The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-05-24
| F | It's II E R E
IT'S RIGHT
BASE RUNNING
NOT DANGEROUS
lnflelderS Can Easily Escape
Injury if They Play the
Game Right.

Boston, May 33.-Hughey Jennings al
ways one of the best base runners I'm
the game and with hardly an equal IN
touching runners trying for second base
"hen he was with the Baltimore club
spoke today OF the science Of base run
hlng 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 IL. ana 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
10 do it. Never hesitate. The man who
starts Ia slide and tries to stop is
Soher sure. II he doesn't break an ankle
ne Is lucky. The base runner should
throw all his strength into the slide and
ne won't get hurt
Little Chance Of Injury,
As a matter Of fact, there is hardly
any chance OF an infielder being spikei
if he plays his game right and the r,InDsr
II ohiy trying TO get TO the base. No
matter how a base runner goes into 4
oag, he cannot hurt the infielder il the
latter is in the right position McCirsu-
as often as every opponent on the field
rles 10 get him. was never spiked untif
Dick Harley handed il 10 him when he
hdd 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 baseball il 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
get nlpped more or less.
But nobody wants TO hurt a first base
man. In present day baseball I don't
know of one of them who is at all Of
fensiVe. They are almost always for
some reason or other. good big hearted
chaps that nobody would purposely hurt
know OF but one who might invite trouble
and that Is Jiggs' DODnOhue.
Jennings ard Donohue.
'Donohue and ] had several rows last
year and we told each other pretty plainly
what we were thinking, I guess But
Jiggs' proved himself q man every ineh
Of him after the season was over when
ne came 10 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 basemau.
It's a sort of unwritten law that as the
poor chap must keep his foot there. it
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.
liking" KeIly's Bet.
king Kelly once offered 10 bet Jack
Crooks s. that he could give him the ball
be ten feet away from the bag and make
il without being touched. He was 50
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 IL.
Famous as Kelly was for his work on
the bases, Ty Cobb is a better base run
ner, for Ty has more 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 which direction the ball is
coming from. and II is your cue 10 go
the opposite way. But even in this there
is always the chance of being outgener-
aled. It's an old trick OF the fielder to
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
ii from another and, unless you can out
guess him, he has you"