The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-24
To Do or Not 60 Do.

principles which car mako the ma |
tional game again decent, sportsmanlike.
and attractive:
"To THE EDITOR OF TEE suN-sir: I have been
greatly interested by THE suN's bali articles dealing
with the unpleasant rowdyism that attained prove
lence last year. How deep o cause Of regret II has
been to me to see this national game OF ours slowly
but steadily debased to the style Of tho siumsi
"a great;many suggestions have been offered in
various papers, bnt one class OF contributors OF
ideas are threatening the whole movement with fall
uro. Iailude to several prominent club owners who
keep reiterating that the rules a. framed at present
are quite sufficient to check kicking II enforced.
These men 60 on to say that II Mr.. FRIEDMAN and
Mr.. BRUSH and Mr.. EBnErs. and Mr.. This. That and
tho Other One will urge their players to respect
the rules that IL will DO all right. They further say
that II the players will recolleot themselves and the
damage that they are doing TO the game. II will DO all
right. They say o great many other things Of the
same tenor. all of which depend absolutely for their
success on that word so dear to Mr.. MicAwBER-IF.
SIN m making up the laws of the land legislator would
be deem d absolute fools II they depend,d for the
safety OF human life, property. &C. on urging men to
respect them instead OF, as Is the custom in every ma
tion tho world has ever heard Of. prescribing o very
large penalty for the infringement OF these laws.
"H the umpire has the right to retire q man for
ten days or two weeks at q time for offensive beha.
vior on the field, tbs player will very soon get tired
OF being riotous and disor ierly. for the very simplest
OF all reasons. manly. that his employers will also
get very tired of paying him his salary in return for
his decorating the bench. They will want his services
to win games, and when his conduct is srch 40 to cause
them to lose those services their in;ero { will be
plainly enlisted in the effort to remove the cause.
As 1t stands now an umpire flnes q man whose often
sive bullying. quarrelling. perhaps even rufianly con.
duct, disgusts everybody who sees the games. lowers
the tone of the sport. and 10 bad In every way. but
the man gets q reputation for being q worker and o
- hs 80 A. -.--
agement OF his club Is inclined to pay his fines for
him II his peculiar form of hustling 10 in their opin-
ion che cause OF the club doing better than it other
wise would do in tho championship race. II is then
their interest to support him. Under the suspension
penalty proposed by Some one. 1 have forgotten
whom. during the recent discussion Of tho matter. 10
would become the clubs interest to sido with the
umpire; that Ia to say, to bring all pressure they
could to bear to restrain the player from quarrelling
with the former.
"I think that IL would be foolish to blacklist men
forever for their offences OF that kind. because the
penalty would DO 90 severe that even the most angry
umpire would feel shy OF imposing It. but suspension
for o week or ten days, absolutely in the discretion of
the umpire and without appeal. would kill rowdy
ball playing % absolutely as II II had never existed.
with sincere expression Of my admiration Of the
attitude you have taken in ~agttating and continuing
the discussion OF this matter. and the freedom Of ex-
precision in your columns which you have allowed to
40 many baseball admirers, +. L D."
Unquestionably, as our correspondent
says, the reformers are wrong who think
that all that is needed is an enforcement of
the rules. Under the present management
of the national game the unwritten laws
of sport, or regulations supposed to be nee
essary to any playful contest, and Incl
dental to the rules positively expressed,
have died from the ball field. Enforcement
of rules will not prevent pugilism, for no
a~nti.pugilism rule exists. Enforcement of
rules will not prevent players from abus-
ing or striking the umpire, for there Is no
rule to that end. Probably it never oc-
Cured to League meetings to legislate
against fights with tongue or fist any moro
than against duels with pistols or knives.
Under the rule instructing umpires not
to reverse their decisions Mt the clamor or
threat of a player, one would suppose that
wrangling. the seed of all disorder. would
be impossible because of its absurdity and
uselessness, and that submission on the
| players part was a natural incident of the
umpire's supremacy. Yet experience shows
that some club Presidents care nothing
for the manifest intent of this rule, and 1t
Is their liberation of disorderly conduct in
their players that has degraded the ma
tional game to a state of anarchy wherein,
in effect, there are no umpires. Plainly
some new rules are necessary, and the first
one ought to be a rule creating an umpire.
The old rule to that effect Is dead.
But our correspondents plan for remedy
ing the disorder, by giving to the UNI.
pire the power of suspending men for a
week or two for bad behavior, would leave
the game subject to all that discredits
1t now. Players would still turn to the
umpire with charges of error or injustice,
and, as before, they would argue until
satisfied that they had reached the verge of
being fined or until they thought they had
piled on the umpire enough intimidation
to serve them when 1t became their turn to
be judged again. Such q system would DO
a continued invitation to quarrels, 1t being
essentially identical with the one which
has disgraced the game already, and, IL
suspension were enforced to any great ex-
tent, the consequent lessening of public In
terest in the ~pennant race would soon sweep
the umpire's new power out Of his hands,
and we should be where we started.
Penalties for violations Of rules cannot
keep order In any game whose rules are
not proper at the start. The rational parent
who wants to keep his child safe and sound
doesn't tell him that II he goes near the
edge of the housetop he will fall, or hat II he
lights fireworks he will harm himself and
burn the house. He bars the child from
tho roof and keeps matches out of his
hands. Notify ball players that an umpire
Is over them, and that they have nothing
In do with him eXcept to listen and obey
and trouble will go. The rule that aplayer
when declared out shall walk to his seat
on the bench instead of to the umpire for
argument, IL as proper and as easy of On
forcement as the rule directing q base run,
ner to run to the first base instead of to
the third. Permission to captains to chal,
lsnge the umpire for misint6f pretation Of
rules may be all right. but It should be