Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-23

ANN6hNf o. Alt iilaAtlltt
of President Johnson, promises some
reforms this season that will be
heartily greeted by the fans. They
are reforms calculated to make
players stop wasting time. From the mo-
ment a side goes out until the next one takes
70 the Held the players will be kept on the
go. Umpires will be especially urged to
Impress this new rule on the players and
to enforce II, too. This is a good reform, one
that may profitably be adopted by other
leagues. There are many ways OF wasting
time that come as near as anything to
destroying interest in a game. One OF
these Is the abomlnable habit pitchers
have Of rubbing the ball on the ground, a
thing once prohibited by a law that has
never been enforced. Another indulgence
that does not seem necessary is the five
Ss1i warming-up privilege OF a pitcher just
going into the box. Then after he has
pitched his five balls, the catcher must
peg one to second and then that worthy
must have the delightful privilege Of toss
ing the ball to third. whence it is sailed to
first, from which station 1t Is leisurely
passed over to the pitcher, who then pro-
Deeds to rub 1t into the ground for a
while. And all this time the sun Is gradu-
ally working its way toward the horizon
and several thousand fans. probably, how
ling, play ball" This performance may be
repeated in the course of one game. There
are yet other ways of this kind that need
correction and when they are corrected
the game viii be much more enjoyable.
Further than that, II may be worth some
thing in dollars and cents to the magnates.
Many a busy business man, IL assured that
the game would be played with all possible
dispatch, might attend who otherwise
would not.
Western league magnates and fans are
stirred by the talk of fraud in the
''official" averages of players as given out
this year. This isn't the first time that
similar charges have been made, though
It is the first time these charges have been
SO Professionally and loudly proclaimed.
President O'Neill has wired an intimation
from California that all is well, but still
the magnates do not cease protesting. And
maybe there are good reasons for this
protest. Intelligent fans who sit by all
season and watch the game with a critical
eye, keep close tab on idividual players,
have q right to be amazed at some of the
averages accorded those players. At least
three papers on the circuit, in three cities,
have said some pointed things about the
official" scoring in Omaha. THE Bee hats
4 not before alluded to this fact, for it is
= not directly concerned, except that it, like
all true patrons and defenders of the game,
wants to sec only fairness and justice done.
For the good name of Omaha and the once
certain player who is most benefitted--on
paperzby the figures against which these
protests have been raised, It is, of course,
TO be hoped the charges are not we'll
grounded. The charge on it's face is so
ridiculous that 1t would not be worthy Of
y notice IL II were not made seriously.
It's bad for the player. Every ball player
wants to stand on his own merit and he
should not be deprived of a credit he has
earned, or given a black mark he does not
deserve. If at the annual meeting President
O'Neili can divest these charges of every
particle of odlum and prove them to be
unfounded in fact, it viii be a good thing
and every good fan on the circuit will say,
''hurrah." Then ~ this is done in the
future, when similar charges may be made,
they viii not have so much weight.
\
Claude Rossman probably has discovered
before now, much to his sorrow, that you
can't kick against the pricks and get away
with It in base ball. The young man re-
fused to go to st. Louis when Detroit made
the trade for First Basemar. Jones, though
why It is not apparent, and today is at
tached to the payroll Of Columbus in the
American association. So he gets to play
minor ball at minor salary, instead of
\ major ball at major salary. Rossman
seems to have got mad at himself because
he wasn't quite as good a first baseman
as Hugh Jennings thought he needed and
could get. Nobody wishes Rossman i'll,
but a man who chooses to pursue the arbi-
trary course he has must expect to take
the consequences of base ball, which are
stern and sure in most cases
The passing OF Isbell from the White
SUx marks the last OF the Mohicans who
went with Comiskey from ST. Paul
to Chicago in 1900 to plant his
now famous team in the American
league. Izzy's career is a great one
and he is one of those major league ball
players who put in their heyday enough
for the rainy day, and as a result he owns
the wichita team, not a bad thing to
own.
The news that Jim Kane may lose ar
~ eye as a result OF a basket ball injury Is
distressing news, but it can scarcely be
-a A.. AaaEa 80 1N,l,-l-- -