Ninth inning

“ Next, one must be possessed of more than an ordinary amount of endurance. It is by no means a simple task to pitch an entire game through and still be as effective in the ninth inning as in the first; and when, as sometimes happens, the contest is prolonged by an extra number of innings, the test is severe. This being true of a single game, how much more tiresome it becomes when continued regularly for an entire season, during the chilly days of the spring and fall, and under a broiling July sun, can be appreciated only by one who has gone through it. ”

“ The ninth inning had started with the teams still even.
"We've just got to get that run!" declared Manager Watson. "We've just got to get it. Joe, you are to bat first. See if you can't get a hit!"
Pitchers are proverbially weak hitters. One ingenious theory for it is that they are so used to seeing the ball shooting away from them, and toward the batter, that, when the positions are reversed, and they see the ball coming toward them they get nervous.
"Ball!" was the umpire's first decision in Joe's favor. The young pitcher was rather surprised, for he knew the prowess of his opponent. ”

“ Very often spectators think that a pitcher has lost his grip in a pinch, when really he is playing inside baseball. A game with Chicago in Chicago back in 1908 (not the famous contest that cost the Giants a championship; I did not have any grip at all that day; but one earlier in the season) best illustrates the point I want to bring out. Mordecai Brown and I were having a pitchers’ duel, and the Giants were in the lead by the score of 1 to 0 when the team took the field for the ninth inning. ”

“ Humorous incidents are always occurring in connection with umpires. We were playing in Boston one day a few years ago, and the score was 3 to 0 against the Giants in the ninth inning. Becker knocked a home run with two men on the bases, and it tied the count. With men on first and third bases and one out in the last half of the ninth, a Boston batter tapped one to Merkle which I thought he trapped, but Johnstone, the umpire, said he caught it on the fly. It was simplicity itself to double the runner up off first base who also thought Merkle had trapped the ball and had started for second. ”

“ Black gathered himself together for a mighty ninth inning effort. He felt sure of the fielding of the boys behind him, but he made up his mind to take as few chances as necessary. So he decided to strike out the side if he could, and after he had succeeded in doing that with Twitchell and Brest, he had a lot of confidence in his ability to do the same to Mellen, and he did it.
The last half of the ninth opened rather well for Lowell. Black was the first man up and he fooled the entire Jefferson infield by a perfect bunt which put him on first. ”

“ The game proceeded, and was contested hotly at every point. The visitors seemed possessed with but one ambition, and that was to knock the ball down to centre. Time and again it started in that direction, but dropped short, or into the hands of one of the other fielders.
At last the ninth inning was reached. The score was a tie—eight to eight. “Jamestown” came to the bat, and two men went out in quick succession, one on afoul fly, the other at first base. The third striker got the ball just where he wanted it, and sent it high up in Bert’s direction. ”

“ There was joy in the Erskine camp. The score stood now 3 to 1. If her players could hold Robinson from further scoring the day was won. And, with King in the pitcher’s box, it seemed that it might be done. Regan went to bat for Robinson, and stood there idly swinging his stick while the umpire sang: “Strike one!... Strike two!... Striker’s out!” And then, to fill Erskine’s cup overflowing with delight, King struck out Vose and Cox in just the same way; [233] and the cheering broke forth anew, loudly, triumphantly. And the ninth and last inning began with little Knox at the bat. ”

“ Then, of course, Miner Black had to tell his remarkable catch story about Jimmie Siegel in a twenty inning game with Eastern Pennsylvania. How in the eighteenth inning with a runner on first base, the mightiest hitter of the Pennsylvania nine drove a hard hit ball to left center. Just at that moment, however, Siegel had put his hand in his hip pocket to get out his handkerchief, as the day was hot and the game was a hard one. ”

“ Black in the eighth inning went in to pitch for Lowell. Church, first up, was easy for Everson and Case and then Case and Black attended to Hollins.
La Joy walked to the plate and stood there swinging his bat carelessly and easily. Finally Black, after looking him over, pitched a ball that cut the plate and before Larry hit it, Miner knew part of what would happen. When he saw it leave the bat, however, and heard the crack he knew that ball was headed for outside and sure enough it was. It went over the center field fence ten feet high and never was found. ”

