Clipping:Ward on rule change proposals: pitching delivery
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Date | Monday, November 15, 1886 |
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Text | [from an interview of John Ward] Today the successful pitcher is the man who makes a hop, skip and a jum and makes the ball whistle past your face with the speed of the win. If this thing continues it will be necessary to have a surgeon and corner on every diamond. This style is pitching is not alone dangerous, but it is fatal to good base running and batter, two of the most essential points of the game, and pounds the hands of the catchers who have to receive the balls into a jelly. Our plan is to make a pitcher stand facing the batter, the left foot in advance of the right and to the left of an imaginary line from the right foot to the center of the home plate. The right foot is not to be raised before delivering the ball. The provision requiring the left foot to be forward and to the left of the right will prevent the pitcher from turning his back and it will do away with the balk practiced by many of the twirlers of the past season, while the requirement that the right foot shall not be raised until the ball has been delivered will keep him from moving out of the box. These changes would bring back the old style of delivery, increase the batting and base-running, and, in a word, increase the popularity of the game. St. |
Source | St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
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Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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