They talked baseball while the sun travelled into the west and the shadows began to lengthen under the trees. Mr. York had many reminiscences of college days, some exciting and some humorous, and Sam was well entertained. From stories Mr. York switched to the subject of catching. “There’s one thing you ought to learn, Craig,” he said, “and that’s to throw ‘from your ear.’ Ever try it?”
“I don’t believe I know what you mean, Mr. York.”
“I mean throwing to base without taking a step.”
“No, sir, I’ve never tried it. I don’t think I could do it.”
“Oh, yes, you could. You can learn it. It’s not as hard as it may seem. The beauty of it is that it gives you another fraction of a second on the runner, a matter probably of two or three feet at the base. Try it some time and see what you can do with it. It takes a snap of the arm instead of the long, full swing, a quick snap that’s mostly from the elbow; like this.” And Mr. York went through the motions of catching a ball and throwing to the base.
“It looks hard,” said Sam. “I don’t believe I ever saw anyone throw that way.”
“Plenty of the league catchers do it. Have you seen many league games?”
“No, sir, only two.”
“Really? It’s a good idea to go to them and watch how they do things. You can pick up a lot of good tricks that way. You’ve got the making of a fine catcher, Craig, and I’d like to see you go right ahead. You’ve got brains, for one thing, and I’d rather have that in a catcher than mechanical ability—if I had to choose between the two, that is. Another thing that’s going to make you a clever lad behind the bat is that you’re no weak hitter yourself. There’s one criticism I’d like to offer, though: you’re a little bit inclined to ‘slug,’ Craig. Don’t do it. I know that the slugging hitter sometimes makes a corking good slam, but, in the long run, he doesn’t deliver a good average. He isn’t generally there in the pinches, Craig. Any pitcher will tell you that he’d rather pitch to 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. You’ve got to shorten. If you do swing long and connect with it, it’s dollars to doughnuts the ball will go anywhere but down that alley. And then, the first thing you know, you’re doubled up. I dare say you think I’m cheeky for criticising you like this, but I’d like to see you make good. You’ve got a lot of the ear-marks of a natural-born catcher, old man, and good catchers—really good ones—are almost as scarce as hens’ teeth.”
“I don’t mind it at all,” Sam assured him earnestly. “It—it’s awfully good of you to tell me. And I’d like to know how to do better.”