Goldsboro semi-weekly argus., 1909-05-29
THE UMPIRE
= a.
Timely Counsel That Should
be Needed.
Or. Joel Whitaker, who kDsWS The
Game, Writes a Timely hOmily
That Everybody Who lOVeS
Fair PLAY viii Endorse.

The umpire is human being,
therefore is not infallible. He is usu-
ally a man who will honestly call the
plays as he sees them, or IL not in
clined to give fair decisions from
point of principle, will certainly do
SO if he uses good sense and cares to
last as an umpire. The bleachers
forget that the umpires position IS
the best on the field from which to
judge plays.
Two mistakes nearly all umpires
make, in a small league like ours. are
due to an over-desire to satisfy the
players They are, first. allowing the
players, particularly the catcher and
pitcher, to kick against his decisions
ON balls and strikes by pulling the
ball and shrugs of the shoulders on
all close deliveries called balls,
while if he were to call the same ball
a Strike the batter would mark
line ON the ground indicating that the
ball passed by entirely out Of his
reach or was too high or too low: AL
lowing kicks of this kind only does
one thing, that is to bring cries OF
rotten and trim your lamps" from
the bleachers for the umpfre.
Another mistake is to allow CAP
tain of a team or a player to rush at
him and storm and yell at him so the
whole grandstand and bleachers can
hear the protest. The decision is
made and a protest of this kind can
do only one. or both. of two things,
get the crowd down on the umpire or
if he is timid, cause him to even uD'
on the next close decision.
When an umpire calls a ball a
ball" he does himself an injustice to
indicate by a wave of the hand that
it was too high or too low or of the
F., plate; for there are at every game
people so seated that il it is close,
rthe ball will appear a strike. The
lball is a BALI because it did not pass
sover the plate at the proper height to
Ibe called a strike. but is bali
principally because the umpire called
fk SO.
I'm the game with Wilmington Mon
day when Dawson by exceedingly
clever base-running stole third on
Smith, of Wilmington, by using the
fade away" slide behind Smith. af-
ter he had gotten the ball in time to
have touched him out, Smith kicked
most decidedly. It appeared to the
vast majority of the people there, and
what is more important, to the um-
pire, that Dawson was safe. Here
Smith did not hope to change the de-
cision by his kick, but it was either
to hide his chagrin at his failure tt
touch Dawson out, or to get the um
pire to "even up on the next clos'
decision, or it is possible that Smitl
really thought he touched Dawson
out.
In the game with Wilmington Tues
day when Levy threw Brumf1eld ou
mt second base, it appeared to man
people in the grandstand as well a
to the umpire that the Raleigh ma
was out, and certainly that he wa
not safe by good margin. Still Gre
zier rushed at the umpire and whe
within a few feet of him, yelled at tn
umpire SO the grandstand could hea
every word that was said. That Pre-
test was not made to the umpire, bI
was made to the grandstand and tn
bleachers.
In both these instances the umpil
would have saved himself future trOl
BILE as well as made the game bett'
in the future by having the one eith'
fined or removed from the game al
the other either fined or removed fro
the grounds.
Let the umpires get the teams u
der control by asserting and usil
their authority. They can't do this
trying to please the players nor CT
1they suit both sides at once on clio
plays The games will then be bett
:as well as the attendance.
JOEL WHITAKER,
Raleigh, N. c., May 26.