Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-23

and that the umpire is right and who regis
ter their howl solely for the purpose OF
batting the umpire and getting the crowd
after him. Between these two types, give
me the player who thinks he's right every
time He Is at least honest in his game. lie
may be pg-heaoed. he may be almost m
sanely convinced that he is being dellper>
ately imposed upon by an umpire, but ne IS
on the level, and he is taking what ne con-
siders the mans end In holding out Tor
something that he thinks is coming to HIM
But the player who knows that he Is wrong
and who sticks his chin up IN an umpire.s
face for the sole purpose Of trying to intim-
idate him and getting the mob after MIN.
that fellow Is a mean character and bad
actor, take 1t from me. There are moi, 1
am glad to say, many OF that Kina IN inc ne
game nowadays, but there are enough OF
them to keep umpire busy watching out
for them.
Kicking Ball Players.
1.-The great majority of players who put
I'D q kick on the field really think they're
right. I always take that fact into consd-
Grafton when I'm dealing with kicking ball
PLAYERS And 1 can always tell, at that,
whether they think they're right or wheth-
er they are only letting on. 1 never give
any player any kind Of a hard deal when
can see that he actually believes himself TO
be in the right. unless his conduct Is sucn
as to call for summary action. But when L
see that a player Is doing his bowling ana
his arm-waving for the deliberate purpose
Of starting something, as it We're, knowing
we'll that his end of 1t Is all wrong-Well.
he becomes unpopular with me- that's all,
and I don't try to figure out ways ana
means to make 1t soft for him to put 1t on
me.
on ball lots as an umpire as long as l have
he learns to make a good deal Of allowance
for the strain Of the game, too. The stress
and storm of the contest gets on the nerves
of ball players. I never forget that. It's
not passing around cups Of tea from a sam
ovar, playing ball isn't. It's brulsing,
nerve-trying, red-hot, blood-seething work
and the men engaged at 1t get worked up
to pitch that few spectators really appre-
ciate They're fighting for their team and
they're fighting for themselves. They're out
for blood. And, aside from all that, they re
athletes in training-constant training
which is another matter which must be CON
sidered by umpires. ~and is considered by
most Of them Ball players are on edge
pretty much all Of the time for more imam
half the year. The game they work at is
one that gets on the human nerves more
than any other I know of. They have TO
keep themselves in shape like race horses
They have to deny themselves more Things
than most folks know about. Some or them
are under q constant strain to keep down
impulses in the line of dissipation, nShtlhs
valiantly against habits already formed.
The amount Of travelling alone that they
have to perform, Win the Resulting CAdISpS
of diet water, and so on, is enough to make
them peevish. Taking all of these things
into consideration, the wonder really Is
that ball players are not grouchler on the
ball field than they are.
The Mean Kind of Kickers.
IAN umpire doesn't so much mind the
hot headed fellows. He can get along with
that kind from one years end to another,
no matter how many little run-ins they may
have. 1 know plenty of ball players, ster-
ling, honest generous fellows too. who can
no more help rushing up to an umpire and
giving him a hot roast in their moment of
sudden, quick-fire passion than a village
boy can help running to a fire. AS long as
one of these players doesn't stake me to an
out-and-out Safeguarding, making it nee
essary for me to take some notice of it for
the sake of the effect upon the crowd. l
don't bother with him. He's got to get the
stuff out of his system, and what's the use
of taking the words of a mailman to heart?
l know that three minutes after he emits
the poison he shoots in my direction he'll
be sore on himself and calling himself a
curmudgeon.
ITS the slow burning clammy. sneering
ball player, that gets it out of him like mo-
lasses trickling out of a barrel in country
grocery on a winters day that I'm looking
for. l know a few of that kind who you'd
actually suppose kept awake in bed @
nights for the purpose of thinking out new
and deadly ones to edge in on the umpire.
They break EN- of in a slow cutting way,
and after they get the knife in they twist
it around a few times. Well, these chaps
don't get themselves anything. The best
| they ge; is to make shining marks of them
| selves. They're looked out for. There are
authorities In the game of base ball besides
urnpires, who've got an eye out for fellows
| of this stripe. They tie bow-knot or two
in their salary envelopes before they get
| out of the game. And when they do get out
| of the game it's generally by way of the
| ancnDr Grams, the sailors
| Finally, an umpires life isn't anything
| SO horrible as it is generally depicted But
| he must grow a little shell of common
| sense around him before he gains happiness.
In some cases that shell is a long time
a-growing."