Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-10
QUICK THINKING
IN BASE BALL
Some Notable Instances of
SkiIIfuI Work by Members
s. of League. Teams.
By Hugh 8. Fullerton.

By Hugh 8. Fullerton.
| ball player has approximately two-flfths
| OF second between the time the ball hits
the bat and he sees it coming toward him
/ in which he must decide how to make
play. Often he must think quicker than
that, for an accident. an unexpected turn
| of play. may force him to abandon his
| plan and adopt new one. A fifth of
second Is long time at the finish of
! steal. 1t represents the difference between
safe and out, and the man who thinks
quick. who gets the jump on the ball." Is
| the good ball player. while the fellow whose
| brain work just flash slower goes back
! to the minors
OF course, base bail nowadays has been
| reduced to such science that tie individ-
ual thinker does not stand out as ne did in
| the old days. Every one is supposed TO
| know exactly what to do The base rum
| ner is supposed to know. without signals,
| just when the batter intends to init, just
which ball he will strike at, and The batter
| knows just which pitch the base runner will
run on. Every one knows that with two
! out and runner on first the third baseman
! and second baseman will make the throw
| to first base, and that If the ball is hit to
| the shortstop he will throw to second.
Every throw and every move is figured out
to mathematical precision, and the dullest
player can learn the system, yet there still
is so much room for thinking that the man
whose brain is as agile as his booy shines
as a star, while the other fellow throws
away ball games.
Comiskey's View Of Padden.
Never was this fact so impressed upon
me as few years ago when l was sitting
with Comiskey. Commy was talking, half
to himself, about Dick Padden, who was
about as quick thinker as ever played the
game. II can't understand it," soiiiOquized
the Old Roman. He can't hit. He can't
run. He isn't good on ground balls. He's
not any too sure of thrown balls. Darned
If he Is a good catch OF fly balls, ana ms
arm Is bad He stopped moment and
then added: But he's hi Of good ball
player
times past, whose brains carried them
through season after season after their
arms wore out and their legs crooked. or
that terror of all ball players, muscle
binding put them to the bad. 1hey went
right along and, by quick thinking, pulled
off stunts and got away with them before
their opponents walked up to what was go
ing on.
Haven't YOU seen slow runners, men who
couldn't do 100 yards in Is seconds, make
monkeys of the best throwing catchers ana
steal base after base, while 10 SECONDS men
are thrown out ten feet? The difference Is
in the brain and not in the legs. Ihey are
not beating the catcher They are outWit-
ting the pitcher and are safe practlcally'
before the catcher SelS Tic Ddh ocSouoS
they are half way down before the pitcher
lets go of 1t.
Bid McPhee's Cleverness.
The cleyerest bit Of quick thinking ever
witnessed was years ago in Cincinnati. and
Bid McPhee the king pulled it off, How
fast he thought only can be guessed. 1t
must have been instantaneous. Bid was
on first base with nobody out, when some
one drove a bounder straight at Wild Bill
Everett, who was playing first for chicago.
Bill dug up the ball, touched first. and made
one Of his copyrighted throws to second to.
catch Bid, having plenty of time for the
double play. III =. z
The ball disappeared. Dahlen. who was
on second, never saw It. He thought he
bali had hit Bid. , The umpire. acrouch'ng
to see the play at the base, lost the ball. 4
Bid hesitated at second. glanced around,
saw the entire Chicago infield running
around wildly, and tore on for third At
third after turning the base. he hesita ed
again. looked back, and then tore on home.
From his actions both at second and home
eny spectator would have sworn Bid was
as ignorant of the whereabouts of the ball
as were the Chicago players.
The Chicago team was wild with excite
ment and the crowd was mystified. No
one knew where the ball was. The only
clue was a yell of amusement from the
Cincinnati bench.
The ball had disappeared utterly and the
umpire threw out new After the
game we learned what had become of the
ball Everett had hit Bid with 1t. The
ball had struck him under the arm. and
holding it tight against his body Bid had
carried it entirely around the bases and to
the bench. while acting as if he didn't
know where it was.
Stivetts' Double Play.
Big Jack Stivetts, whose mind was twice
as active as his big body, showed his cum
ming and at the same time pulled of the
oldest double play in the history of tase
ball at st. Louis one afternoon.
1t the last game of the season of
1897 between Chicago and ST. Louis, and
the Chicago team, which had started the
season in high hopes of the pennant was
way down in the list, while st. Louis was
last, and there was about as much int: est
in the game as there Is in prairie game
for a key of beer. In those days Won der
Ahe's stand was high. and under it was a
palm garden. where refreshments were
served. especially liquid refreshments.
About half the players OF the two teams
had been celebrating the end of a dsas-,
trous seasons and several of them adjourned
under the grand stand between innings to
drink beer instead of going to the bench.
Along late in the game J. Ryan was feeling
fine and dandy. He didn't care If two ball
games were going on. He came to bat with
Lange on first base, and LANCE was anxious
to add couple of steals to his great sea-
sons record, so was preparing to steal Sec
ond.
Stivetts pitched and Ryan swung his bat
The players gr1nned ana JACK pltched again.
Again Ryan swung his bat around, missing
| the ball two or. three feet,
Stvetts sized up his VICTIM and grinning
diabolically, made an awful balk motion
and hurled the ball to first. Ryan swung
again and turned solemnly toward the
bench, while Stivetts' throw. catching
Lange off first. completed the double play.
If any one had kicked the umpire prob
ably would have made Ryan bat again.
| but everybody was glad to let 1t go at that
Johnny Evers' Bluff Throw.
Little Johnny Evers got away with one
nf the cleYerest bits of quick thinking that