The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1909-06-03
runners were forced to hit the ground

runners were forced to hit the ground
continually
Men like Deacon Jim White, Charles
Snyder. Mike McGeary, Cal. Mcvey
(alive), John Clapp and Frank Fine
| (dead) could certainly dance that ball
| around the bases. especially when ham
| ding the same pitcher day after day
! with perfect control. Four-fifths of
the sliding to bases was feet first, hit
| ting the ground on the hip, until you
could tell a base runner around the
hotel by the way he walked trying to
| avoid having his trousers scrape
against living sore spot.
The invention of the sliding pad was
| more welcome than the mask, for the
! frst-class catchers were never bother
| ed. and could get their heads out of
| the way to perfection. 1 have heard it
said that the catchers were not forced
| to handle speedy or difficult deliveries
1 ,.
| The sos brought out the most diff
cult pitchers to handle. The distance
was Is feet shorter than at the pres
ent time Pitchers were allowed to
step over the line three or four feet
and raise the rear foot as they pleased,
! until the great wonder was that the
ball could be gagged at all by the
batsmen.
The pitcher has been the big STUN
bling block in baseball since the over
hand delivery was allowed When the
pitchers were forced to work with a
stiff arm, as the boWlers do in cricket,
there were better results. When you
cut off chances of having the ball hit,
you handicap the chances for fine field
ing. Strike outs are ne part of base
ball; the ball must be hit to produce
results The strike out is only appre-
ciated by the local partisan. Every
spectator can enthuse over fine hit
or a grand piece of fielding, but the
strike out is a one-sided affair, and
gave little pleasure when the pitchers
| were handicapped by tying their pivot
| foot to the rubber plate sixty feet
/ away There was more batting then,
| and the game increased in popularity.
The strike outs now average less
than one-half what they did 80 years
| ago, yet the teams are making less
| runs to a game than they did at that
time. This is easily explained. Each
sized glove, the first base-man a big
| mitt, in this way being able to stop at
| than previously. The pitcher wear
| ing a heavy glove, and often a mitt,
will block hard hit balls that the pitch
ers of old would have no chance to stop
and so it goes around the infield. Then
the outfielders with heavy gloves and
| often mitts will reach fly balls that a
man could never hope to hold with the
bare hand
The high-class outfielder is scarce
even today. iris Speaker, the young
Texas player now with the Boston Red
Sox, comes nearer to the old stars than
any one that I have seen for years. And
think of an outfielder CHASING with
Curt WEIGH, Dickey Johnson, Jimmie
McAleer, Jimmy Fogarty and Bill
LANCE. This kid from Texas is a re-
minder of the old bunch and can sting
the marble, too.
In looking back over the history OF
the game for great outfielders we III
variably pick the men who worked in
the center garden, and yet some of the
most remarkable Workmen the game
has produced played the other ontfeld
positions, among the rest Andrew Leon
ard, Joe Hornung and Hard e Rich
Mccarthy and Mike Tiernan In right.
All worked without a nit or glove Of
any kind and were the true artists of
| the game.
When l look at the number of ball
players continually out Of the games
| for one cause or another / marvel at
| the work of the Boston Americans I'M
der Jimmie Collins for the first four or
five years of his management. Day
after day, year after year, it was al
most the same lineup. Tt was rare
exception to find over sixteen men on
| the payroll The infield was i'll prac-
1 tically every game, and accidents to
the players on the ball field We're prac-
| tically unknown. The great strength
| of the team and the fine showing was
| due largely to this kind of good luck in
having players who often played When
| not in perfect condition 1t was an