Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 203, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 August 1910 — STUDY WEAK POINTS OF OPPOSING PITCHER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

STUDY WEAK POINTS OF OPPOSING PITCHER

ROBERT WALLACE, THIRD BASEMAN OF ST. LOUIS BROWNS, SAYS FIRST STUDY WEAK POINTS OF TWIRLER OF OTHER TEAM. BY ROBERT WALLACE. (Copyright, 1910, by Joseph B. Bowles.) Working together for one run at a time, and hitting at the weak points in the opposing team is my idea of how to win baseball games. To me a baseball game is just like a battle. The effort should be to attempt to break the defenses some place, and then attack that broken spot. ,The easiest point to attack, of course, is the pitcher and every effort of a team should be concentrated to weaken the pitcher. Knowledge of a pitcher, whether ho is wild, whether he has good control, whether he fields bunts well, is essential before a game is started and the attack should be directed at the weak spot. Run bases on pitchers who do not watch the bases carefully, outguess the , slow thinking pitchers, and bunt on the bad fielders, t believe in playing hard for one run early in the game, for the first run handicaps the other team and forces them to hit. The first run I think is almost half the game, and one run in the first inning usually is worth three later in the game. It is nearly all a study of Individuals, and experience helps a lot. As to third base, it is one of the most difficult positions in the field to play, and when the other team is at bat a third baseman is forced to do a lot of thinking or he will lose the game. With runners on bases the chief attack by the bunting plan is directed at third base and the baseman, play, ing less than 90, often only 75 feet frotn the batter, is in a ticklish position. He must decide whether a certain batter will bunt, or whether he will try to draw' the baseman forward by pretending to bunt and then push the ball hard past him. If he decides wrong his chances of fielding a hard pushed hall while he is running forward, are slim. If he gets the ball it is because he: is lucky enough to have it hit straight at him because while coming forward he is unable to change direction or to stop in time to field such a hit. A wrong guess with men on first and second usually means the loss of the game. I know through experience what almost every batter is likely to do, but in baseball there is nothing quite so dangerous as thinking you know what a man will do because he has done

that thing many times. He is likely to change quickly and upset everything. I watch the batters carefully, especially in'situations where two or three plays are possible, and frequently can guess from the actions or position of the batter what he is going to try to do. He may hide his intentions perfectly and yet tip off his plan through his very effort to conceal iL A false position or an exaggerated ■how of doing one thing frequently means that the other is coming. I like to know what the pitcher is going to pitch to a batter in an important situation. It is difficult .for a third baseman to get the signals because the catcher is covering up all the time in order to prevent the coachers from seeing. It Is a big help to know what ball is to be served, especially if the pitcher is pitching inside or slow, and giving the batter great opportunities for pulling the ball hard over third base, as it gives a third baseman time to establish an alibi or fix up a self-defense plea. Workingftvlth the short stop Is necessary, and a third baseman and short stop must understand every instant which is to take balls hit between them, or hit slowly. A single mixup there will lose many gained and the decision must be made like a Sash. These are merely pointers which I hope may help young players who are studying the game. Naps Give $7,000 for “Phenom." Outfielder Jackson, the batting and fielding sensation of the Southern league season, has been sold to the Cleveland Americans for a stated conside: stion of $7,000.

Robert Wallace.