Clipping:A resume of the history of pitching
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Date | Saturday, January 10, 1874 |
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Text | In the early history of the game a medium speed in delivery was in vogue, and strategy was employed to make this pitching effective; those two veterans of the early days of baseball–Tom Van Cott and Frank Pidgeon–being the two most noted exemplars of the old style of delivery, the ball at the time being fairly pitched. It was larger, however, and softer than the present ball, and the outfielders did the most work, as a general thing. As a matter of course, the scores were large and the games long. But little of such fine fielding skill as we see now was then witnessed even in the best of matches, and the game lacked, therefore, the attraction it now possesses... A square pitch rule the play until the advent of Creighton in 1858, when mere speed became the desideratum and the disguised underhand throw came into operation; and this method of delivery has practically been the rule ever since. It is impossible to deliver the ball swiftly and at the same time accurately by a square pitch. Such a delivery of the ball, too, would enable the batsman to drive it with ease out of reach of the fielders, and to score twenty home runs where one is now obtained, thereby making the game decidable by heavy hitting alone, and not by skillful fielding and scientific batting. The introduction of underhand throwing by Creighton, fifteen years ago, had just such an effect in revolutionizing baseball as that of round-arm bowling by Lillywhite had in cricket twice as many years ago. Underhand throwing has practically been the rule since 1858, and legally since 1871 [sic]. It has worked to the advantage of the game, and experience has shown it to be the only rule that affords the pitcher a fair chance for a full use of strategic play. |
Source | New York Clipper |
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Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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