Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-27
BALL GAMES TODAY
MARVELS OF SCIENCE
GeneraIship of the Diamond
an Ever-Shifting Series of
Quickly Devised Schemes.
By W. A. Phelan.

Bali games, as played today py inc
great professional teams. are marvels of
science. planning and mental exertion-
according to sundry writer's who have OF
late been calculating the fine points OF
the pastime II these able critics tell
the truth in every detail a ball game as
played today is a complex series OF moves
and counter moves beside which Lasker' 8
ablest chess performance Is about equal
10 an anchored skiff matched against a
steam launch. According to some OF
the able writer's who have been writing
thrilling stories of the national game. a
big league team Is now run, when In bat
tie, by set of signals. criss-crossed by
reverse and diverse signs and counter
signs, and with a special set of emer-
sency signals always in readiness in case
the opposition should guess the purport
of the original code
A kick of the coachers right foot. says
one of these writer's. means one move
menu for the batsman and base runner; q
kick of the left foot means another; pull
ing grass with the right hand means to
do this, and jerking 1t violently with the
left hand means to do the other thing. II
the manager on the bench shades his
eyes with his palm it means a steal; II
he hits the water barrel viciously with his
left foot. it means to sacrifice. In short
according to the magazine writer's and
the brilliant critics of the day-baSe ball
is controlled, all the way through the
stages of the active play, by these intri-
cate, complex, recurring and criss-cross-
ing signs and codes.
All of which would be extremely In
structive were it not for the fact that 1t
isn't SO, and that, in all these stories. the
writer's either built upon their magma
lions, or-more likely-were strung and
'.joshed'' by the ball players to whom
they went for information. AS plain.
hard fact, no pail team ever played the
game under long and complex code of
signals. 1t would be an utter inlpOsSibfli-
". physical and mental absurdity-a
task that no ball tosser. no matter how
retentive his memory. could overcome.
Could anything be more hilariously
with the hostile players figuring every
possible manner in which to trap and
erase him, and quickly shifting circum-
stances monopolizing every instant OF his
crisS-crossed signals. or rack his brain
trying. in such an instant. to recall what
was meant when the captain kicked UP
his left foot or the coacher winked his
right eye through a shield made by two
fingers of the left hand?
Signal Code Limited.
The generalship of the ball field is an
eveT-shifting series of quickly devised
schemes. not a nfth part of them figured
out or practiced before each individual
game began The signal code Of the ball
field is limited to eight or ten simple
tricks, and must ever be so for the reason
that the brain of the ball player is not
that of Euclid. Plato or Archimedes. The
last named gentleman, perhaps might
memorize a series of 500 signals, have
them all taDulated and ready for instant
reference, and choose from the 500 the
one 10 hit special case when that special
1ts.6 To he .l@
ing space of seven seconds. but the av-
erage ball player mental architecture
isn't framed that way.
Base ball generalship plays a great
part in the winning of ball games, but IL
is the genius of improvisation, the gen.
eralship of quick thinking and instant
ability TO cope with constant new condi-
tons, that wins out. and not set studies
OF the academic order.
Here is something that can be safely
stated, after seeing and describing 5000
Games or more: There was never vet
ball game in which something did not
happen that never happened In any game
before. There was never vet q ball game
In which some entirely new play or COM
bnation Of plays did not arise and the
men who met the new combinations with
the quickest scope of comprehension
We're the ones who won.
Any captain or manager before a game
can review the events Of earlier battles.
and say, cheerfully: When that thing
happens again. we will be ready for it,
ana then, almost infallibly. that partic-
mar thing will not occur. and they will
nave 10 deal with something entirely new.
Gnheard of and bewildering
close-fought ball game means gem
ctaishlp against generalship. and. in ad-
"ition, generalship against the strange
weird, fncomprehensible luck of the dia-
iaond- The finest calculation NAV work
out TO nicety-and it may be ruined by
= slip: wide-thrown ball. or the break
a hat nd
this in mind, that there Is nothing 40
iaushable, so delightful to q crowd. or
80 odckoreaklng TO the success of q ball
club, as the failure OF a finely planned
DIT OF generalship in execution.
Success and Failure.
one OF the finest bits of eeneralsb,n
over saw. I'm idea and detailed workings.
was play thai was tried twice the same
day by two hostile clubs In one case.
the theory worked out to perfection-in
the other It was an utter failure. II
ruined one side and saved the other. and
the team that won that day took down a
flag a few weeks later.
The Chicago White Sox and the Phila-
do!phia Athletics We're batting desper-
steiv AZ Comiskey's park, and the game
went INTO extra innings, with both sides
staining every nerve Finally there was
a slip. momentary let-up, and before
the Sox could catch their breath the
Athletics had men on second and third
with but one gone.
The next batsman seemed good. at
least. for a long outfield fly that would
score run. Fielder Jones ordered the
man passed TO first. and he was given a
base, filling the sacks. with but one out
AMI Shreck. the Philadelphia catcher,
heavy batter. but a slow-footed run
uer. at the plate.
Jones. the able leader of the Sox, was
playing a long chance. and one that
would have never been risked with a
faster runner. He believed that Schreck
would rap q grounder. and that there
would be a chance to work a double
play, getting the runner coming down
from first and flashing the ball across to
first in time to head of Schreck. Fig
ure out the heavy chances against Jones'
combination. There was the chance that
Schreck would make safe hit, driving
n anywhere from two to three runs:
here was the chance that he would loft
long fly. letting in one tally: there was
the chance that he would hit so slow a
grounder that only one runner could be