Clipping:Hecker's running pitch delivery; stepping outside the box
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| Date | Wednesday, August 6, 1884 |
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| Text | Hecker’s great strength this season has been in a sort of running delivery of the ball, in which, it is claimed, he not only starts beyond the box, but invariably steps out of it in front. In this way he has secured an effective speed by wholly illegal practice, which somehow the umpires have failed to detect. Now the rules require that the pitcher shall stand wholly within the lines of his box–six feet by four feet–during the time he is in the act of delivering the ball. In order to compel Hecker to observe this rule, Will White ordered two smooth, flat stones to be set into the ground, one before and one behind the box, and wholly outside of the lines. The effort is to keep the pitcher’s feet wholly within the box, as the rules require. If he step over the line the spikes in his shoes strike the smooth stone, and he slips as well as leaves a tell-tale mark on the stone that cannot be rubbed out. To say that Hecker was struck when he saw those stones is to draw it mile. Of course he “kicked” and called upon the umpire to have them removed. The umpire, however, said that the stones were wholly outside of the box, and if he pitched according to the requirements of the rules, he would not touch them. Furthermore, Mr. Ross said that he was surprised that the same precaution against illegal pitching had not bee taken by other clubs, and said that every diamond should have those stones set. Hecker pitched standing on the box, as the rules require, and was batted hard. Once he stepped out on the stones and his foot slipped, nearly splitting him to the shoulder. |
| Source | Sporting Life |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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