Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-08

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good bad and Indifferent, with the Dad
prcdominating.
During the six months when the sport
thrives no one has to listen to any more
of it than the umpire.
TO crack a joke at the umplres eS-
pense, no matter how antique IL may
be. is the height of the fan who lmas1nes
he knows how to run the team anu
game just a little better than the men
who are paid to play It,
ouite q few of the players possess
more than the average amount OF humor
ana sarcasm, and to get off something
that puts the laugh on the arbitrator
gives some of them as much sat1sfac-
ton as a three-base hit, and most players
rather like the bingles. Every umpire
in the business can recall some of the
ioits that are handed to him during the
summer. and quite few of them are
rather interesting.
lack sheridan dean of the American
League staff. and perhaps the greatest
Umpire that ever held an indicator. mas
had quite few bouquets tossed 10 MIN
during his twenty-four years OF serve
Sheridan is often referred to In the
papers as the king of umpires, ana
thereby hangs tale.
In Detroit the first-base bleachers are
so close TO the initial sack that the oc.
cupants can almost reach the railing ana
whisper sweet things into the umpire
ear Sheridan was working series In
Detroit this summer. and things were
breaking rather badly. The Tigers were
getting trimmed regularly. and close de-
cisions against the home team were
nlaying a prominent part in the defeats.
The first-base bleacherites were ex-
pressing their opinion of Jack without
mincing words. and sherry was rak,
ing them all in with smile and twirl
of his dinky mustache. Finally they
got worked up to such a pitch that ne
simply couldn't resist taking look at
them. The crowd finally tired itself out
and things for a moment quieted down.
Suddenly out of the silence came
voice loud and strong, saying:
We'll. MIR. Sheridan, II you re the king
in this game, / wish Mr.. Johnson would
slip US a couple of deuces."
1t was too much for Jack. and despite
his attempt to look dignified a broad
smile played over his face. During the
rest of the series he was known as the
deuce spot,
Bob Emslie, the veteran of the National
League staff, is also grand umpire. lie
has served only two years less than
Sheridan. and presses Jack closely for the
endurance honors. During his career ne
has bumped into Il lot of funny incidents,
but none ever impressed him more than a
street car experience that happened in
Philadelphia last year.
Eimslie, like all the other National
League umpires, makes a complete change
in his dressing room at the grounds after
each game. A shift from the blue suit
of the umpire TO q street suit with a
straw hat instead of a dinky cap makes
quite q change in ones appearance. Late
in the summer Chicago took a close game
from the Phillies, in which several hair
line decisions turned the tide against the
home team. An immense crowd saw the
game. and although it took at least thirty
minutes for Emslie to get into his street
clothes, quite few people were stlli walt
ing for their cars
After much struggling Emslie got a car
and selected seat next to man who
looked as If he might be agreeable. in case
they struck up conversation. The man
in question didn't take long to open up,
and evidently thinking Emslie a Phila-
deIphian. relieved himself of the blow
ing:
did you see the game today?" was the
opener.
Il did," was Emslie's short reply.
What did you think of the umpire?'
was his next query.
He made few mistakes. but on the
Whole / think he did fairly WELL" was
Etnslie's reply, as he struggled to sup
press a smile.
Fair" almost yelled the now excited
ian. why. he gave the rottenest exhibition
I've ever witnessed"
.'Oh. l don't know said Bob I've
been coming to ball games for nearly
twenty-five years, and I've seen worse and
by the same fellow"
.'They tell me Emslie is as bald as a bill
lard ball and wears a wig on the dia-
mcnd. I'd just like to meet him right
now His bum decisions caused me to
drop twenty. and i feel as If I'd like to
scalp him OF that false hair" continued
the fan.
Better be rather careful said Emslie.
laughing. ''lse might be on the car, and
IL would be rather embarrassing all
around if lie should overhear our con-
VerSaton.
BY this time the train had pulled into
the terminal station. and as E,nslie was
about to step off the car he shook hands
with the stranger, expressing a wish that
they might meet again, and then handed
him his card as he lodged away in the
crowd. Emsie got a thousand laughs out
of the episode that evening and told it to
all his friends.
Evidently the stranger felt like d sec