Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-23
HOW BALL PLAYERS
LEARN TO STICK

One of the oldest things that ever
happened on ball field took place on
the west side grounds in Chicago in a
game against New York, writes Charles
Fullerton.
Ansons men were playing the Giants
and the victory hung in the balance
until, in the ninth inning, with the
score even, Bill Lange faced Jouett
Meekin and rampsed a certain double
to center. There were two out and the
crowd rose with yelp Of delight when
Lange smote the ball, which rolled past
Van Haltrsn.
That ball rolled on and finally disap-
psared. Van Haltren was on top of 1t,
but instead of picking it up. he sud-
denly threw himself fiat on the ground,
rammed his right arm into the earth
and commenced reaching. Lange,
meantime, kept on. He turned second,
raced on to third, gave a look outward,
and then sprinted for home, scoring the
winning run.
The ball had rolled into hole in the
ground from which a post had been
pulled that morning. and Van Haltren
had been able to reach it only with the
tips of his fingers. The next day the
hole was filled in.
Upon what small things the results of
baseball depend can be guessed when it
is known that a 45-cent bucket of paint
won the National league pennant for
Baltimore two years in succession.
The men who composed the three
times champion Orioles all admit the
fact that the bucket of paint had more
to do with their pennant winning than
anything else.
Finds Excuse
The facts are these: The Orioles
were not hitting. They could not find
out why until one day Willie Keeler
remarked that the ball when pitched
from the pitchers box was the same
color as the center field fence, and that
the ball was lost to them against the
dark background.
The players sat themselves down to
figure 1t out, and in the end they
figured that the reason they were not
hitting was because there was a lack
of relief in the color scheme of the
grounds.
The bat boy was sent in hurry for a
pot of white paint, and patch of the
fence in center field. exactly on a line
with the pitchers box and the plate,
was daubed white. The paint made a
difference of nearly forty points per
man in their batting average that sea-
son and they won the pennant.
After that the space in center on
most OF the big league ball grounds
was kept clear, or painted in some color
( that would assist the team in hitting.
The color scheme in baseball is more
important than the casual observer
would suppose For instance, the Polo
grounds is one OF the hardest grounds
in the world for an outfielder. Back of
the grandstand rises huge bluff
"Coogan's bluff"-and the stand is
! built partly on the side OF the hill.
Naturally the shadow of the stand
! and the bluff lies heavy over the field,
as far out as second base in the late
afternoon, and the outfielders have
great difficulty in seeing the ball until
! It rises out of the shadow and above
! the sky line.
The players learn to judge balls by
the way they sound against the bat,
/ but visiting players at the Polo grounds
have a hard time judging line drives,
Have Color Advantage
! For years the New Yark players have
had the advantage because of the color
scheme of their grounds. In center
! field is a panel of color to relieve the
| batter's eye and show the ball in relief
against IT., while to mitigate the efrects
of the shadow sections of the front of
the stand and even the boulders on the
| hillside have been painted.
Those mechanical aids for batting are
has its grounds arranged for relief In
/ color, so that they can, by looking at
certain spot, be certain to see the ball
1t is not necessary for the ball to rise
against the relief background, but 1t Is
necessary for the players eye to be
filled with the color, so that when he
looks at the ball il stands out in relief
against the color which still is I'M
printed on the retina of his eye.
Experimenting one time with Bill
Hutchison, the old Yale star and latel
one of Anson's best pitchers. ! tried Ia
see what effect color had. on the eys
of the batter. | took only three eolors
green, red and white, and secured
pieces Of card board of those eolors. My
theory was that the player, II he looked
steadily al the cards before batting
would retain that color scheme on th'
letina and either lose the ball entirely
or see 1t more vividly Hutchisor
agreed TO try the experiment I'm prac'
tice, and he went to work.
Bill would sit and gaze steadfastlS
al the white card and then go TO bat
Then he would try the green. then th'
red. After week we came to the con