Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-03-30
MODERN SPIKES BIG
HELP TO PLAYERS
Participants of the Game Do
Not Register Kick on
Their Use.
By Sam Crane.


Why all this ado about the innocent,
although invaluable base ball spike?
Has any one heard of any ball player
registering a kick on the horrible tool
of torture?" Not that you l could
notice. And the ball players themselves
are the ones who are directly interested
in that article of their paraphernalia-
the little piece of sharp Steel without
which they would all be sloughed. slow
ed up to about the speed OF a cast-off
ice wagon.
Take away the spikes and even Cobb
or Collins who by their base stealing
proclivities have brought the speed maker
into more or less disrepute among those
knownothings. who by their ignorance OF
base ball are endeavoring to eliminate it.
would be put back into base running
class with Jim Mcclure, who even with
the help of the speed tools was never
known to make a home run unless he
walloped the ball over the fence.
Now, / will leave it to the fans-what
would a game of base ball be with all
the contestants Of the ice wagonish cali
Der of my old friend Jeems Mcclure?
Somewhat slow. wouldn't it? Well. that
would be the exact result il the present
base ball spikes were abolished and some
that will. tend to slow up the players
will slow up the sport, and our great
national game, of which we are SO proud.
would soon be placed on par with such
wildly exciting games as cricket beanbag
and croquet.
There have been injuries occasioned by
spikes-yes, but usually they have been
by reason of some numbering, slow-think-
own way il pushed. and by his awkward
ness runs into the danger zone.
Knows Runners Rights.
Joe Tinker, the lightning fast short
stop Of the Chicago Cubs, hit the nail on
the head when he said:
cobb was no friend Of mine. Why |
didn't he spike me when he had the |
chance? Simply because l know a base |
runners rights and stay In my place. |
Cobb slides hard. and a baseman ought |
to know enough to give him room. the
chances are that when Cobb spiked |
Baker, Baker was trespassing on terri
tory that rightfully belonged to Cobb.
No one in the world slides as hard as
Frank Chance. but he never spikes any
one because basemen know him land
clear the track. In some of the games
of our worlds series with Detroit, Cobb
slid into first and second SO hard that he
tore the bags out of place, but we didn't
get hurt, and we didn't give him any
more room than was coming to him.
either. Cobb is a hard man to tag, but
he isn't half as elusive as Bill Dahlen.
whom I consider the best slider In the
game. You must have magnifying glass
to find enough OF Bill to lay your hand
on when he comes in.'
There you are In a nutshell. Tinker
knows the game. He Is a quick actor,
as well as a rapid thinker and he grabs
where he should be to counteract the
skill of an opponent, as we'll as to pre-
vent injury to himself or to his oppo-
nent.
Moreover, it will be seen that Tinker
does not crawl, nor does he endeavor
to take away any Of the credit due
Cobb as q base stealer. II AN ball play
ers had the "Reminiscences Of Joe Think
tho scenes of brawls and clashes be-
tween players.
Ty Cobb was the chief cause of the
present foolish crusade against the
of his spiking Of Third Baseman Baker
of the Athletics as by reason of his far
superior ability as base purloiner and
runner over the great majority of other
most OF the criticism aimed at Cobb was
due, but the purely accidental spiking of |
Baker afforded the opportunity for the
only too anxious critics to jump on the
king OF players Of the American League.
Spikes Of Assistance.
Spikes in my opinion are of fully as
much assistance to player as the
mitts and gloves-more, in fact, for the
game was played for many, many years
without gloves, but from the earliest days
Of base ball the spike was considered a
necessary adjunct. In fact, what are
called Spikes now are not spikes at all.
They are plates with three sharp, short
blades The name Spikes was derived
from the real spikes with which base ball
shoes were first riveted. Canvas shoes,
base ball shoes used, and on to the
soles were screwed five or six small In
dividual iron spikes and one single spike
on each heel. The heel spike was for
now. to prevent a players feet from
going out from under him when running
in to make a catch or play and stopping
suddenly. The heel spike, however, proved
more or less OF handicap. be-
over. as 1t were, and I have frequently
seen players Of the old spike days so
much down at the heel" that they ap-
peared as II running on the sides Of their
feet Then again the individual spikes on
the soles of the shoes gave the players
stone bruises on the bottoms Of their feet
This was found such q serious fault that
players took Off their shoes
and played in their stockings. Some OF
players ] have seen cavorting over the
diamond and around the bases with
their tootsies incased in nothing but
their stockings. and doing fast work, too
And then again have witnessed crack
players Of the old days cavorting in their
bare feet with not even a cactus or thorn
on their little pinks-a Ia Rube Waddell
In FL Paso.
l think it was Harry Wright when
he was manager OF the Bostons, In about
1871, who introduced the present base
ball 'tspikes'' or plates. It was Harry
Wright, too. think who originated the
present knickerbocker style Of base ball
uniforms. when the famous Cincinnati
red stockings first flashed on the base
ball public The old prints Of the old
Mutuals and Aflantics and old pictures
Of Elysian Field show players as wearing
long pants, with the lower part tied
around the ankle with strings.
The present style Of plate is an i'm
provement on those first invented. only
in being lighter, but they have held good
and true and splendidly adapted for their
purpose for upward OF forty years with
out any serious "holler' being made
against them until now. If any Improve
ment on them can be made I will be
among the first to shout for the imova-
ton, or anything OF upto-date improve
ment. but up to this writing cannot see
where or how the Spikes" Of today can
3,a fnuroved uDOn. Surely not by anv