HEZEKIAH'S
GREAT PASSOVER
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Sunday School Leuon for June 11, l9ll
Specially Arranged for This Paper
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ARTHUR DEVLIN.
N PITCHING and winning
your games," I have often
been asked by devotees of
the American game, "how
much figure does brain work
cut?"
Many an honest young fa
natic has asked me that
question during the ten years
and more that I have been
pitching major league base
ball, peering at my head
meanwhile as though he ex
pected some such reply as "no
headwork whatever." Many
an older and wiser baseball
follower, fortified by the
wondrous knowledge that comes to men after
years of squatting in the grand-stand, has asked me the same
thing in a modified form.
How much figure does brainwork cut? I don't quite know
myself. I do know that no pitcher, however powerful or agile,
can hope to become a great performer witb.-ut being thoroughly
equipped "from the shoulders up." The steel arm is desirable,
'the good eye is even more desirable, but, without the little filling
of gray matter that is popularly supposed to inhabit the skull,
pitcher might just as well pack his suit case and go back to
the quaint little village where he was first discovered. It isn't
the iron in the arm, because lots of longshoremen could snap a
;pitcher's arm in two with a single twist; it's the combination of
(brain and body, the perfect co-operation of mind and muscle, that
makes a man a successful major league twirler.
Most pitchers who break into fast company and stay there
bj consistently demonstrating their ability, are men that went
through a long course of sprouts
before they got anywhere. They,
like hundreds of successful men in
other walks of life, were forced to
look, listen, and learn before they
had anything like an
even chance to win
their spurs.
Many things have
been said and written
about pitchers out
guessing batters, and batters out
guessing pitchers, and to tell the
truth there has always been a
question in my mind about the
outguessing proposition. I have
seen so many instances where
guesses went wrong so many hun
dreds of instances that I am
about the last human being in the
world to pose as an oracle on the
subject of pitching psychology.
Nevertheless, there certainly is a
lot of psychology about pitching
a baseball. Granting that a pitcher needs something more than
a clear head, it must be admitted that the successful pitcher is
always a student. There are a hundred and one little things
that every good twirler has in his repertoire, a hundred and
one little thing3 that the average baseball lover doesn't know
anything about. I have always made it a practice, before going
into a crucial series, to get some kind of authentic information
about the strength or weakness of every batter slated to face
me, and once I know positively that a batter doesn't
like speed, I feed him oceans of it. If I find that
his weakness is a low curve, he gets that for a
steady diet.
When we met the Athletics in the season of 1905,
after having won the National league championship,
5 realized that a good part of the pitching burden
would be on my shoulders, and I began making in
quiries about the weak and strong points of the
American league champions.
Monte Cross, who played on Connie Mack's in
field in 1905, was known by me to be a dangerous
hitter, though his average was not high. He was
the kind of a hitter who was always bobbing up
with a hit at a time when a hit meant
trouble, and just before the series start
ed, 1 did a little quiet detective work
through friends of mine who knew the
game and knew Monte. I had been
told that Monte's weakness was a high,
fast ball, but when I talked to "Kid"
Gleason of the Philadelphia Nationals,
Gleason told me that Cross had fought against and overcome his
weakness, and had developed into a murderer of the high, fast
delivery Keeping Gleason's advice In mind, I gave Cross noth
ing but low curves during the series, and had him helpless from
the start. Had It not been for Gleason's tip, Monte's always
dangerous bat might have caused trouble in that series, for
there were some very close games before it was all over.
The greatest strength of a pitcher, aside from his control, is
what the players call his "mixture." That means no more nor
less than what the word implies his variety of fast and slow
balls, his serving of this or that curve. What we call the
"change of pace," the delivering of a fast and then a slow ball
with the same preliminary motions, and the mixing of a high
fast ball and a slow curve are the success
ful pitcher's best assets.
Lovers of baseball have often asked me
how I deal with a batsman whom I have
never faced and about whose batting ability
! know nothing. Every seasoned pitcher
has been called on often enough to meet
batters he never saw before, and In such
pinches he must rely largely on luck.
When I am facing a new batsman for the
first time, I pay particular attention to two
things the position be assumes at the plate
and the way he holds his bat. If, for in
stance, he holds his bat well up toward the
middle there Isn't much use of sending him
speed. Batters of this type are always ready
for speed and they can meet the fastest
ball a man ever threw. A low curve on
V the inside will do for e. starter, and if
J such a batter goes after It and fails to
connect, you have his "number."
