The Newark star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1909, 1909-08-28

SILK OLOUGHL|N
TALKS BASEBALL

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indispensable to a good umpire. Some
1rst-class umpires neither shine as pro-
fessionals or amateur, yet fatter my
self that | was a very fair amateur
player. l got my early baseball educa-
ton in my native city of Rochester, N.
" which, by the way, is a haven for
the men who don the mask and handle
the indicator. That city is the home
of big Bill" Sullivan, who has had ex-
perience in the New England and East
ern League, and is now with the Ameri-
can Association; also of William b.
Carpenter, who has also seen service
with the New England League, and.
before joining the staff of the National
League, umpired with great success In
the Southern League. / made a sue
cess at the outset in umpiring games in
Rochester and vicinity. 1 once umpired
a game between Rochester and Pal
myra, Ned Crane, of blessed memory.
pitching for the former, and Mark
Baldwin, now a physician, for the
latter. | umpired in the Atlantic
League in 1897, and finished the season
In the New York State League, and was
in thai league in '9S and '99, n the
following two seasons officiated in the
Eastern League, and since that time
have been under the direction of Presi-
dent B. B. Johnson, of the American
League.
1t goes without saying that the posi-
ton of umpire is the most trying there
is in the game of baseball. While, as /
said before, a man need not have been
a crack player to be a good umpire,
a man must have q plenty of ex-
p%erience to fill the bill satisfactorily.
Umpiring is very largely a knack. A
man must be cut for it, as it were. He
must be possessed of no end of nerve,
have excellent ability, a firm temper,
be quick and sharp, and, above all,
must know the rules thoroughly. I'M
piring is a deal more han taking a
stand and calling balls and strikes n
giving base decisions. The best of UNI
rires will make their mistakes; they
| Will miss a ball or a strike now and
then despite themselves, and will occa-
sionally lose a base decision. No W.
pitchers pitch alike; no two catchers
handle the ball alike, and so it goes
down the line with the basemen. Often
there is 10 telling at all how a play
is to be made, and if the umpire places
himself In a certain position he thinks
the best to judge the play 1T will be
made some other way, and it will thus
be lost, and the umpire must guess to
the best of his ability. Yes, there is a
lot of guesswork in umpiring. To he
abreast of the quick and sharp playing
of today the umpire must also be fast,
and the only way to judge many a de-
cision is to be at the spot when the
play is made. Then there can be nj
bluffs, for the official Is at hand with
the play. Often an umpire is kept oil
the run during an entire game, and a
close decision viii succeed a close de-
cision with remarkable rapidity, and.
again, a game will pass with scarcely
a close play in the whole game. In
baseball there IS no telling what may
happen, so the umpire had best prepare
himself for the worst and be thankful
if the best comes his way.
The manager and the ball player
always see what the other fellows get,
but not what they get themselves. They
do not want the other fellows to get
anything, and, no matter If they have
had a fair break of the luck, they will
holler murder if the umpires happen to
give the other side the fair end of a
close decision.
1t takes a long time to get used to
the methods of players. The more
varied the pitcher the more difficult he
makes the work of the umpire, and II
he deceiVes the batsman, is it any Won
der that he occasionally fools the UNI
pire?t The player will often chase bad
balls, but if the umpire happens to call
a bad one on him. what a fuss he will
make about it!
1t takes keen eyesight and a perfect
knowledge of the ways of infielders to
decide whether the baserunner Is
touched or not, for the player is after
every point, and it is his greatest pleas
ure to fool the umpire if he can.
No umpire can make a success unless
he has the confidence of the players.
That is Indispensable. If they know
that you will give them what is coming
to them, and that you will umpire
without fear or favor, You will have
comparatively little trouble. In that
case you can make an error and get
away with it all right. 1t often hap
pens in baseball that a man will get
credit for a stupid play, and conse-
%quently that a runner will be punished
for his cleverness.
| have often been asked why | tax
my voice so much. l want everybody
on the field to hear me. I think the
patrons of the game like to hear an
umpire. l think, too, hat it enlivens
the game to nave the decisions given
in a sharp, brisk way. My voice went
back on me in Philadelphia one day,
and, as a result. the game Jagged and
was dull, and people left the ground
before the game was over. The faster
the man in the anne the more alert
must be the umpire to make his de-
eision correctly. Take a runner like
Bay, for instance. j always time him.
He is one of the fastest runners
in the country. / think hat he
gets away from the rubber quicker
than any player | ever saw. I
shouldn't wonder a bit, however. that
ONeil, the former Cub, could beat him
in a straightaway. Another very fast