Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 203, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 August 1916 — GRIFFITH HITS AT SPITBALL [ARTICLE]

GRIFFITH HITS AT SPITBALL

Manager of Washington Team Says Delivery Is Not Natural and Is Cause of Errors. Clark Griffith is against the spitball. He is hoping for and predicting the day when it will be legislated out of baseball. Says he: “If I had my choice of the two 'evils, I’d pick the emery ball. The spitball isn’t any more of a natural delivery than the emery ball and it’s more offensive. The Spit on the ball causes a lot of errors when fielders make wild throws grabbing the ball at the slippery spot. It spoils clean fielding and therefore has a tendency to hurt the game.”