Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-06
BASE RUNNING
NOT DANGEROUS
lnfieIders Can Easily Escape
Injury if They Play the
Game Right.

SCRANTON. Pa. December 5.-Hughey
Jennings, always one of the best base
runners In the game and with hardly
an equal in touching runners trying for
second base when he was with the Balti.
more club. spoke here recently of the
science Of base running and incidentally
Of the liability Of a player being injured
by spikes. in this way:
Base sliding Is not dangerous when the
player knows how to do 1t, and spikes
are not dangerous when the player knows
how to handle the man that is coming
In. The great success in saving yourself
in base running is to slide when you start
to do it. Never hesitate. The man who
starts to slide apd tries to stop is a
goner sure. II he doesn't break an ankle
he is lucky The base runner should
throw all his strength into the slide and
he won't get hurt
Little Chance Of Injury.
LAS a matter of fact. there is hardly
any chance of an in6elder being spiked
If he plays the game right and the runner
is only trying to get to the base No
matter how base runner goes into a
bag, he cannot hurt the infielder IL the
III. W,
as often as every opponent on the field
tried to get him, was never spiked until
Dick Harley handed 1t to him when he
had no reason to do So McGraW always
made the base slider carry him into the
bag
THE only man who has a chance to
get hurt by spikes in base ball, if he is
playing his game the way he should. is
the first sacker. He must keep his foot
on the bag, and he is therefore bound to
mn nrs 1nc
But nobody wants to hurt a first base
man In present-day base ball l don't
know of one of them vino is at all Of
fensive They are almost always, for
some reason or other. good. big-hearted
chaps that nobody would purposely hurt
OF them all in the American League l
know of but one who might invite trouble
and that is 'Jiggs' Donohue.
Jennings and Donohue.
''Donohue and 1 had several rows las
year and we told each other pretty plainly
what we were thinking, l guess But
Jiggs' proved himself a man every zach
of him after the season was over when
he came to our hotel during the world
series. talked to the boys, advised them
and encouraged them. We buried the
Ratchet after that.
Nobody wants to hurt first baseman
It's sort of unwritten law that. as the
poor chap must keep his foot there, 1t
isn't fair TO cut him. Matty Mcintyre
for instance, would have played all last
year If he hadn't turned his ankle to
save Bob Unglaub.
king" Kelly's Bet.
king Kelly once offered to bet Jack
Crooks So that he could give him the ball
be ten feet away from the bag and make
it without being touched. He was so
clever in lodging one way when the
fielder expected him to go the opposite
they could not touch him. Crooks de-
clined TO take the bet. He knew Kelly
could do it.
Famous as Kelly was for his work on
the bases. Ty Cobb is better base run
ner, for 'Ty has moro speed and is equally
tricky in getting around the man with
the ball.
Watching the guardian of the sack,
of course, is the great trick in base slid
ing. You can usually tell by the way he
Is standing winch direction the ball is
coming from, and it Is your cue 10 go
the opposite way. But even in this there
Is always the chance of being outgener-
aled. It's old trick of the fielder 10
hold his hands on his hips and pretend
the ball is not coming toward him. You
go slow to your slide, and he suddenly
becomes animated grabs the ball and
tags you. Or he will lean in one direction
for the ball and then dodge over and take
1t from another, and. unless you can out
guess him, he has you.