New Britain herald., 1927-10-13
(RY REILLY ENANS)


 Better pitching is the slogan of Manager George Moriarty of the Detroit Tigers. His team finished in the first division this year be- cause, on the whole, the Tigers staff of twirers showed improve ment.
 In Haskell Billings. called Josh" by his teammates Moriarty feels confident he has added a youngster to his staff destined to shine in the majors.
 It is an unwrtten law in baseball that all Weavers are known as Buck" players with the name of Young are called "Cy," while Josh is invariably tied on to any player , who answers to the name of Bill ings." Hence the nickname. given him as soon as he joined the majors.
 This chap Josh" Billings is un- usual in that he is a high brow. mentally, and wears spcctaclcs, a la Lee Meadows and Carmen Hill, pitching stars of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Billings was educated at Brown University.
 Older fans, who recall Jean Du- buc star. of the Tigers pitching staff a dozen years back, will note q great similarity between the style of young Billings and the veteran Du- | buc. And it is only proper that the resemblance should be most 1 striking, since it was Duhuc, as coach at Brown University. who in structed Billings in the art of pitch ing.
 When Dubuc, who acts as scout | for the team on which he once starred, sent Billings to the Tigers, l he expressed the belief that tho youngster was capable of making the grade without any minor league experience.
 Taking Dubuc at his word. Man ager Moriarty put Billings to the acid test a few days after his ar rival in Detroit. He beat Boston. A lot of pitchers have done that the past year, so his win over the lowly tailenders caused no undue amount of excitement. However. 1 when he scored victory over Wash ington his second time out, despite the fact he was in hot water most of the game, the critics began tC perk up and take notice of the young colegian.
 In the two months that he spent with the club prior to the close oi the season, Billings didn't turn 1T a single poor exhibition Of pitching In majority of the defeats charged against him. faulty fielding rather than weak pitching was the cause.
 Billings Is q right handler While not very tall-he lacks perhap. three inches of being six-footer- he is Of stocky build and has a tint pair of shoulders. He has gooC fast ball seems to sneak on the bat ter. He keeps his fast ball low. ant mixes in fast breaking curve ant good change of pace.
 A tendency to be wild has some what handicapped Billings but hi control has shown constant i'm rrovement. His general style ha likewise profitcd as the result of tn ! coaching from Lefty" Leifeld, on, of the best left handlers in the his tory of the game.
 Billings has a great chance. says Leifeld, "for he has the stuff learns fast and has the winnin; spirit. It wouldn't surprise me if h. won Is games for the Tigers nex season."
 The season of 1927, by the way was a big one for first year be spectacled twirlers, formerly de cided rarity in the majors. Garner Hill of Pittsburgh was the outstand ing star among the pitchers who us glasses. Other first year pitcher wearing spectacles were MacFaydel of Boston, Pitt of New York ant Billings of Detroit.