The sub., 1944-07-06

the unnatural underhand delivery, gets his pitch past the batter quick CT than baseball pitcher does by his batter because of the closeness of the pitchers box-40 feet for softball compared to 60 feet, 6 inches in baseball.
 There have been many good baseball hitters who have hit above 300 in baseball but have received the shock of their lives when they could not hit their weight when they tried softball. This is usu- ally caused by the size of a soft ball, which is large and the soft ball bat, which is small. The ball must be hit Squarely in the center to get good line drive or long hit. If the ball is hit off center and fraction of an inch makes a lot of difference, the softball de- velops a terrific spin and either pops up or rolls along the ground.
 For the doubtful fans, let me give some facts. Last year in Grot- on and New London, where organ ized leagues were playing out their schedules, player had a finger broken attempting to catch a little "pop-fy." A big and rug ged catcher was shaken up so badly that he was actually sick for weeks. Another catcher had a knee injury that still handicaps him. A pitcher was struck in the stom- ach by linedrive. from the bat of a 200-pound hitter and was nauseated for hours. Many sec ond basemen have been dumped abruptly while trying to be the pivot man on double plays. And several first basemen have been "knocked for a loop while cover- ing first base in the Groton League this year. They really play for keeps in softball.
 There have been many excep- tionally fine and exciting plays made at Washington Park this season and the teams seem faster than usual.
 Here are few of the things to watch if you go to the games in Groton. Watch Woods of the Coast Guard throw his fast one by a>sur- prised batter who hasn't chance to get the bat off his shoulder. See Rebel, the Great" hit one over the score board for the Tigers. Take look at Dick Brown of the Tig CTS, slide bases. He really cleans out everything, even the rocks. You haven't seen a thing unless you have seen Nello Burian of the E. B. team, take one of his pre- ponderous swings. The ball "goes mile' when he hits and you feel the breeze when he misses. Two players fell off the bench one night when he missed. For real speed, you should see Willie Tiede of the E. B., or DeBarroWs of the Racketeers flash around the bases. WHEW!-How they travel. It is worth trip to Washington Park to see that old reliable umpire, Bob Mahoney, strike, that do or die" pose after he has called one, right or wrong, sometimes he is right.
 A survey made in 1940 showed that nearly twice as many people attended softball games than wit messed baseball games. Not all good baseball players are good soft- ball players and not all good soft ball players are good baseball play CTS, but nearly every good softball hitter can hit in baseball.
 Softball will never take the place of baseball, but many of our future baseball stars are now out on the sand lots with an old softball, a battered glove and "tooth-pick." They may not have the best equipment but you may bet anything that you wish, that they have what it takes-that good old "American Spirit"
 Air is a mixture of gases and