As with most 19th Century players, Bill Lange had had several criticisms of players who came later, particularly the “batsmen of the present time,” when he spoke to a reporter from The Chicago Inter Ocean in 1909; but unlike many of his contemporaries he thought some aspects of the game were better. He said players were better behaved and were in better condition; he also believed pitching had improved:
“We old timers were a long time in believing there was anything in the so-called spit ball. But results have forced us to admit its existence and its power to deceive. Now they are talking about the knuckle or finger nail ball. For a long time I supposed that was a joke. But just this morning I had a letter from Clark Griffith, telling about a discussion he had with (Cap) Anson during the schedule meeting at Chicago over the knuckle ball. Griff ought to know what he is talking about, and he convinced me of the knuckle ball’s effectiveness but his argument with Anse must have been funny.
“You know Anse has to be shown on every proposition. Griffith told him that (Ed) Summers of the Detroit team had the best command of the knuckle ball and that it came up to the plate in such a peculiar manner that it fooled not only the batsmen, but the catchers too.
“’That’s all rot,’ Anson said to Griffith, but Griff came back with the willingness to bet Anson $100 that Anse couldn’t catch three out of five knuckle balls as thrown by Summers. Anson jumped at the chance and took the wager, and it will be decided sometime this year, if Summers, Anson and Griffith happen to be in the same city at the same time.
“I guess Griff will win the money, for he told me in his letter that he couldn’t catch half the balls Summers had thrown to him in practice. I can hardly believe any pitcher has such a funny delivery as that. Of course, if the knuckle ball worked all the time, there wouldn’t be any hitting at all.”
Al Summers has his arm worked on by Tiger trainer Harry Tuthill, first baseman Del Gainer looks on.
There’s no record that the wager was ever decided.
Clark Griffith
Baseball History Daily 
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