Clipping:Pitching speed versus control, and an appeal to proto-statistics
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| Date | Sunday, August 5, 1866 |
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| Text | [Southworth of the Eckford] has a good style of delivery with but few preliminary movements, and has the power to send a swift ball, but he sacrifices all his advantages at the shrine of speed. The first lesson taught a bowler in cricket is to secure “length” to his balls, and this length, as it is termed, is simply sufficient command of the ball to pitch it at any distance from the “crease” he likes. Now, what “length” is in bowling, so is command of the ball in pitching. With it, speed is dangerous to even experienced batsmen; without it, speed is worth than useless. This theory we have advanced for years, and the wide-awake portion of the fraternity are rapidly adopting it; but others yet stick to the old and exploded idea that speed is the great thing in pitching, irrespective of command of the ball. By-and-by, as the game advances toward perfection it will be seen that those pitchers who have the most command of the ball in delivery are those whose average of success is greatest. McBride, with all his speed, would be nothing without his accompanying command of the ball; and Zettlein would be even less effective. ... Both Ward and Southworth would excel in their positions by striving to be more accurate, pitching with more judgment, and allowing pace to follow, not lead, a command of the ball. |
| Source | New York Sunday Mercury |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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