The batter who stands back from the
plate v 1th a lcng bat and a grip near
the end is the one who can send a low
curve into the southeastern quarter of the adjoining section.
While a batter may work hard and overcome a certain weak
ness, that does not necesarily mean that he becomes a great
hitter. In centering his energies on overcoming his weakness
" -"si '
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MATHEWSON.
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for a high ball he may lose his strength
on low balls because he has been contin
ually fed high ones by opposing pitchers.
In that case I would try him on a low
ball and if it was found that he could
still hit that the only thing left would be
a curve ball or change of pace. It is
often the case that a pitcher cannot de
ceive a batter's eyesight but he
can deceive him mentally. For In
stance, most any batter can hit a
slow ball if he knows it is coming.
The same is true in regard to a
fast ball, but if he is
expecting a fast ball
and gets a slow one,
a strike out or a,
weak grounder to the
infield will be his
best effort.
Some batters, a
few of the chosen,
have no weakness
that the most studi
ous pitcher can detect. Men like Hans WTagner and Lajoie don't
care much what the opposing pitcher has to offer.
I have often been told by my friends that a pitcher is about
90 per cent, of the game, and have never failed to assure them
that nothing could be further from the truth. A winning
pitcher helps a baseball team a whole lot, of course, but there
are eight other boys on that team, and nobody knows it better
than the winning pitcher. The recent series between the Giants
and Yankees will prove my point.
In that series I got away with every game in which I par
ticipated, but I won because I received magnificent support,
both In the field and at the bat. Had George Wiltse been right,
or had McGraw sent in Ames or Crandall, the story would
have been the same If the support had been of the same splendid
caliber. The wonderful work of Devlin, Devoe and Doyle
the wonderful work of the whole team, for the matter of that
made defeat practically impossible. With that great machine
working behind me and with the greatest manager of them all
backing me up, I simply couldn't lose. That's how much a
pitcher is 90 per cent, of the game.
As a matter of fact, it would be Impossible to establish the
mathematical relation of the pitcher to a ball club. Figures in
baseball are often misleading. One pitcher may work brilliant
ly for 13 innings and have a 1 to 0 defeat marked up against his
record, while on the following day another pitcher may luckily
win a 10 to 8 game. It Is a matter of record that in the
season of 1909, Leon Ames of the Giants, in finishing a 17
inning game and participating in two extra inning ties,
pitched 30 consecutive Innings without allowing a run and
yet did not win one of the games.
From this it can be seen that the winning power of a
team must depend largely upon its run-getting ability. To
reach an estimate of value we will say
that offensive play is half the game. I
think that conservative. That would
leave but 50 per cent., and the pitcher
could not be all of that. I would say
that about 30 per cent, of the strength of a ball
club lies in the pitcher's box. No matter huw ef
fective a pitcher may be in the box he cannot win
unless the team bats in runs behind him. It is
true, however, that the work of a pitcher can have
a very strong influence upon the work of the
rest of the team. Disgruntled fans frequently
make the assertion that infielders and outfielders
will not support certain pitchers. That Idea Is er
roneous. Ball players always want to win, no
matter who is in the box. It is usually lack of control on the
part of the pitcher that disconcerts or demoralizes the infield.
Players lose confidence because they are uncertain as to what
will happen next. The catcher may call for a "pitch-out"
that is, a ball thrown wide of the batter, so that the catcher
can have a clear throw to second to catch a runner who Is
about to steal. The Infielders all see this signal and both the
shortstop and second baseman leave their positions to assist in
making the play. If the pitcher does not pitch-out, as expected,
the batter may hit the ball through the spot left vacant and up
set the whole team. Once they lose confidence in a pitcher in
a game, it is very difficult to regain it. It is not that they will
not support the pitcher. On the
f
mmm -masses
FRANK CHANCE.
FRED CLARK,
cf PittsLurg.
mmm
contrary, it is the fault of the
pitcher who will not give them
chance. If the pitcher
has control everything works
smoothly.
If it were true that pitching
is 90 per cent, of the strength
of a ball club, it would be log
ical to assume that the team
having the best staff of pitch
ers would always win the pen
nant. That Is not true.
The baseball reader
who pays attention to
records will notice
that the teams which
win the pennants al
ways have several
players who lead in
their respective de
partments. And this
does not necessarily in
clude the pitchers. For instance, the Baltimore club, back in
the early nineties, won three successive pennants with pitch
ers whose names can scarcely be remembered.
The hackneyed cry of " What we need is pitchears" could well
be changed to "What we need is hitters, base runners and field
ers." Without them there can be no pennants.
JOE TINKER.
