In 1916, The Newspaper Enterprise Association ran a series of brief articles called “One Minute Talks with Ballplayers.”
“I didn’t know the slightest thing about pitching overhand when I got my first chance in the big league. I had always relied on an underhand delivery. I hadn’t been with the Cubs an hour before Mordecai Brown took me in tow and taught me the overhand style but I unconsciously fell back upon the underhand delivery after pitching a few as per instructions.
“I’ve been plugging away for three years mastering the lessons Brown taught me and now I only use the underhand ball as a mixer-up. I had always been successful with my underhand delivery and was afraid the change would hurt my effectiveness, but now I’m glad I listened to older heads.”
Leave a Reply