The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-04-17
SLACPILE NOTES.

TOmmy Stouch, manager or the Meridian team which played two games here l Thursday and Friday, thinks that the Barons should finish about third in the race for the Southern league pennant. Tommy watches baseball carefully, and is a pretty good judge of the merits of a team.
 '1t looks to me as if the Barons have a one, two, three team this year New Orleans seems to have the best of the argument, and Shreveport and Memphis are strong, but I think that Birming- ham will beat ono of these two teams out said that manager.
 Where the Barons are strongest is at the bat, and 1t looks to me as If Bir- mingham has the heaviest hitting aggre- gation in the league. Hits produce runs and runs win games, and therefore Bir- mingham should win It is too early to decide whether Atlanta and Little Rock will do anything as poru are exp-rs menting with managers.
 Shreveport always has a hard run of luck which breaks up her pennant win ming chances about the middle or latter part of the season, and Memphis Is shy on the qualities which brought her the pennant last year.
 Nashville is stronger than before, but I hardly think she is showing ante-season strength enough to be figured in the first division. Montgomery seems to be strong CT than last year. but she is hardly first division probability.
 Tt looks to me like New Orleans. ert... nj ,,,1 .1,,- will be the four first division teams this year, but of course no one can tell
 Louisville scribes and talent is badly mixed up on recent play, the decision on which meant the winning or the tieing of a game The Louisville Courier-Journal gives the following description of the play. and the rule covering it Is also given below
 Here are the facts connected with the play which caused so much talk: It was in the sixth inning. Montgomery had hrd | out, Brashear was on third base and | Houser on first base. Then. with one out. Quinlan hit a fly to Clymer's hands. Houser, believing the hit to be safe, left | first base as soon as the ball was struck and made a wild dash for third refus ing to stop though all his team mates yelled for him to go back. Clymer caught the ball and threw it toward the diamond, where it was caught by Leach. who fired | it to first. thus completing a double play. Brashear. however had remained on third base until the ball settled in Cly mer's hands. when he dashed for the plate, arriving at the rubber before the thrown ball reached Clancy, the Pitts burg first baseman.
 Umpire Kane Capt. Dexter, Pitcher Kenna and the reporters in the press stand agreed that the run did not count, but fifteen minutes later the boy at the score board put up run for Louisville. 1 and the teams continued to play without | any vigorous protest from the Pittsburg players. Neither side scored again dur ing the remainder of the game and at the conclusion of the ninth inning the teams left the field with the score standing to 3. according to the score board. The Pittsburg reporters travelling with the club claimed that the score did not count and that to count 1t was not only ridiculous but unfair. Owner Tabeau. on the other hand, claimed an exactly sim liar play had occurred in Detroit last sea- son, and that Umpire silk O'Laughlin had decided that the run counted and that while the game was protested. Pres ident Ban Johnson had decided that the umpire's ruling was correct"
 Rule 50 of the official playing rules of professional baseball clubs covering the play reads as follows: "One run shall he scored every time a base runner after having legally touched the first three bases, shall legally touch the home base before three men are put out; provided, however, that if he reach home on or during a play in which the third man be forced out or be put out before reaching first base. a run shall not count"
 Beyond the shadow of doubt. Brad sher of Trinity, Is the star college slab- man of the year in Dixie and one of the greatest that ever faced a southern firing line. His record on this last trip has been one of the most remarkable of the decade. Opening at Mercer he let the Baptist collegians down in ten rounds without solitary hit or run. He failed to yield a single free pass or hit batter Only one man reached first and this