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"HONUS" WAGNER
Some of the best pitchers ever connected with professional
baseball have received bumps from sources so humble that
any false esteem they may have held for themselves has van
ished like the snows of last season. Cy Young, the nobfiest old
Roman of them all, has been beaten by village teams. The best
pitchers of the world's champions, not long alter they had
trimmed the Cubs, were beaten by the 'unknown Cuban teams
they faced during their late barn-storming trip. They pitched
good ball, the kind of ball that would defeat any team If It
came to a matter of whole season's record, but luck, the one
thing above all others that makes baseball the thrilling and
perfect game it is, decreed otherwise. There are times, you see,
when all the science and all the outguessing in the world will
not avail.
I shall never forget a trimming I got
from a village team in Michigan. Just
after we had defeated the Athletics for
the world's championship in 1905, Frank
Bowerman and I went on a hunting trip.
As soon as the natives of Frank's home
town, Romeo, Mich., knew that I was,
his guest, they came and begged us to
do the battery work for the Romeo club
in a game they were to play .with the
club representing the adjoining
town. We agreed, and I am afraid that
our willingness cost a lot of honest
Romeo villagers everything except their
family plate. The thought of defeat
never entered their minds, any more
than it entered ours, but the little rival
towns club came over to Romeo and
gave Messrs Bowerman and Mathewson,
fresh from their big league triumphs, a
touch of high life tiat they never forgot.
They heat us 5 to 0, and I guess they
are celebrating it to this day. I don't
know just how they managed it, be
cause I was in perfect trim at that time.
I had everything, as we say in professional circles, and they hit
everything I had. I didn't mind it much myself, but I felt sorry
for poor Bowerman. He had to keep on living there, and 1
didn't.
The real test of a pitcher's ability arrives when the oppos
ing team gets men on bases. HJ8 responsibility is increased
while his freedom of pitching motion is restricted. He must
watch the base runaer constantly and at the same time must
deliver the ball to the batter with the
least possible swing of the arm. In
other words, he can't "wind up." Some
pitchers find it difficult to get as
much speed, curve or accuracy with
the short arm motion as they do with
their usual swing. This affects some
pitchers mentally, as the curtailment
of physical effort prevents them from
concentrating their mind on the man
at the bat. At the same time the base
runners, and frequently the coach
ers, are constantly trying to annoy
them. To protect himself
the pitcher must try and de
tect some action on the part
of the base runner which will
indicate when he is going to
attempt to steal the next
base. In this he is mate
rially assisted by the catch
er. Once the pitcher or the
catcher discovers when the
runner is going to start the
remedy is simple. Frequent
throws to the base will pre
vent the runner from getting too much of a lead, and when
he does start, the ball is pitched out of reach of the bat
ter so that the catcher can have a clear throw to second.
While the pitcher Is watching the base runner Re knows
that the base runner Is also watching him, in an effort to as
certain whether the ball is to be delivered to the plate or to the
base. Therefore, no preliminary movement on the part of the
pitcher must betray his intentions.
George Van Haltren, the famous base runner of his day,
once told me that he could tell to a cer
tainty when certain pitchers were going to
deliver the ball to the batter. This en
abled him to get a running start and many
times the poor catcher was blamed for
.allowing a stolen base, when In fact the
pitcher was unconsciously at
McGraw, manager of the G:
several weeks each season
teaching his young pitchers to
overcome that kind of a weakness.
The tremendous popularity of the
national game its popularity is grow
ing every year means that in the
years to come there will be hundreds
of baseball stars where there are doz
ens now. Every healthy boy has it in
him to become a good ball player,
though he may never care to follow
the pastime professionally. Being a
professional player myself, I may be
over-fond of the game to which I owe 1
er callings and many other pastimes cf Detroit
that a boy might better shun. Base- '
bail is always played out in the sunshine, where the air is pun
and the grass is green, and there is something about the game,
or at least I have always found it so, which teaches one how
to win or lose as a gentleman should, and that is a very fiz
thing to learn.
8HERWOOD MAGEE, '
of Philadelphia.
fault. John Ai J
Hants, spends 'jVfVj
3on in
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LESSON TEXT-2 Chronicles 30.
MEMORY VERSES 1S-20.
GOLDEN TEXT "Man Looketh on the
Outward Appearance, but the Lord Look
eth on the Heart. 1 Sam. 16:7.
TIME Beecher's Dates for the Acces
sion of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezeklah are
B. C. 754, 738 and 723, Hoshea becoming
king of Israel In B. C. 726. Hastings
frlves the dates as B. C. 749, 741, 727 and
(Hoshea) 730.
