Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-17
WIRE. ~G@Aao AnEp(An,
summer among his friends, and should it
be decided to let him out his absence will
cause universal regret.

J summer among his friends, and should it
! be decided to let him out his absence will
| cause universal regret.
| With the major leagues playing schedules
| agreed on and ready for announcement and
| the training trips planned in detail there
| only remains meeting of the base ball
! rules committee to complete arrangements
! for the coming season. AS usual, sugges-
| tons are being advanced for changes moro
! or less drastic, but the rules are satisfac-
| tory in the main, and the committee I'M
| doubtedy will let well enough alone, as has
| been the policy for several seasons There
| are number of inconsistencies, however,
| which could be Strengthened out and few
minor changes made that would improve
the playing code materially. There Is an
apparent conflict in two rules referring to
the foul tip a strike, the result OF
| changing the definition of "a foul tip with
out reversing the rule regarding returning
| to bases. No trouble has arisen over this
| in the major leagues, the interpreta ION
/ is thoroughly understood, but it has caused
/ controversies among amateur umplres par
/ ticularly in the country districts. slight
/ change might also be made to advantage
| in the much-discussed foul strike rule. 1t
seems injustice to a batsman to have
strike called if, in lodging a wild pitch,
| his bat accidentally touches the ball and
| tips 1t foul. This is the correct decision for
umpire to make, under the rules, but
! unfair one for all that, as the player
/ makes attempt to hit the ball and is
! not fooled in any way by the pitcher. He
! is simply unable to get both himself and
! his bat out of the way in time In speaking
| on the subject a well-known critic says:
! Ii a wild pitch hits the batSman and not
! the bat he gets his base. If he makes an
| honest effort to dodge. Even If, in the
| pres opinion. the batsman is not entitled
! to first base, the pitcher is penaliZed by
! calling It i ball" But when the pitcher
| is so lucky as to hit mans bat with
/ wild ball he gets credit for strike-unless
| two strikes nave been called, of course
/ Sometimes the ball rebounds on to fair
ground when batSman is trying to dodge
| it, but allows it to hit his bat. In that
| case the man is thrown out at first with
| ridiculous ease. \ rule which will remove
that injustice TO the batter will improve the
| game without doing the pitcher any in
! justice. The latter is proiting purely by
! the formers hard luck. when, under ordi-
| nary circumstances, the pitcher would be
| charged with ball" 1T will be argued in
! opposition, of course, that such rule would
Ike the work of the umpire harder and
| produce more Kicking AS matter of
! fact, however. the umpire's work is get
! ting easier every year. some of the indi-
| Gator men admit. 1t is no more difficult for
| an umpire to decide when a man is trying
| 10 dodge ball and cannot get his bat out
| of the way than it Is to Tell when man
! attempts TO bunt a ball, or whether or not
! he is entitled to go to first base after being
| hit by pitcher. Kicking sometimes arises
| in making these decisions, but the sum
! total of kicking" would not be Increased
| because the cases where bat is hit acct
! dentally are not as frequent as where the
/
After all, life is but a span, and the gap
| between one base ball season and another
| Is but a shorter span. We hadn't ceased
| commenting on the drubbing received by
! the Chicago Cubs in the worlds SERIES and
! here 1t is but few weeks until the parade
| of the several next year hope to- be world
heaters starts for the sunny south, and as
we learn Of this and the other player TAX
| ing on hand ball and putting off flesh we
! realize that the training season is near at
l M ar otr
| training embraces all the real fun of the
| year Travelling on the road during the
summers campaign was formerly pro-
ductive OF some fun, but II has grown mo-
notonous to the players and managers, and
| besides, there is always too much at issue
| to have the Sterner business broken in upon
by mischievous pranks. 1t is in the spring,
| when the young mans thoughts turn lightly
to thoughts of love, that the base ball player
finds another outlet for his exuberance of
| spirits. For love he hasn't time. For
| jokes he has and woe betide the mortal
who cannot appreciate the spirit in which
the jokes given and take them with
the same degree of joviality in his soul. All
wits conspire to unload a big bundle of fun
| and merrment in the cities of the south or
west. The gathering at training quarters
on the first day Is very much like the clus-
| tering of recruits on the opening day of
college. The old fellows looking for a
youngster who will take the hook attached
to some bewhiskered joke and run away
with 1t. And there are always plenty of
bites. The base ball youngster and the
scribe out for his first seeason of pencil
pushing in training camp are the common
property of the jokesmiths. They have no
recourse. They are legitimate prey and I'M
protected by any law, human or divine. If
they are wise. they take their medicine and
work Il off on the next conner.
AS a rule, the young ball players who
report for practice in the south have never
seen that part of the country. and they
will stand for any kind of yarn from an
alligator man-eater to flying frogs which
frequently knock down long drives In the
outfield. The favorite opening-day gag is
to take all the newcomers to a badger
fight which is always held contrary to law
and the journey to the fighting spot must
always be guarded with the utmost secrecy.
The badger Is supposed to fight wildcat,