The San Francisco call., 1898-07-28
LACK OF TEAM WORK EVIDENT
THERE IS GREAT HARM IN
 TAKING CHANGES.
Players Should Sacrifice When the Situation Demands It, and Do the Proper Thing at the
 Right Time.
BY JOE CORBETT.

OaklandS, 1 want to state that the game from spectators standpoint, was in deed a grand one, and from a strictly baseball view disclosed many instances of lack of team work in the field, but principally at the bat; and also divulged the fact that some players are exceed ingly careless in critical plays, through no fault of theirs in one case, as 1 will explain later and also that they are either ignorant of the proper thing to do at the proper time or care not, and, last of sll that some of them are deficient in the indispensably necessary art of sacrificing or bunting
 Baseball being such an uncertain game, l dare not conjecture what might have occurred had some of the plays l will touch upon been attempted. especially those where a batsmans cunning and Judgment should be apparent And I am strongly of the opinion that had that game been properly played al the bat 1t never would have passed the ninth in- ming
 l cannot deny exultation that it did however, for the reason that mistakes and misplaYs were brought to light that might have rested intact all season, and an opportunity of correcting them done likewise.
 The most palpable mistake of the whole game was the play of Truck" Egan, which gave the Oaklands their first run and, as It afterward turned out, the game, as they did not score again until the eleventh inning. while the Florists did in the eighth. This error of Truck should never have occurred, and this reality aggrsvates the situation extreme ly, as does the realization that the play ln question should never have come up.
 With man at second and third and. I thlnk' one on f1rst. Kent threw to third, endeavoring 70 catch that runner nap ping. lis attempt proved unsuccessful but McCaTthy took the ball and threw 1t to second, when there was not the slightest possibility of catching the runner at that He should never have thrown the ball. for t is poor policy to toss the sphere around with men on bases at any tine especially, so when chance to catch one or them hardly offers itself The ball however, came almost directly into this eccentric Egan.s hands, who, instead of Putung both or them out to Intercept it, only used one, and missed it. Before 1t was recovered the man on third had crossed the plate with Oakland's first run. Mccarthy in the frs place should never have tossed the ball in that direc- ton. for, as said before, there was no Egan's mistake, however. was no fault 0f Of b1l bM1oCaTthys 2dt " It was horribly stupid haII, ana every player in the league should profit by the mistake. Don't for goodness sake put one hand to a ball when 1t Is possible to put two. I spoke about this some time ago, and now that It Is obvious what serious results some times attend this overtndulgence in fancy playing, reform from being guilty of such gross mistake and do not be insensble to its effects.
 Tn this same inning on the Oakland side three or four more mistakes occurred all of which were a direct deviation from the simplest of baseball rules, and one in par tlcular, had 1t been attempted, and there can be no excuse as to why 1t should not, might have given a different aspect to the entire game.
 With a man on first and second and no one out Bliss came to bat and, instead of sacrificing, so as to enable those runners to reach third and second, respectively he tried to knock the cover off the sphere and in consequence accomplished noth- ing except that he put himself out on fly to left field.
 When it Is palpably obvious that a team is not hitting a pitcher often and safe and that runs are very scarce there is no better game than the bunting and sac rifcing game And when there is a run her on first and one on second with no one out It is always a good play to ad- vance the runners, no matter what the score or situation.
 In the case of Bliss there was but one play for him to make on that occasion and it was to advance the runners. The game. the situation, everything called for such play, yet he took that chance too
  and obtained the almost inevitable re- suit.
 Had he been fortunate enough to have made a single in such an exigency, while the play would be laudable, 1t would not be baseball, for under the circumstances there was only one play to make, and 1t was to bunt or sacrifice. Had he done this the chances of the game being won in that inning were excellent. With men on second and third and but one out the situation would necessitate the opposing fnf1eld playing in. and at such a time the chances for & base hit are never better
 The next man up did not single, but with that inf1eld playing in he might have as his chances for so doing were 50 per cent better. Your rendition of the play was not proper, Bliss, and as you were the team, you should have done SO and in fact, your own judgment should have prompted you as to what was the proper thing.
 Players should know when and when not to sacrifice, and when they neglect to do so in a situation that demands 1t, the welfare of the team, as a team, is not taken into consideration, and 1t should be at all times.
 The Baltimore team was successful be- cause every one of them, pitchers in- cluded, knew what to do in every emer- gency, and worked only for the success of the club, collectively, individual rec ords going for naught And to give an illustration of how devoted those boys were IO the success or the team, a team. saw Keeler deliberately sacrifice last year when Clark of the Louisvilles was but a few points behind him in the race for champion batter. He realized what an honor it was to lead the league in batting, yet. with him, it would have been an empty honor had he not played for the teams success, and sacrificed when the situation called for 1t.
 Players should, therefore think of the teams success, and when an occasion de- mands q bunt or sacrifice, don't be afraid to do so. Of course. to hit the ball feels better, but the proper play at the proper time does more certain execution
 l cannot refrain from adverting to another episode which occurred while Bliss was at the plate. Every one of the Oakland's team. particularly ONeil was gesticulating in manner wild and ter rible, with the intention, no doubt. of conveying to him the idea that he must bunt.
 That Is poor team work on the bench If you have anything to say to a batter. tell 1t to him before he goes to the plate. If you want him to bunt, don't tell the audience, the opposing team and the statue on the City Hall about It. Such open methods will defeat the effects of any good play, as 1t enables the rival team to offset the play. which can easily be accomplished by a changing of posi- tion.
 Be discreet at all times. Don't let an opponent know what your intentions are Keep him guessing as much as possible the same as a pitcher does a batsman ho l acrht ,-i,