The Washington times., 1925-04-30

/ the bench I watched Ruth, as I'd
watched him many times before.
and decided that slow curves might
keep him from hitting. So the next
day l fed him nothing but slow
ones.
The first time he struck out; the
second time he punched an easy
| hounder that / tossed to the flrst
baseman; the third time he again
struck out. In the eleventh ne
came up again, with the score a
| tie. I threw him another slow ball
| "a perfect one that went exactly
where I'd intended it to go. The
Babe hit a mighty swat.
Eventually that ball came down.
! But when il did there was a
fence between il and our nearest
fielder. Babe Ruth had another
home run to his credit, and q
lost ball game. q
No, you can't dope Babe Ruth.
Two or three years ago he was
over-eager, and would bite at bad
balls. Now he's more cautious, and
| he makes US serve 'em up to him.
l throw Babe Ruth nothing but
bad ones-teasers. with now and
then a fast ball that clips q cor
ner of the plate. n-Babe wants
| to strike at them, all right-he's 3
biting at bad ones and the odds are
against him. II he doesn't strike
| he walks, and that; ordinarily,
suits me just as well.
Ty Cobb is another batter whom
pitchers dread. He is tricky; he
can pretty well tell what kind OF
ball the pitcher is going to throw;
and he knows how to keep the
pitcher from finding out what sort
of pitch he is expecting.
Moreover, Ty is a chop" hitter;
he doesn't set himself so completely
for one kind of ball that another
kind, coming unexpectedly. will
catch him wholly off guard.
/ have found that Ty Cobb's
weakness, If he may be said TO
have q weakness, is o low ball.
So / throw him lots Of low balls.
The st. LOUIS Browns have an
outfielder, big Jacobson, who is
good fielder and q hard hitter.
When he steps into the batter's box
he looks as tall as q telephone post.
I try to turn his height to my ad.
vantage. II he stands erect, /
keep the ball low, around his knees.
If he faces me crouching, as he
frequently does, I throw him some
thing high and fast.
If a batter is a free swinger, a
fast inside ball, around his hands,
is likely to keep his batting aver
age down.
Try to make a free-swinger bite
at bad balls; il you need to fan him,
work the corners.
Don't try to strike anyone out, by
the way, unless there's need for it.
Many pitchers, particularly young
ones, forget they have eight men
to help them.
II YOU can make a batter hit
an easy grounder to the shortstop
you're a lot better off than IL you
famed him, because you haven't
tired your arm.
The man who makes the most
trouble for a pitcher is the fellow
who can tap the ball as well as
swing on it. Eddie Collins does
pitcher of medium speed he'll
whack the ball a mile. When l
start burning them in to him,
however. he sets himself and slaps
the ball, often for a safe hit.
Some pitchers throw often to first
base, and arrange complicated sig
mails with the first baHeman in the
hope of catching a runner mapping.
don't believe in either practice.
It's seldom that you actually re-
tire a runner in this way-the only
object of throwing is to remind him
that you're watching him. l al.
ways try to keep exceptionally fast
| men hugging the base.
Always watch a batter for signs
| that he is going to hunt. II, as
you release the hall, he shOrtens
his grip on his bat, or i'm some