Evening star., 1937-03-06
ascare Making Real Bid for Berth Slab Starter for Mats
NEW SCREWBALL
PLEASES BOSSES
Little HurIer Feels Pitch
Will Be Effective if He
Is Used Regularly.
BY FRANCIS E. STAN,
Stan Correspondent OF The Star.

10 SSSA
BY FRANCIS E. STAN,
Stan Correspondent OF The Star.
~ RLANDO, Fla, March g.
There seems to be some
doubt in camp as to the iden-
tity of the gentleman whom
signor Joe Cascarella is aping, but the
cocky little pitcher. overnight. has
started to cut capers in these head
quarters OF the Nationals.
Joseph has come up with, of al!
things. a screw ball He been flddling
with it for a couple years. Cascarella
admits, but the Red Sox didn't use him
enough to warrant risking ball games
and so he kept it a secret. Now.
buoyed by a promise of Bucky Harris
that he will be starting pitcher. he's
throwing it and Joseph is making it
talk
When he first whipped one to q
catcher yesterday 1t became a topic
Of general conversation. Clark Grit
fifth, standing nearby. looked on ap-
praisingly and seemed content 70
merely watch until somebody suggest
ed that Joe was taking leaf from
Carl Hubbell's book
"Hubbell?" snorted Griff Hes no
more the inventor of the screw bail
than you are. was the first pitcher
TO Use it, Why back when I used to
pitch for Anson's Colts I used 1t for a
change e-of-pace ball"
He's Down to Business.
GRIFF1TH's argument threw more
~ Of the spotlight on Cascarella and
finally Manager Bucky Harris stepped
up to put the finishing touches on tout
ing the little hurler.
Somebody wanted to know, since the
camp was getting "Cascarella con-
scious." whether he would be of any
help to the Griffmen. After all. Joe
never has been a winning pitcher with
the Athletics and Boston and has been
making frequent jumps from the
ma jors to the minors and back again.
Help us?" repeated Harris, little
on the incredulous side. He'll win Is
or IT games. Don't you think that will
help us? Since training opened I've
come to the conclusion that Joe will
be one of our best pitchers, definitely,
and Ill tell why.
In the first place. after all the
years he's been pitching I believe that
he's dead serious for the first time.
He's a great 'ribber,' you know, and
for that matter he still is. But now
he's got his serious moments.
Last year I remember that Cas-
earella always was the last guy to
report to the ball park and get in
his uniform. He was always late.
So far this Spring he's been the
first in his monkey suit every day
and the last to come off the field. He
even wanted me to start fungo hit
ting to the pitchers today 50 he
could get more work"
Willing to Gamble on Pitch.
THE prospect of Cascarella de-
veloping into a winning pitcher
should be intriguing to followers OF
the Mats and those who profess to
know ball players, like Grif and
Harris, say that oftentimes a fellow
like Joe arrives" little late. Hes
been pretty much kicked around" ex-
plains Grifith. Maybe now he's de-
termined to get serious about base ball
and produce"
Cascarella thinks the screwball will
be q definite asset. Joe is among
the sneaker pitchers. His fast ball
generates surprising speed at times,
for one of his size, and his curve and
change of pace are better than aver
age. With a screwball to whip across
in the proper spot he figures himself
q winner.
IF I pitch regularly, I'm willing
TO gamble on it." discloses the Signor.
with Boston I didn't pitch enough
to risk hurting my arm with it, to
say nothing of throwing the pitch out
of the park. A Screwball. you see, Is
thrown with wrist motion that's just
the opposite of a curve, and If
fellow isn't getting enough work he's
liable to spring something"
Anyway, speaking of springing
things, Cascarella has done 1t with
that screwball. Now if he only springs
those 16 or II victories, Grif might
have another deal to include among
his all-time prizes. For the fading
Jack Russell he got Cascarella and
$500 in cash, and last year it began
to pay dividends when Joe ranked
twentieth in effectiveness and Russell
was No. 81.