The San Francisco call., 1898-08-07
THE OAKLANDS WON EASILY
THEY CINCH THE CONTEST IN
 AN INNIhG.
Kicking over Nothing, Protesting and Playing Poorly Make the Battle UninteIesting
 and Miserable.
BY JOE cORBETT.

A long drawn-out, poorly played con- | test, devoid of vivacity, interest. enthusi- | asm and everything else which tends to | make a game pleasing, was the pro- | gramme yesterday afternoon at Recrea- l ton Park when the Oaklands defeated the Stocktons by the score of to 6. I have seen many a game drag since | the consolidation, but must say this one stands in a class by itself. It was pro- Vokingly slow and made so, mind you, by the players themselves. It was take your time going to bat, to the field and returning It really looked as though the men were performing against their will. The warm weather might have caused the trouble. but I have always en- tertained the belief that a warm atmos- phere was desirable to all players, young and old. might be wrong. but one thing Is certain. Sullivan, when put out at second. should have hurried off the field instead of holding a heated conversation with himself, and delaying things until patience ceased to be virtue.' There is no excuse for him unless 1t be the fact that he caught an excellent game and just hammered that ball for keeps every time he came up. It did not always go safe, but 1t went out on a line, and oc- casioned runs
 While Sullivan was the principal, he was not the only offender That crack third baseman, Lang, had a finger in the pie. and caused a delay of about ten minutes over decision at third base, and put the finishing touches to his strange behavior by protesting the game
 l cannot to this minute understand why he protested the game. He claimed that the decision at his base was decidedly wrong, but I must confess I saw nothing wrong about 1t, and if Lang had made the play properly there would have been no occasion for a kick
 Whalen was caught between third and nome, and during the run him down proceeding he evaded Lang by clever SHde. The third baseman strenuously ob- Jected to his being safe, and this kick being unproductive, the protest followed From the press box it appeared as though halen, by clever slide, evaded Lang ana II he were far enough out of the line in accomplishing this rather difficult feat, for one did not notice it. and after the game l discovered that there were oth- So 1t was all through the contest. If a player was not walking around as though on parade he was kicking, and I can not got a move on.
 This kind of work will never do, as pro- longing the game robs it of its interest, and yesterdays contest was not interest," ing, save for the first two innings It did, for this. brief period, look like a game of baseball.
 
 assistance of three clear base hits, made one run. Two more singles, with their opponents assistance, gave them two runs in the third, and a feeling that they would emerge victorious was prevalent It was shattered to smithereens, however for In this same inning the Oaklands opened up on MT. Whalen. and before the curtain was rung down on the confusing scene seven large runs had crossed the plate, and what little interest had been harbored at the. outset was dissipated.
 nl inn airNty yl hnO Was confusing, but not to such an ex- tent that chance to view what was occurring became impossible. Had it not been for a couple of yellow errors on the part of Muller and Starkey, Stockton might have won that game. But it was not to be, l guess. for never did two er- occurred the bases were full and it was really horr1fying to see that ball escape Muiler,s mistake was on a line hit off Suliivan's bat. He hardly had to move for the sphere, and when 1t lit squarely in his hands and then dropped out again, a groan, the like of which I have not heard this season, came tearing over the stands. But this was not all. Starkey's mishap came next, and when he also per mitted a grounder to leave his hands, the groan of disgust became unbearable. said before, all interest in the game was lost after this miserable inning A mag nificent running catch by Van Norden toward the latter part of the game re-
  been irretrievably lost this catch would have caused a whrlwind of applause, as 1t was a pretty play and was deserving of all it received.
 The Stocktons crawled up a trife to- ward the end, but this was the direct re- suit of Moskiman's careless pitching. After his cohorts made that rally in the third inning he became indifferent and his indifference will be the death of some one one of these days. He hit Selma on the head with ball and there was no reason why he should ha we done so It came from carelessness and indifference, and pitcher, above all, should not pos sess these qualities. Moskiman should | get on to himself, to use a slang express sion, or he will injure some player one of these days for life. SeIna's escape was wonderful. The score follows:
 OAKLAND
 AB. R. BH. SB. 20. A. D | Donovan, b.....-.-5 10 l