“ He found himself quite an adept in this new language.
“It improves as you go along, I think,” said Tim.
“Let’s see what happened in the second inning,” went on the Professor. “Barber College goes to bat now, doesn’t it? Amberg hit one over the shortest route to Everson (that must be a straight-line hit) , Wheeler spun three times and sat down (spun what? I don’t get that) .”
“When a fellow strikes at a ball hard and misses he generally spins around,” said Tim. “Wheeler missed three strikes which he tried very hard to hit.” ”

“ Marquard...................... 2 4 .. .. .. 1 .. 4 1 Ames.......................... 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. --- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 274 31 74 12 7 [6] 22l 108 17
1: Engle batted for Carrigan in eighth inning of third game; for O'Brien in second inning of sixth game, and for Wood in tenth inning of eighth game.
2: Ball batted for O'Brien in eighth inning of third game.
3: Henriksen ran for Stahl in ninth inning of third game; and batted for Bedient in seventh inning of eighth game.
4: McCormick batted for Tesreau in seventh inning of first game; for Fletcher in tenth inning of second game ”

“ Three Base Hit—Robb, Beach. Home Run—La Joy. Sacrifice Hits—Brest, Case, Cam. Stolen Bases—Hagner, 2; Larke, 1. Left on Bases—Lowell, 10; Jefferson, 6. First Base on Errors—Lowell, 1; Jefferson, 1. Double Play—Hagner, Case—Everson, Case. Struck Out—by Radams, 3; by Cam, 3; by Mellen, 2; by Black, 3. Bases on Balls—off Cam, 3; off Radams, 4. Hits—off Cam in seven innings, 8; off Radams in seven innings 11. [A] Batted for Radams in seventh inning. [B] Cam out bunting third strike. La Joy out; hit by batted ball.
It was now one game apiece and it would take a third to decide the championship. ”

“ He strikes and misses. The umpire calls “one strike.” You relax. Again the pitcher delivers the ball. Again the muscles become tense. The umpire says “one ball” and again you sink back in your seat in perfect repose. By this time the pitcher is again ready. The third time the ball is sent toward the batter like a white streak. Somehow you feel he is going to hit it this time. As before, your muscles become tense. You hear a crack of wood against leather. You raise yourself up in your seat. It’s a foul fly back of the plate. You see the catcher throw off his mask and run up for the ball. ”

“ As for the theory of the game, remember that there are opposing sides, each of which has nine turns at the bat, i.e., nine innings, and the object each inning is to score as many runs as possible. A run is scored every time a player gets entirely around the bases, either by his own hit alone or by the help of succeeding batters, or by the errors of the opposing fielders, and the team making the most runs in nine innings is declared the winner. An inning is ended when three of the batting side have been "put out," and a player may be put out in various ways, as before enumerated. ”

“ Deciding that he must rely on himself, he whipped the ball over with savage fierceness, using his high in-shoot for almost every strike-ball pitched. For a time, the surest hitters of the opposing team were as helpless before his speed as back-lot players might have been. The spectators were with him, and up to the eighth inning it looked as if he would get away with it. ”

“ In most Big League ball games, there comes an inning on which hangs victory or defeat. Certain intellectual fans call it the crisis; college professors, interested in the sport, have named it the psychological moment; Big League managers mention it as the “break,” and pitchers speak of the “pinch.”
This is the time when each team is straining every nerve either to win or to prevent defeat. The players and spectators realize that the outcome of the inning is of vital importance. And [Pg 55] in most of these pinches, the real burden falls on the pitcher. ”

“ No man can have a “yellow streak” and last. He must not pay much attention to his nerves or temperament. He must hide every flaw. It’s all part of the psychology of baseball. But the saddest words of all to a pitcher are three—“Take Him Out.”
[Pg 54]
III Pitching in a Pinch
Many Pitchers Are Effective in a Big League Ball Game until that Heart-Breaking Moment Arrives Known as the “Pinch”—It Is then that the Man in the Box is Put to the Severest Test by the Coachers and the Players on the Bench—Victory or Defeat Hangs on his Work in that Inning—Famous “Pinches.” ”

