The Washington herald., 1907-09-21
SOME BASEBALL BUNTS.
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

There viii be no end of the baseball fan
until the frost. coming to settle upon the
humble pumpkin and to cure the hay
fever, also cools his ardor and restores
him sufficiently to his right mind so that
he can sit down quietly and talk with
his wife about laying in the winter coal
and sending the children 20 school. The
production of baseball cranks is peculiar
10 no one section Of the country They
flourish everywhere. Whether in Maine
or California. as soon as a man begins
10 worry over the management Of the
home team, and gets this responsibility
firmly fixed in his mind, hes goner."
Nothing will cure him but the end of the
season and the first frost.
Baseball has firm hold on its follow
ers because of It's variety. While in
Vulnerable matches have occurred in this
country since It became the national pas
time. it is safe to say that no two Of
these contests have been played exactly
alike There have been thousands of un-
expected situations, many Of them calling
for instantaneous decision and quick ae-
uon by the players The ball-player who
can meet the crisis in "a fash is said TO
have "a good head Two evenly matched
teams from rival towns in the Middle
West We're fighting a hard battle one day
last fall when an odd play occurred IN
the last half of the ninth inning two men
We're out and a man was on third. The
excitement began to tell on the pitcher
and he threw a wild bali. which struck
wide Of the plate and bounded into the
netting I'm front Of the grandstand, where
IL stuck. about twenty feet from the
ground, the runner on third made a dash
for home TO score the winning run. The
fans on his side stood up for a mighty
yell and then sat down in sudden disgust
The opposing catcher raced after the ball
the instant IL passed him. tore off his
mask as he ran and. tlinEing it at the
netting, dislOdged the ball. caught It as
It feu and threw the runner out at the
plate. His team won the game in the
next inning. and the madly enthusiastic
fans sent him home baTeheaded-his cap
full o. money.
A somewhat similar play was reported
years ago. vixen one of the champion
Eastern teams was making tour
through the West They had a game in
one place where the grounds and sur
roundings were not altogether suitable
for the playing of match game. About
forty feet back of first base there was
well covered by an Old-fashiOned suction
pump At a critical point in the game the
third basemsn threw low in the attempt
to catch a runner at first. The ball struck
the bag and bounded high into the air.
coming down squarely in the jaws of the
old pump and slipping down its throat
Before the runner was half way 10 second
the quick-witted first baseman reached
the well, and. grasping the handle, began
20 pump faster than If the grand stand
were on fire The TOOters yelled and
bOOted in ecstasy at the sight of the star
first baseman wrestling with the old
pump but he persevered ard pumped the
ball Up just in time TO throw the runner
out at the plate
Danny" Hoffman is said TO be the only
player on record TO kill a horse in a base
ball game. That was feat accomplished
by him in a game played at Bridgeport
the year before he joined the Athletics.
During the game a buggy. drawn by
faithful steed of creamy white, with Oc-
casionaI splotches Of fea-bitten grey. was
driven into the distant outfeld The driver
thought himself out Of the danger zone,
and settled down to enjoy the game from
q safe distance. Dannys team was In
halo and # was another such chance as
when Casey went to bat. But Danny
was not Casey that day. He smashed d
vicious liner right at the old white horse
Straight as an arrow shot from a bow,
the ball sped for the head of the nag,
and a thiTteen-inCh shell would not have
put its light out more effectually or
speedily. The horse was buried with
baseball hOnors, and a stone erected, on
which was inscribed: "Out for being hit
with a batted ball"
A queer play was pulled off this year
at the Polo grounds in New York, and
is said TO be the only one Of its kind
in the history Of the game. The Cincin-
natl Reds were the visiting team. A bat
ter having struck out, was thrown out
at first by the third baseman. He had
struck at the bail three times. The last
one was really a foul tip. and struck the
catcher on the shins, but the umpire did
not hear it. The bali rolled in front of
the plate, and thinking Il a foul the
catcher threw it 70 third, as some catch
ers have a habit of doing. The umpire
called il a strike, third threw it to first,
and the batter was out. This is the first
time on record that a third baseman
ever got an assist on a strike out
Triple plays by one man are almost
as scarce as hen teeth. There are only
q few instances where this feat has been
accomplished. Napoleon Laioie, in his
book on baseball. asserts that up TO
1906 there had been but two instances
where one man pulled off a triple play.
Paul Hines, now a clerk doing the most
pTOsalc work in the Department Of Ag-
TiCulture was the first player who ever
executed a triple play First Assistant
Postmaster General Hitchcock, the ath-
lete of an athletic administration. wit
messed that play, and never tires of
telling about it. Hines was playing CEN
ter field with the Providence Grays in
1873. There was man on second, and
one on third. A batter had made a short
fly that looked like a hit, Hines ran
forward and caught it, and went on to
second base. getting there before the
player on second had time 10 recover it,
Then. perceiving that the chap on third
was almost at the home plate and was
turning 10 recover third, Hines sprinted
and beat his man there by a full yard
A quarter of a century elapsed before
another triple play was ever made single
handed It remained for Harvey Ola
gan 10 share the honor with Hines He
was playing first base with Jersey City.
A line drive came his way and he landed
it. and retired the man recently ensconc-
ed on first Then he determined 10 tempt
the fates in an effort to beat the man who
had turned back to second while en- route