The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-23
WHY BALL PLAYERS KICK.
cIPrs. JOYCE a ND GRIFFIN TRT
TO EXPLAIN NE PROBLEM.
me view Yorker Says - Does Net Buiidope
Urnpires, bat merely Points Out Mistakes
Hrookiyn's Leader ! ts kicked to Innu-
once Deciaions-Two Unpires Favored.


ence Decisions-Two Unpires Favored.
In view Of n woll-cstabllsl od fact that there is
q clearly defined rule which prohibits ball play
ers from kicking against q l. e cision and which
forbids an umpire to change a ruling, 1t may DO
Of interest TO know why tho layers kick. This
season on tho diamonds OF the National Tongue
there has been moro kicking and rowdy be-
havior than over before. in spit sof the existence
Of rules which have boon II AIMED to prevent
such evils. In order to get at the root OF the
trouble William Joyce, CAPITA n OF the New
Yorks, and Mike Griffin, captain OF the Brook
lyns, were interviewed by THE 81 n reporter yes
terday. Joyce has had consid, ,rablo trouble
with umpires this year. and when tho reporter
asked him why no Kicked Bill look cd surprised.
what do you mean r. he asked.
"why, just this was tho reply. "Therules
prohibit kicking. They distinctly say that q
captain OF a team cannot question q decision
unless It involves a msdntorprNta6on of tho
rules. Now, whom you ind fault with an umpire
for deciding ono of your players out, or for call
ing q ball on tho pitcher, or for any such reason,
why do you do itF
"I want to win.' WAS Joyco's delibersto reply.
after several moments OF deep thought. And 1
only Kick when 1 think / am getting the worst OF
ft. As long as an umpire appears to DO trying to do
right I've nothing to say. But when he Neems to
be careless about his work. and therefore makes
SneXCu6able DlunuerB, ro3ultlnB III Inc inning OIL
several players, then / be lieve 1t is my duty to
make an objection to his IrulinRs.'
Then, Captain, you knowingly violate the
rules, because you wantto do what3'
az want to point out to tho umpire his mis-
takes. In the heat OF the moment all player
arc liable to say and do things which nro not
exactly right. but players and umpires arc
human and likely to mako mistakes. / know
that an umpire cannot change his decision. but
when / am confident that a ruling against my
team is unjust, It is perfectly natural for me to
got hot under the collar. as any man will do in
any walk Of life IL he thinks he is getting the
worst OF 1t. Is a man expected to stand still and
make no comment when another man takes his
Honey gut OF his POCKET while no is looking at
"suppose in the ninth inning Of a game. with
the score 8 TO 2 AGAINST us and we have two men
makes q clean two-baggcr close TO the left field
line and both runs come In. The umpire calls
the hit q foul and tho batsmAn then goes out on
fly. Does any one suppose that tho men on
the losing team are not going to make a rosrT"
decision to You which prompts you to kick
asked @fs Is the %p. T%sRGiTiy'ih; ot,headsdnes. and partially
because the umpires In several cases are inSom-
Ing or a desire to make an umpire give some
close decisions to us later on. II an umpire
Look at those seven games we played with the
Bostons! Lynch and Carpenter, umpired and.
% Sitf,ns G q law WI There erse was little or no ~G Kicking Mns
as q result. incompetent work by, the officials
e fsn not only %HFG makes saSsS players sHas kick and sro S1IvT but Il it
causes them to lose heart sometimes and to play
II mover fnd fault with q good umpire. But
bad ones set me. a going. We have experienced
E lot Of work by ine9mpesents this year. We
IN almost every instance where. We have had to
klok It has boon due to bad unlpiring.
New York captain, and that Is for the League
70 adopt tho double umpire system. Two UNI
called me o kicker. ana all that. but whatever
b. an honest desire to win games for my club"
Capt, Griffin was enjoying salt breezes. at
WHY do You Kick !" was put to him. He did
not try to answer 1t in q hurry. -.
p, ays Is t hsFs ssia It, to Sb ssy as ssfs for Gyy.s TsH BE- all
iiSye . great Ess deal deal ds sgG;t ,b upon ~ who beth The ,, up.
With incompetent ampires, whether 1 was in
S The I TiEhbs Or S,n not s I'm pGm to f influence Ssu them SO that
"Yes. i Know very well about tho rules Which
prohibit kicking, and 1 would Ike to say that
vent Kicking h,sS When 1' sof! ampire sEH sa the w1 pre;
Of q ruling to you. 1t is human nature to OBJ
i isess to and a su Iii Eo %aG piay yen s kns sS' y9aS n are e II in n the
aaHi6EiIs' TO put a stop SSS to ro5wdyism on the the ball i aee ED.
player can kiek at an umpire in q nice way.
BY that ] mean In a manner not calculated 10
capital Judge of play. viii not tolerate kicking
sroable With him. which + due to the fact that I
respect him and do not hnd fault unless there
ua sia i &sEa! yh msn. ! wss P'ffy ynsb s ss isssG S . Sas
and i promptly kicked haSd: Lynch and / had
whom i got into the dressing room my fellow
players not.5 told l, me 9Soug that fro bsom ht the b 9sTnih
put out. and that Lynch was as'A ius tined
In making his decision that way. i'm
RR s @sSisn hen ss1o t SSnT1b,1 up s so do sp %ipS ss
ye didn't sPsak. but during that time ! learned
ever l am compelled to question his decisions he
Ereets me with a look of surprise and the re-
ton about sihatT when 1 have t1e e1pl a1s dI %y
yiewAof It he always says Is that all = and
ihs has li III 60 from ON b Pplayins' A man OF that oalioro
There e one point, about this licking bust,
ness who mako trouble for tho Umpire 50 as to
g. sfy pia yR .Ai III DS ssm pl1 ior Il. II an e T points ins ssssa
fellows try to make sios the umpire SI.I, and the crowd
losing. IT, and t thssy s also u ane tho RSS era Hfso On ' to soa asS
ssSam nSsst ss' m nudge p. Of piiSy; AZ Il n 9ims: me no
nss on 1n tho if asld. Some so% of them Sa t are ln %sn
Sc Sseas5is nef shegy lfSS rowb ss Of ana .sST ,sssstsn w TmpiTs.
and .ysll consoles remarks from the Coaching
e nsio;, Tfs r. yom receive dysrt credit M,, to- ,,d for %. this DO,
ahins are barked from sliding bases and who lit
and held for the success Of their team are
allowed to pass unnoticed. These ginger
men, in several instances, are the ones who
shirk balls, fight umpires, and create most of
the diagraccful scenes on the ball field to-day.
The best players In every League club are
the ones who behave themselves. There's the
Boston team leading the raceI Is there a rowdy
on It'll Yet. they are playing grand ball. There
are NO more really aggressive players, in the re-
Duhy. and others, and yet they do not threaten
70 slug umpires and apply vile epithets to
have heard many Of the respectable players in
the business compliment THE Sun for taking
the initiative In this matter. ! DO not believe
TEE Suns suggestion Of no talking to the um.
pire ts feasible. although 1t would undoubtedly
stop losts of trouble: Ball players. in my opin.
ion. will always kick. especially those whose
nnes are paid by, their managers. which Is not
the case at Brooklyn, by the way. But tho kick
Ing can be greatly modified.
There isn't a man who can umpire compe-
tently q good, hard game every day. The men
tai and nervous strain 10 something terrible.
Consequently ] believe tho League should adopt
n nNthI .4-. u.