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BASEBALL
AUSTRALIA'S CHAMPION '
PITCHER j
TO RESIDE IN PERTH
Charlie Puckett, the baseball sen
sation of the 1937 season, has ac
cepted an offer of a position with a
Perth publishing house, and will
leave Victoria before the end of the
I year.
I The departure of Puckett will rob
Victoria of one of the finest base
I ballers it has ever had. He had only
jone season there, yet each week he
i enhanced a reputation that-had pre
I ceded him.
j As a South Australian, Puckett
I amazed interstate fans by his per
! feet catching- and bullet throws a
cross the diamond, but it is as a pit
cher that Victorians know him best.
His strike out record mounted at
the rate of more than double figures
each week, and he set new seasons
figures for Victoria.
His type of pitching is rarely seen
in Australia. He maintains great
speed throughout a game of any
length-this alone is an achievement,
and his curves are definite breaks,
not just round house deliveries. Some
of his faster deliveries really jump
as they reach the batter. This type
of ball can get its hop only from
exceptional speed. With a fast de
livery he can swerve either way, or
make the ball dip suddenly. His con
trol is exceptionally good, and his
catcher knows that whenever he sig
nals knee-high, shoulder-high, inside
or outside, curve or speed ball-Puck
ett will deliver it unerringly. Therein
lies his unusual quality as a pitcher.
His all-round ability places him
on a pedestal that few could reach.
To represent two States, one as a
catcher and the other as a pitcher is
an enviable record. But Puckett
could go further than that. He could
represent his new State solely as a
short-«top or first ba.se, or any other
position s'J<"h is his prcwess as an all*
round baseballer.
Before he left South Australia he
won the award for., the best base
baller in that State, and his first and
only season in Victoria won the lans
down Medal. If there is an award for
the best baseballer in Western Aus
tralia it is a mansion to a Mulberry
that he will annex that also.
Coming on top of Alex Barras's
departure for Western Australia,
Victorian baseball has received a
I shock that will be felt most when
1 the clubs strip for the 1938
season. Barras earned the reputa
tion of being- Australia's best first
baseman. Previously "Mick" Carr,
another ace pitcher, and Bill Lynch
were induced to go to the West; and
this Victorian quartet will surely
store up heaps of trouble for visiting
baseballers to the Australian Carni
val which will next year be played
in Perth.
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