Evening star., 1907-08-03

Is regretted by MS washington
that he took such dishonorable way OF
leaving the city and club.
Outside of the great pitching, of siever
and Johnson, the work OF Ty Cobb In
the afternoons sport was sensational and
the real feature. In throwing home on two
different occasions he practically saved
the game for the Tigers. and while on the
bases he was simply a streak of creased
lightning. He took all sorts of chances,
and his recklessness apparently sent the
local fielders up In the air. After taking
a great chance and going all the way from
first to the home plate on single, Man.
ager Jennings in a loud voice cried out
from the coacher's box:
only way to play winning base ball.. the
last sentence being addressed to the spec
tators in the grand stand.
Cobb only got single in the first game,
but he scored a great big run as it turned
out. and in the second got two more with
single and a double.
To criticisa George Nil for coming home
from third on Altizers fly to Cobb in the
second inning of the first game Is not only
unjust, but looks stupid. Mill had reached
third on triple to right, the first hit made
on Siever, and it looked as though the
local batsmen were going to have hard
time locating the left handlers curves. AL
tizer then hit fly to right field and it was
far enough to- make the play good good.
Just how good it was can be seen from the
close decision at the plate, NH being
caught by about one step and only on
perfect throw by Cobb. Can you imagine
Mil or any other player standing on third
and not trying to make home under those
circumstances? He would have been roast
ed to the queens taste 1t was the play
and also good base running and the tact
that he was put out does not alter the case
at all.
Mr.. Sam Crawford is entitled to a laurel
wreath for his artistic home run yesterday.
When man can bat a ball into Charley
Jones territory and complete the circuit on
It 1t Is simply an artistic bit of work, and
Sam did this yesterday. Crawford caught
one of Johnson's speedy ones before the
ball broke over the plate and drove 1t on
Charley Jones put his head down and dug
out for the ball, and "Wahoo Sam did the
same in getting around the bases The
work of both men was perfect. Jones re-
laying the ball cleanly to AltiZer. and Dave
made a perfect throw to Heydon. but Craw-
ford beat the ball to the plate by an eye
lash. Crawford has always been tipped Off as
being fast on the bases. but that was sew
eral years ago. and 1t goes without obJec-
ton that he got around the lines yesterday
in ABOUT as fast time as any one in the
mendous hit and great sprint. and de-
served the hearty applause that followed
the scoring OF the run.
That pesky squeeze play got us in trouble
again yesterday, and it would have been
better to let it remain on the shelf for the
day as events turned out. There was only
one out and Mil was on third, with q run
needed to tie the score. but there was moth
ing for him to do bat obey instruction. Had
Altizer bunted the ball the play would have
been a beauty and the spectators would
have lauded the players to the skies, but
Dave missed the ball and Mil was an easy
out AS we have before remarked. the
squeeze play is sucker play at the best.
Charley Jones was out to square things
with Sam Crawford in the first inning of
the second game, and he would have done
1t had Patten. who was coaching allowed
the speedy center fielder to continue on
home. Jones hit a beauty into center and
this time Crawford was doing the chasing.
Charley dug around the bases in much the
same way that Crawford had done in the
first game and had turned third when the
ball was coming home. Patten threw his
arms around Charleys waist and dragged
him back to the third sack. But he got
little thanks from Jones, as he was bent
on demonstrating to the local people that
he is as fast as Crawford, and 1t is to be
regretted that he wasn't allowed to play
the string out. 1t would have been close at
the plate. but so was Crawfords slide. and
Charley can slide as we'll as the barber.
The spectators will recall that Case Fat
ten was coaching from the first base box
for part Of the fifth inning of the second
game and was ordered to the bench by Um-
pire Sheridan. The blonde twirler had been
quietly tipping off Payne's signals to Kill
Han. which resulted in the little batting
matinee for the Nationals that netted five
hits and three runs. Kiilian knew that he
had all his speed and curves and couldn't
understand why even Shpke and Heydon
could hammer him so confidently. He ac-
cidentally caught Patten telling Falkenberg
what was coming over next and complained
to Sheridan, and Cases banishment fol-
lowed.
81 have often wondered" remarked one
Of the regulars. during the games yester-
day. why outfelders are not given more
practice in fielding ground balls during the
warm-up ,,s,-n- work before play begins It Is the
which, of course, they catch. This gives
them experience in the department of their
play in which they are supposed to be most
efficient. Never. except by accident, is
ball batted to them on the ground. Occa-
sionally a fly will drop short but the fielder
seems to think that his work Is not cut out
in that direction. and he loafs after the
bound, some times walking to pick it up.
When fly is hit to him he will sprint and
make the catch easily. An outfielder who
cannot handle swift grounders and bound
ers is apt to mix up a game badly in
pinch. 1t has been my observation that
many games are lost by the failure of the
outhelders to return safe hits promptly.
Especially when runners are on bases does
an error or failure of this kind cost heavily.
1t Is the safe hit that tells in any part Of
the play. and a single that goes for a two
bagger or a triple. because the fielder is
not Win a QUICK return or sure
stop. often puts a serious handicap on a
pitcher. l believe that If managers would
instruct their fungo batters before the game
to line out balls that hit the ground before
reaching the fielders every man who plays
beyond tho base lines would be improved in
his work 1t might not be bad idea to
bring the outfielders up into the diamond
occasionally for some Of this sort Of prac-
tice. or at least to advance them half the
distance, to try them out on sharp hits that
line just over the infield.'
Athletics Trim Cleveland.
PHILADELPHIA. August 3.-The Ath-
letics scored a bloodless victory over the
decrepit Cleveland team yesterday and
moved little nearer first place in the
thrilling race for the American League
pennant. The score OF 8 to l tells the
story and these figures show the relative
strength Of the two teams.
The score:
Cleveland. Il o A z Phla. RHoA