Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-23
SHERIDAN TALKS
ABOUT UMP|R|NC
Expects Roasting by Crowds
and Consequently Gets SO
He Doesn't Mind It.
By Clarence L. Cullen.

PROBABLY the most taclturn umpire IN
either of the big leagues is Jack Sheri-
Gan. He never was addicted to the con-
| versational habit since he first broke into
| the game as an arbitrator. If he has any
thing to say as to why he has done this
| or that on ball field he makes his report
| to headquarters and let's it go at that.
He rarely or never has any side state
n.ent to make of the matter to the base
| ball public through the medium OF the
press. His reserve, not only as an UNI
| pire but as a man, Is natural. 1t is gen.
orally agreed that his sense Of fairness
| on the diamond is equal to his taciturnitY
| in ordinary life.
| But Sheridan has his expansive mo-
ments. like other men, and in one Of these
I found him at a hotel in Cleveland
| week or SO ago. The echoes Of the hostile
roarings Of many thousands Of Cleveland
fans were still in his ears. for the cranks
had roasted him good and plenty for
some Of his decisions during the game
| that afternoon. To start something, I
asked him how 1t felt to know that eight
or ten thousand people, in the passion
born Of the game. had been thirsting for
way at the question and loosened up on
the topic.
Did you ever stop to think" he replied,
that an umpire never by any chance
gets any applause, so that In the course
of time he is bound to accept the groans
and howlings of the crowds as something
only natural? Every umpire must be
roasted That follows as a matter OF
course. 1t is.a part of his game. There
never lived, there never will live, man
who could act as a base ball umpire and
| escape the scorching of the crowds.
II used to take that scorching to heart
good deal when I first got into the
game. I'd worry about it. I'd gloom
around my hotel after the game and sort
toc <o1xy i
take it to bed with me and allow myself
| to be worried by it through the night.
Some of the maledictions heaved at me
by the frenzied cranks would stick in me
| like knives and I'd feel sorry for myself
| and sympathize with my condition in
| life-the last weakness Of a man bent
| upon making a fool Of himself 1t took
me a long time to overcome all Of that
! sort of thing.
Aided by Philosophy.
MY way Of overcoming it was by rea-
| soning it out 1t isn't in the nature Of
| crowds to be wholly fair when they're
| assembled in great numbers. Crowds, as
crowds. are bound to be partisans.
They're bound to take only the one end.
! have noticed. in attending political de-
! bates, in which the takers for each side
| have the platform for specified lengths
| OF time that few If any, Of the partisans
| OF the one side are won over by the argu-
ments Of the speakers for the other side.
| no matter how good those arguments
may actually be. They're not there 20 be
| won over. They're there to witness the
| talkfest victory Of their own people and
| to root for that victory. It's game with
| them, and they use their lungs for the
| side they belong to. Fairness isn't mat
ter that enters into the thing at all. It's
a case Of getting the verdict first. last
and all the time.
That's the way it is with a game OF
| boil Tha fn1l ri he "a
! there to see Mir team win. They mean
to be fair, and for the most part they
think they are, but they really don't
| think much about that end of 1t at all.
When they get the worst of close de-
cIsion the fame Of partisanship burns in
! them. Their vision is-distorted The eH-
| element of the moment makes them take
an obliaue view. 1t would be idiotic TO
EXPECT them all to be perfectly just at
points of game when a good deal de-
| pending upon a decision, the decision is
against them. 1t isn't human nature.
Excuses the Crowds.
There is everything earth to be said
| in extenuation Of the conduct of crowds
| toward umpires. For one thing, they can't
see, in one case out of twenty, the exact
angle of plays about which they complain.
| Their natural instinct is to see it accord
| ing to the way they want it to break, and
that's the way they do see it. The wish
| Is the father to the thought with them.
| THEY'VE got for instance, a batsman try
| ing to beat out an infield hit. They see
| that It's going to be a pretty close thing
| of 1t for the runner to beat the ball to the
bag and they're all hunched up over it.
| They're fairly aching to have their man
| get on the bag. They want him to land
there safely the worst way. Is 1t any
| wonder that in these circumstances they
see the thing in their own way when the
| incident reaches Its climax-leavins out OF
| the question the fact that there Is hardly
| any chance in the world for them to see
the performance from just angle no
| matter where they may be sitting? One
| Of the Cleveland teams men today overran
| third base and was touched out while try
ing to crawl back to the sack and touch 1t
with his outstretched fingers. The man
| had made a fine hit, and it seemed to the
! crowd pity and shame that anything
so unfortunate his overrunning of the
bag should happen to him after his gallant
effort. But L couldn't justly take any ac-
count of the state of their feelings, no
matter how keenly l might have appre-
ciated them. And so when | called their
7 man out they jumped up and howled at
me in unison. For the remainder of the
afternoon they tossed it into me, as 1t
were That was the hysteria of a crowd.
and all base ball crowds. as l verify be-
lieve after my years of analysis, are hys-
terical. Racing crowds are a good deal the
| same way. Two bulldog horses plunge
down to the finishing stand neck and neck.
One of them Is the public favorite upon
| which vast amount of money has been
| WdSereU, ana, OF COURSE the great IidJol
| ity of the folks in the stand are wild to
| see that one connect. But in the very last
jump, say, the favorite falters, and the
other one fetches his muzzle down on the
tape first In how many instances does
( the crowd accept the judges decision in
| favor of the outside horse? The roar goes
| up that the judges have cheated. People
| whose position in the stand IS away below
| the finishing line and who have no possible
| chance to get even an approximate idea
of the actual finish set up the loudest wal
| that the decision has been deliberately
taken away from the horse they've put
their coin on.
Spectators Cannot Judge Justly.
You'll hear fans who ought to know
better criticising the umpire's decisions or
balls and strikes. Some chap whose seal
is opposite first base will notice one going
up to the batsman at what may be the
| correct height from the ground, but he
has no way of judging whether It's out
| Stdo or inside and when the umpire calls