Henry James on Eliot on "a curved ball"

[Garson O'Toole]

In the post that started this thread Geoff Nunberg referred to a
Boston Globe article dated June 27, 1963. Below is the complete text
of the article. This apparently is the earliest known instance of the
modern version of the anecdote.

Cite: 1963 June 27, Boston Globe, Globe Man's Daily Story, Quote Page
10, Column 6 and 7, Boston Massachusetts. (ProQuest)

[Begin excerpt]
Globe Man's Daily Story

During his many years as president of Harvard, Charles W. Eliot
expressed frequent - misgivings about sports. At one point Eliot
announced at the end of a successful baseball season that he was
thinking of dropping the sport.

Pressed for an explanation, he said "Well this year I'm told the team
did well because one pitcher had a fine curve ball. I understand that
a curve ball is thrown with a deliberate attempt to deceive. Surely
that is not an ability we should want to foster at Harvard."
[End excerpt]

Joel S. Berson wrote"
> Does Henry James display confusion about baseball, or is he referring
> to two different types of "deception"?

I do not know if Charles W. Eliot or Henry James understood much about baseball.

Joel: I agree with your point (as I understand it) that the phrase:
"feint to throw a ball in one direction and then throwing it in
another" would not normally be used to describe a curve ball. It could
be used to describe the actions of a pitcher who is trying to keep
runners on base (I think).

The discussions between Charles Eliot and Professors Briggs and
Wendell are worth learning more about, and when Stephen obtains the
1930 book we may learn more.

Garson

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