The morning call., 1893-09-11
OLD LEAGUE MEN.
Pioneers Who Could Not
Play Ball.
THEY HAD FORGOTTEN HOW.
Some of the Features of Yesterdays
Ball Game at the Haight-
street Grounds.

For some reason the Pioneers, so-called,
did not seem to catch on TO any appre-
cable extent when they crossed bats with
the San Francisco team at the Haight-
street grounds yesterday afternoon. There
may have been a time away back in the
dim past of the California League when
Jack Smith. and O'Day, and Fogarty and
the balance or them could play ball, but
their taste of domestic life seems to have
taken it out of them, and now the Mission
Kids or the Tar Fat Nonpareils could give
them points on the great national game.
Even Umpire Jim Mcdonald, who
trained with the Pioneers, discovered that
there is vast difference between the re-
spective positions of umpire and player.
jim has been won't to visit ball games dis
guised in white flannel Norfolk jacket
and heavy bass voice, the latter being
brought into use whenever an opportunity
arose to impose fine aud incidentally for
the purpose of calling balls and strikes.
While discharging the duties OF this high
and mighty position James had often Won
dered at the seeming ignorance of the fine
points of the game of ball displayed by The
majority of players. He has ceased to
wonder now.
Yesterday he was attired in monde
script uniform and the greater part of his
time was taken up in chasing long f1ys in
tight field. During the game he came to
bat three times, but the Out-curyes and
up-shoots which had seemed to Jim the
umpire the easiest things in the world to
Judge were to Jim the player a sort OF
Chinese puzzle AS q consequence, James
employed his time In selecting bats for the
other untOrtunates when he was not
sprintiDg out in right field.
q q 9
gained ground in the grand stand that The
strong point of the Pioneers must be in
their coaching. On the two or three occa-
sions that one of the ancient stars sue
ceeded in getting TO first base, this ability
in the coaching line manifested itself TO
best shouters would demand that the run
ner take lead" This advice was in
variably complied with, but the side
always struck out before anything else
could be done. Some of the visitors now
contend that il the Pioneers could have
got man as tar as third base and given
the coachers fair show the game would
have been walkover.
Though lacking something in science the
game pleased the grand stand, and after
all that is the main point. The crowd
could not but admire the gracefulness with
which Jack Smith-who has grown fat
since he quit the professional ranks-re-
covered his equilibrium and brushed the
mud from the bosom of his blouse every
time lie reached for a wild throw to first.
Whenever Harry Smith would start on
long, stern chase after ball that would
occasionally set out for the back of the
lot, the crowd would good-naturediv cheer
him on his way, with shouts of Hurry.
Harry, drop Oh 1t, etc.
mpire Sweeney called the game at the
end of the eighth inning, because of the
rain, and, perhaps. because he feared the
Pioneers might, by some mischance. Sc
cure run In the ninth inning, and thus
mar the beautiful uniformity of the eight
large gOose-eggs they had worked SO hard
to accumulate. Following is the score.