The San Francisco call., 1898-08-11
THAT NEW EMERGENCY BOARD
ITS ORIGIN AND MYSTERIOUS
 METHODS REVEALED.
The Cause of That Rush of Talent to the Press Box Stairs Two Weeks Ago Ex- \
 plained.
BY JOE CORBETT.

The National League has been and Is to-day a great organization. That is, 1t Is Q great organization from a mana gers standpoint, for the reason that the manager, or owner, more properly speak ing, partakes of all the enloluments which accrue, while the player, the man who draws the crowds, takes, with few ex- | captions, what he gets. and very often
 considers himself a most fortunate young Cor old) fellow, as the case hap pens to be.
 This organization, however, is great in
 other ways. It has Its double umpire system. it's Brush rules, which, i'll my opinion. are an unpardonable insult to the player. and it also has its famous Nick Young, a fine gentleman. But the Ma tional League is not too old to learn.
 Out here we have league which is seldom heard of where star players per form and do other things. Nevertheless, this same little league can boast of some thing the National organization never dreamed of.
 It has, besides it's want 1t an' indi- viduals, who, by the way, are ever con- spicuous in the vicinity of Recreation
 Park. or in MT. Rauer's office. its presi- ! dent, and, like what you get. players"
 a board, which might be termed ''strat egy,'' yet, l think, more fitting name would be emergency.
 This statement, l dare say, will be re- ceived with no little surprise. yet it is a fact, and, owing to the novelty of it. Is the reason l make mention of It.
 I call it an emergency board, because 1t Is not on the programme or schedule; because 1t always meets in a hurry, and
 has no quarters other than Recreation Park. have suspected its existence for
 some time past, but could never under
 stand the cause of it's origin until two
 weeks ago. l happened, or rather, was
 permitted to be a participant during one
 of the conferences. It was during this in-
 terval that l was afforded an oppOrtu-
 nity of familiarizing myself with its ob
 jects and methods, which, to say the least,
 are peculiar
 To describe 1t as it appeared to me I
 must carry my readers back-and 1 trust
 or conVenience-to the last game played
 between the Gilt Edges ana Athletics,
 which the latter club won, through it's
 kicking circumstances.
 The game as you will remember, was
 replete with prolonged disputes, and it is
 ending these disputes that first brought
 the Emergency Board into prominence.
 At one stage of that game Catcher Stan
 ley. said something to Umpire Smith over
 a decision which later on nearly caused general mix-up, and for his pains was
 put out of the game. This so enraged
 threatened to quit the field.
 It was during this deliberation between quitting or continuing that l espfed Pres ident Bert leaving the grand stand with expedition. As my eyes followed him to
 the opening in the grand stand I discov- cred that there was a general rush for the same spot in that vicinity, and for fear that something in the nature of news might escape me was compelled to join the important ones" in their mad rush,
 and brought up at the stairs leading to
 the press box. This was the first real and words would fail me were I to at tempt to describe that collection of talent that was mashed together in the little opening which meets with your appro- ho d. ing up stairs,
 Those, however, who seemed to be the prominent ones, I will mention, and these
 will at the same time give an idea of whom and of what the board is composed. There was no spokesman. Everybody
 was as good as the other in the mixup, and I mention this to save confusion. The emergency board-Presdent Bert, MT. Rauer, the combined forces situated in the press stand, including the official ! scorer, Colonel T. P. Robinson, the um- pire, and those players who have or pos 1 sibly ever had a grieyance-these gen tlemen all made rush for the same place when the kicking was at fever heat.
 They met thus and discussed the i situation and the best way out of it. Um- pire Smith, who was extremely hot. lost his head during the exchange of com pliments and called the game in favor of the Athletics. Now here is where | the emergency board demonstrated it's
 worth. They agreed without asking
 opinions of each other that Smiths pre- cipitancy would cause dissatisfaction
 among the holders of tickets and dead | heads; so he was ordered to change his | decision which he did. Such was the
 power of the board. and it easily sur 1 passes anything in the national league. They then set to the work of bringing both factions together so the game
 might proceed. Their efforts met with the
 same success, and without the populace knowing what transpired. tranquility
 was allowed to prevail. Now of all the plans set forth whereby a game may be
 saved from disastrous ending, this one takes the ice-cream soda! It is truly
 moral, and what surprises me is the fact l that 1t is not made a part of the entire l league. as only teams and patrons of the | game in this city are given an opportunity 1 of enjoying the benefits which ensue from l its power to alter things.
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