The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-25
THE HERALD SPORTING PAGES
Umpiring a la Sherlock Holmes.
Glass and Bloodhound Used Decisions Rende

Say asked the fat baseball fan. 81
wonder If Sherlock Holmes was ever in
this country before he began doing Eng
land? No? You're sure of that?
Well that's funny. I've just been
TeduIng DOCK about him and his meth
DDS. 1 could almost have sworn 1t was
the same man that umpired the famous
pail game between the Ringtail Roarers
ana the Lighuoot Lilies In the spring of
1t happened this way: Just as the
contest was about to start old Doc
Quackenbush, who umpired all the big
games in Jones county, had an anti-race
suicide hurry call from two miles out in
the country
While Capt. Slugger Burrows of the
Lilies, and Capt. Cy Priest of the Roar
ers were trying TO agree on some one to
take his place, tall, thin man, holding a
vicious looking bloodhound in leash,
walked out upon the field. He had deep
set penetrating eye, and an aquiline nose
that looked as though it could scent crime
through the worst cold In the head that
ever fooled a sleuth
He wore a black SLOUGH hat, rubber
heeled shoes and-say. are you positive
that this man couldn't have been Sher-
lock Holmes? 1t certainly looked whole
lot like him.
We'll, he walked up to where Cy and
the Slugger stood talking and tapped the
latter on the shoulder.
=" You want an umpire, and you haven't
got one he remarked
L.
looking the stranger up and down. Now,
who could have told you that. wonder
His Strong Dislike.
a. Nobody told me. You have murder
in your eye: therefore you want an UNI
piTe. Your hatred does not seem to be
conferred on any particular. individual;
therefore you have not yet chosen your
Wonderful, sneered Cy Priest.
will umpire this game the stranger
calmly added.
and who could have told you that, pray?'
don't have to be told, the stranger
said with slight smile You seem to
have taken rather a strong dislike to me
already. That in itself is sufficient proof
that am going to umpire
Before either Cy or the Slugger could
say anything further the seif-appointed
umpire had flipped coin.
. Heads or tails" he asked of Cy.
81 Tails it is
The stranger led his bloodhound over
to the grand stand and chained him to the
What in thunder did you choose him
9 Ne choose him.? retorted Cy. You
choose him yourself
Batter up. Play ball interrupted
the umpire And the game was on.
Say maybe he wasn't the scientific
umpire though. Why, he had this de-
duCtiOn theory Of Sherlock Holmes right
at MS fingers enQS, OF At the I'D Oh Ills
tongue. or wherever il would do the most
good.
For example, in the third inning when
Slugger threw high to first on Cy Priest s
2rounder the first baseman had to jump
to get the ball. and it was a question as
ito who reached the bag first Like a
flash the umpire was over there and on
his knees examining Cy'S shoes.
=" AS I expected he said. There are
cIeat marks on the instep Of your left
shoe The first baseman must have land
ed on your foot Which proves that your
foot was already there when the first
baseman landed. The runner is safe
The Lucky Seventh.
IN the seventh inning his extraordinary
umpiTi11g again came into evidence. Pink
Perkins of the ROaTers drove low liner
to Foxy Flenner, the Lilies third base
man. Foxy scOOped it in almost as 1t
touched the ground.
g Hold your base yelled -Cy- Priest to
Perkins. He didn't catch it. That was
a pickup. How about it, Mr.. Umpire?'
1.-THE umpire was examining the
ground in front Of third base.
No, he said finally i find here
marks of the third baseman's fingers If
it had been a pickup it is safe to as
sumo that the ball would have left a
slight indentation on the ground imme-
dIately in front of the finger marks /
find no such indentation. The runner
He again showed his ability as an
umpire in the first half of the ninth
when Bull Thompson. who was catching
for the Lilies, kicked on a called ball.