“ He was watching the game. Six short innings of baseball had planted the seed out of which would some day grow a “full fledged fan.” He didn’t understand much of it, of course, but he had begun to feel the alternate strain and relaxation which everyone feels when watching a game. It has been the same for years with all of us.
When “our” side is at bat you are always hoping the batter will hit it safe. You watch the pitcher [180] wind up. Your muscles are tense. You see the ball leave his hands. You see the batter prepare to strike at it. ”

“ All eyes were on the pitcher, and the lad who stood there, lazily swinging his bat forward and back in regular rhythm, as he endeavored to gauge the coming delivery of the ball.
Judgment at such a critical time has to come with the rapidity of lightning. In the flash of an eye the batter has to decide whether it is a drop, an out curve, an inward shoot, a straight, swift one over the rubber, or a teaser that will apparently start out well, only to hold up in mid-air, and leave him to strike long before the ball gets within reaching distance. ”

“ When a batter walks up to the plate with two bats in his hand and one or more of his team mates on base, if he throws the extra bat behind him with his left hand, it means that he is going to hit the first ball pitched. ”

“ The Park men then bent every nerve to the task of tying the score.
Foes though they were, I gave them the credit of [250] playing a splendid up hill game. In the sixth inning they secured one run, and in the eighth inning another, making the score 3–2. During these innings Arnold’s work had been exceptionally fine, and we had been unable to make more than two or three safe hits.
“I’m afraid Arnold is almost too much for us to-day,” said Ray to me. “Our hope lies chiefly in holding the lead. If we can do so for one more inning, the game is ours.” ”

“ Some pitchers are able, keeping the same motions, to vary the speed even of the curve and straight balls, but, as before said, this is apt to be at the expense of accuracy, and should not be attempted by the young player. Occasionally, say once an inning, a pitcher may make a round arm or underhand motion simply to mislead the batsman, and if the game is safely won he may use an underhand delivery if he finds it rests his arm, but these are exceptional instances. ”

“ He isn’t generally there in the pinches, Craig. Any pitcher will tell you that he’d rather pitch to [223] a ‘slugger’ than to a batter who shortens his bat and his swing and ‘pushes’ the ball. A long swing is likely to take your eyes off the pill just when they should be glued to it, for one thing. And then, again, you can’t place your hits so well. Take the hit-and-run play, for instance. Suppose the runner’s going down to second and shortstop’s covering the bag, and you’ve got to poke one between second and third. You can’t deliver the goods with a long swing. ”

“ Sometimes even the pitcher doesn’t know if it is a ball or strike until the umpire says what it is,” explained Hal. He was thinking of the many times umpires have called balls when the pitchers thought they were over the plate. ”

“ The pitcher shall take his position facing the batsman with both feet square on the ground, one foot on the rear line of the "box." He shall not raise either foot, unless in the act of delivering the ball, nor make more than one step in such delivery. He shall hold the ball, before the delivery, fairly in front of his body, and in sight of the Umpire. When the pitcher feigns to throw the ball to a base he must resume the above position and pause momentarily before delivering the ball to the bat. ”

“ Of still more importance is his movement in hitting, and this the pitcher must try to discover before the batter has hit the ball at all. An out-curve should be pitched just out of his reach; being so near where he wants it, it will draw him out and he will make every movement, except the swing of the bat, as in hitting. This movement should be carefully noted. If, in stepping forward to hit, he also steps away from the plate toward the third base, it is at once a point in the pitcher's favor. The batsman is timid and afraid of being hit. ”

“ Presently the pitcher threw the ball. Ross was at bat. It was a ball and Ross didn’t strike at it.
“The people in the stands turned around to see who it might be.”
“Why didn’t he hit it?” asked Parker.
“It wasn’t the right kind of a ball to strike at,” replied Hal.
“Do they use different kinds of balls?” asked Parker.
“No, they use the same ball all the time.” Hal saw that he would have to explain about balls and strikes.
“You see, a batter can get four balls or three strikes. If he gets four balls he runs to the base. If he gets three strikes he’s out.” ”