- PLACE The temple in Jerusalem.
PROPHETS Hosea, Micah and Isaiah.
Hezekiah wa3 the good son of a bad
father, Ahaz; and Ahaz was the bad
son of a good fatker,. Jotham; tnd
after the good Hezekiah came hia bad
son, Manasseh. But there must have
been reasons back of these seeming
contradictions. In Hezeklah's case
one may have been his mother, Abi jah
the daughter (or granddaughter) of
Zechariah, Twenty-nine Zechariahs
are mentioned in the Bible. This as
not the author of the book of proph
ecy, but may have been the prophet
who had eo much influence over King
Uzilah.
Hezekiah did that which was right
in the eyes of the Lord. God's ap
proval Is the only wise goal for a king,
a president or the humblest citizen.
It is the fatal defect in most forms of
government that this over-rule of God
is ignored.
Hezekiah began his reign by doing
the thing' that plainly needed most
to b done first He found the Tem
ple, the eacred meeting place of God
and man, with Its doors closed by
Ahaz, its lamps out, its altars cold, its
floors and hangings covered with dust
and dirt. Therefore the young king
summoned the priests and Levites to
the court on the east of the Temple
opposite the closed porch or entrance,
and in a frank and noble address de
clared his conviction that all the na
tional woes had their origin in a neg
lect of the worship of Jehovah, and
his determination to make a new cov
enant with the Lord. Then he bade
them, as their first task, to cleanse
the Temple thoroughly.
The Second Step the Worship and
Praise. Thus far the priests and Le
vites alone had been purified. Now
the royal house and the people were
to be formally reconciled to Jehovah.
How was this done? Hezekiah gath
ered the chief men of' Jerusalem, who
brought bullocks, lambs, rams, and he
goats for a sin offering, seven of each.
The city rulers laid their hands upon
the animals, thus Identifying them
selves with them. Then the priests
killed the animals and sprinkled their
blood before the veil in the Holy
Place and upn the altar of incense,
pouring out the remainder at the
base of the altar of burnt offerings in
the court before the Temple. The fat
of the offerings was burned on the
altar of burnt offerings, and the flesh
was afterwards eaten by the priests.
It was a mark of the new national
feeling that arose during Hezekjah's
reign that this offering and those that
followed were not made for Judah
alone, but for the Northern Kingdom
as well.
The Third Step, the Wide Invi
tation. What was the next step In
the great reform? The holding of the
national feast of remembrance of
God's goodness, the passover. This
should have been celebrated In the
first month of the year, Nlsan, corre
sponding to our April; but because
not enough of the priests had been
purified and because of the time re
quired to gather the people, it wa3 de
cided that the exigency warranted the
postponement to the next month, Iyar
or May. As the reform had widened
from Hezekiah to the priests and Le
vites, then to the chief men of Jeru
salem, then to the whole congrega
tion of citizens, the next step was to
extend it to the entire nation, from
Beer-sheba, even to Dan.
The Fourth Step is the Great
Passover. What further purification
was needed before the passover could
be celebrated? Jerusalem was full of
heathen altars "in every corner," and
these were torn, down and the frag
ments cast into the Kidron.
The Fifth Step la the Generous
Giving. What other illustration of
their zeal did the people give when
the passover was completed? Their
new ardor for Jehovah blazed out in a
burning Indignation against the foul
Idols which they had been worshiping.
It was as when "Peter ,the Hermit
aroused whole multitudes to the wild
est enthusiasm for the rescue of the
Holy Sepulcher, or even the dour
Scotch Lowlander blazed up like an
excitable Celt at the Initiative of Jen
ny Geddes. How much mere these
fiery Orientals? Jerusalem had been
freed from idols; why should the
country districts etill be polluted?"
Thus the people swept like a flood
over Judah and Benjamin and the
neighboring Ephrlam and Manasseh.
They broke the heathen "images" or
pillars, cut down the "groves" or poles
set up as symbols of the licentious
Asherah, and overthrew the idolatrous
hill sanctuaries and their altars.
Reforms must be thorough, If they
are to be permanent.
What was the last step in Hez3
kiah's reform? The step which every
reform must take before It Is com
plete, that of permanent organization.
The secret of Hezekiah's power over
men and success in the service of
God? It Is expressed In the noble
words with which the chronicler
closes his account of the great refor
mation: "In every work that he tegan
In the service of the house of God,
and in the law, and in the command
ments, to sek his God, he did it with
all his heart, and prospered."
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