- Doak’s Spitball Miffs National League Hitters
- Manager Huggins Nailed a Valuable Flinger in Master William Doak of Akron, Who Has a Neat Spitter.
- It Breaks Fast
- Doak’s Benders Shut Out Brooklyn, 2 to 0, For First Major League Win
- Brooklyn Unable to Make Any Headway Against the Pitching of Doak, the Cardinals’ Recruit
Game Date: August 8, 1913 Age: 22
By Louis Lee Arms
Generally speaking no batters like spit ball pitching and this is particularly true of National League batters. Manager Huggins nailed a valuable flinger in Master William Doak of Akron, who has a neat spitter. It breaks fast.
Then William made the mental error of drifting the ball on a line through the plate. Becker took four precincts on a drive. Doak experimented the same way with Luderus, the behemoth, who drove two home runs Friday at Chicago, duplicated Becker’s circuit smash.
Doak was beaten by New York, too, when he might have won had the Cards shown any animation behind him. That score was 1 to 0.
Wingo Hitting Supplied Velvet
But William and his spitball came into their own Friday. Ivy Wingo handed Doak and the Cards some velvet to play on when he sliced a fast ball over Wheat’s head for four bases.
Doak breezed along like a four time winner and the way he pitched himself out of a hole in the sixth was worth treading a mile of hot coal to see. Two were down and Moran got a clean single. Cutshaw bounced one through Whitted. Stengel, one of the heaviest hitters in the Dodger en tourage, was given a pass. Three were on then and Zach Wheat, the “clean up” hitter of the Brooklyn Dodgers, struck out on a diving spitball to end the threat.
With Griner, Sallee, Harmon and Doak going in form things are beginning to look up.
Fashion of the Day – August 8, 1913
