Evening star., 1909-06-06

10 OO away Will SplhlIS Is Tic
opinion Of many experts.
Hardly day passes that some player
in the big league is not put out Of the
game as a result of being gashed by the
sharp steel plates worn on the ball play
er's shoes to keep him from slipping and
sliding over the grass.
Both base runner and guardian Of the
bag must display absolute courage In
making close plays. The runner dares
not slow up for fear of being put out
ard losing a chance to score a run that
will perhaps spell victory. and for his
part the guardian of the bag must be
recklessly Indifferent to the peril of a
collision Consequently they are smash
ing together all the time, ankles, feet
and legs are cut, bones are broken and
injuries sustained that take valuable men
out Of their teams
understand the perils that go with put
ting tag on a base runner that almost
the first question they ask when they are
inquiring into the abilities OF a new
conner is
Can he touch out base runners?"
This looks easy. It might be expected
to be a simple feature of an infielder's 8
work, but as a matter of fact 1t is the
hardest.
Escapes Spectators.
1t is a play whose difficulties escape
the average spectator. He can see and
thrill when long hit is made. difficult
running catch completed, a one-hand
stop and accurate throw put through. but
the skill and nerve necessary to escape
the spikes and touch out the base rum
ner are features of the game lightly es-
teemed by the man with knowledge of
the inside.
A close play is never made but that the
baseman Is put In imminent peril.
In his eagerness to reach the bag the
base runner has no time to be careful
II he showed any undue caution ne "ouid
be voted a gutter and would soon mo
himself out of a Job. He must come
straight through. never thinking OF con-
SEQUENCES either to himself or to the
man he is seeking to elude-
In fact, a large percentage or runners
now slide even to first base on bunts or
slow erounders whenever there Is
chance Of beating them out.
Therefore, not even the first baseman
Is immune from the peril Of getting mix
ed up with the spikes.
Not many ball players will Intentionally
MAIN a fellow player. Yet In the anger
and excitement Of the game men lose
their heads and often make accusations
that In their sober senses they regret
Disgraceful Scenes.
The dtsgraceful scene In Brooklyn
few weeks ago. when Lennox, Gleason
and Knabe engaged in a bout of fisti-
cuffs on the field grew out of a spiking
incident.
Knabe of the Philadelphia club came
hard into third base, and his spikes
gashed Lennox. Lennox struck knabe,
and in the resulting argument Gleason.
coach of the Philadelphia club, became
involved. the' crowd got mixed up, and
there was a virtual riot with resulting
penalties imposed by the president of the
National League.
Yet probably Knabe was guiltless of
Intentional damage to Lennox. The best
of feeling prevails among most players,
and the exception who Is dirty finds
himself In disrepute among his fellows.
and must soon either mend his way or
contend with uninterrupted unpOpularity.
The catcher Is more exposed to the
spiking peril than any of his fellows,
for the probable reason that plays are
at the home plate more bitterly con-
tested
Here is the final station. The base
runner has moved around to the last
stretch of the journey. but as far as
the vital question Of run making goes he
might as we'll never have gone to the
bat unless he can cross the home plate
Therefore extra recklessness inspires
him when he gets to this point. The
catcher is correspondingly anxious to stop
him. This is a combination that leads
to many serious smashups at the home
station.
Foxy Roger.
One catcher, Roger Bresnahan, was
SO often the victim of spikes that he
invented the use Of shin guard SINH
lar to the one that figures In cricket,
and his example has been followed by
other catchers. notably Schlei Of New
York and Mclean OF Cincinnati. Some
eatchers cate, 1s,o,,s wear protection underneath
but 1t does the work. nevertheless.
Doom of the Phillies is one OF the
most skillful backstops in the country
in putting the tag on a runner. and that
in spite of the fact that he is one of the
lightest catchers in the game.
He has mastered the trick OF putting
the ball on man with a minimum of
danger to himself
Doom is student of the game None
of his plays Is result of chance. When
he first broke into fast company he
found out that he constantly being
knocked over and bumped around while
tagging runners at the plate
Now he has new system. He cheer
fully falls with the runner, but he makes
it point to fall on top. and it is a
thing virtually unknown for him to be
damaged.
Men like Ty Cobb of Detroit, the sem
of seasons has taken rating with the
greatest stars known to the history of
base ball is one of the hardest men in
the game to tag.
Detroit Cyclone.
The Detroit cyclone has not a single
impulse of fear or caution when he Is
on the bags. He is there to score, no
matter how, and regardless of how much
he or any one who tries to stop him may
be damaged in the process. That Is why
all the base guardians have to be a little
extra careful when Tyrus is speeding
around the paths.
Cobb does not mean to be rough. but
daring base running is his speciality. 1t
has been a large factor in his success
and he probably banks largely on the
fact that most of the opposition know
him TO be entirely reckless, and in
stinctively prepare to give him a little
leeway.
Cobb slides both ways. head first and
feet first. but like most base runners he
prefers the latter He Is master at
arriving at base just the instant the ball
reaches there. and many a time The force
~ the impact iots the sphere out Of the
basemans hands and Tyrus Is safe.
The cloud OF dust that obscures close