The Lambertville record., 1906-10-31
BALL FIELD STORIES
Ode INCIDENT THAT ONCE WON A
GAME nv CHICAGO.


A bucket of Paint Helped the Orioles
to Capture the National League
Pennant-Thc Importance of IA "COi-
or scheme" in Batting.
one of the oldest things that ever
happened on bail field took place on
the west side grounds, in Chicago, in n
pame against New York. AnsOn's men
were playing the Giants, and the vic
rory hung in the balance until In the
Vinth inning, with the score even, Bill
I.ange faced Jouet Mcekin and rampsed
II certain double to center. There were
two ont, and the crowd rose with yell
of delight when Lange smote the ball,
which rolled past Van IIaltrcn.
That bail rolled on and finally disap-
pearcd Van IIaltren was on top of 1t,
but instead Of picking it up he sudden
Is threw himself fiat on the ground,
lammed his right arm into the earth
and commenced reaching. Lange
meantime kept on. lie turned second,
raced ON 10 third, gave Il look outward
and then sprinted for home, scoring the
winning run
The ball had rolled into hole in the
ground from which II post had been
pulled that morning and Van 1Ialtren
had been able only to reach It with the
lips Of lis fingers The next day the
hole was flied in.
Upon what small things the results
Of baseball depend can be guessed
when it is known that n forty i've cent
bucket of paint won the National
league pennant for Baltimore two years
ia 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 win
ming than anything else.
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
tie ball WAS lost to them against the
dark background. The players set
themselves down to figure it 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 Il hurry for pot of white
paint and Il patch of the fence In cen
ter field exactly on a line with the
pitchers box, and the plate was daub-
ed white The paint made Il difference
IN a. 4
batting averages that season, and they
won the peunani.
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 its
hitting.
The color scheme in baseball is more
impartant than the casual observer
would suppose For Instance the Polo
grounds are one of the hardest grounds
In tire world for an outtcldcr. Back Of
the grand stand rises Il huge bluff
"Goagans 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 ns
far out MS second base in the late after.
noon. and the outiicdcrs have great
difficulty i'm seeing the ball until II rises
out of the shadow and above the sky
line. The players learn to judge balls
by the way they sound against th'
bat but visiting players at the Pole
grounds have a hard time judging line
drives
For years the New York players have
had the advantage because OF the color
scheme of their grounds. In center
field is Il panel of color TO relieve the
bnttcr'S eye and show the ball In re
lief against it, while to mitigate the
effects of the shadow sections of the
front of the stand and even the bowl
dcrs on the hillside have been painted
Those mechanical aids for batting are
great things Almost every home team
has It's grounds arranged for relief III
color. SO that they can by looking ut n
certain spot he certain t. see the ball
II Is not necessary for the ball to rise
against the relief background. hut 1t is
filled With the color, SO that when hc
look at the bali it stands out in rclict
against the color which still Is Imprint
ed on the rctinn of his eye.
one of the best hitting pitchers tina
ever lived. Walter Thornton, who wa'
driven out of baseball because Of tn,
personal DISLIKE of an official Of the
National league to him had a schcm,
which worked well aud which he claim
ed aided him in batting. lie simply
sat aud held his fingers tight agains
his eyes for several minutes before go
ing la bat Shutting out all light, III
Claimed. rested his eyes after pitching
hard inning and he went In TO la
with eyes fresh and steady.
And how he did hit them! low h
did hit them,
Pictro Gladiator browning tried eV
cry treatment possible for his eyes t
keep thcu clear. Smoking a cigarctt
on tho bcuch was one of his ideas, ant
lie carried an eye wash with him whic
he poured into his eyes Just before SC
ing 10 bat
Most of the schemes of players I
keep their "cyes in." as they say, ar
ridiculous but there is no reason VIII
n lot OF players should not follow iii
orally the advice of the bleachrrte
and "sre an oculist" Any good Oct
list can devise color scheme that Wi
help the hatter.-llugh $. Fullerton i
Washington Star
kncW How.
Friend tmakiug calh You are No