, while Groom and Gray
divided honors in the box for Washing
ton. 1t was record game for consecu-
tive scoreless innings in a major league
contest and was called only because it
was too dark to play any further.
Twirls IS Innings
II recall another game-also IS in !
nings-with Chicago, which we won by
the score Of 1 to 0. The particular thing
1 remember about that contest was the
fact that each side used only nine play
ers and all played errorless ball. Cy
Williams and myself were the opposing
pitchers. We went at it for two hours
and Al minutes.
"And then there was the 18-inning |
game on August 4, 1918, which we
played against Detroit. That was a
tough one. 1t was one of the longest
games 1 have ever been in-in which l
had to go the whole route. Detroit start
ed the run-getting and we evened up
matters so that at the end of the seven
teenth we STOOD to 6. In the thirteenth
we thought we had the game won, but
the great Cobb made a beautiful peg to
the plate, cutting off the winning run.
bod nho fn n
fourteenth, but Bush made two perfect
throws to the plate, cutting off two runs.
After the ninth inning neither side was
able to score and we settled down to a
hard task of trying to put over a win
ming run before darkness set in. 1t
looked as if the game was to be called.
But no one ever knows what is going to
happen in baseball game. 1t is the
unexpected that keeps the crowd pitched
up to a high degree of enthusiasm.
Tigers Win
1--WE came up in the eighteenth and
failed to score and then the first man
up was Bush. 1t is hard to recall just
how many balls and strikes pitched to
Bush that day. The main thing to re-
member is that he got me for a singing
single. The game started to break up
right then and there, but we on the
Washington team did not know it.
Jones, the next man up, laid down a
neat bunt, advancing Bush to second
base and the Tigers were one base near
er to the home plate and to victory.
1.-THE next man up was Ty Cobb.
Gosh, how did want to win that game,
and how did hate to see Ty Cobb come
up to the plate. Ordinarily it does not
make much difference to me who comes
up to bat when things tighten up, but
this was one time when / would have en-
joyed a greater peace of mind II any
body else in the world had been at the
plate instead of the Georgia Peach. In
spite of the fact that l had been getting
the best of it during the entire game
in my encounters with Ty-he had been
up eight times and got only one hit up
to this inning-I knew that the breaks
could not be against him all the time,
so 1 figured that 1 had better pitch as
l had never pitched before to get him.
1 realized that one single would mean
the loss of the game to Washington.
Ty Beats Walter
But l had the same confidence that
I have always had since have been in
baseball when faced Ty. If were to
be asked what, in my opinion, is the
most important thing that a pitcher
should possess, I should readily say con-
fidence. When pitcher is confident he
can pitch good ball, and when he be-
comes frightened he goes up in the air.
The same thing applies to a batter who
goes up to face a confident pitcher.
Il guess Ty had just as much conf
dence in his ability to hit me that day
as 1 had in my ability to get him out of
the way before he could do any damage.
But Ty beat me and broke up the
game. When he came up he looked as