Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-06-05
rHm OMAHA SUNDAY BEE
JUDGMENTS

fg,OUUWMEN ~ III
OMAHA. NEB.. SUNDAY. JUNE 3. 1910.
AS not the sacrifice hit served its
day In base ball? We know there
Fl VIII be many TO answer this ques-
ton in the negative with a most
- - emphatic frown. They will argue
That the sacrifice hit Is one OF the most
scientific details I'm the game. and that 1t
wins as many games as any other one
FACTOR and we are not going to quarrel
with their contention, for any body who
knows base ball knows all the virtue of
the sacrifice. But TO get down to the bed
TOOK OF this question, what is the purpose
OF the game Invested OF its commercial
aspect: is 1t not to develop the highest
possible degree of interest and ingenuity?
The sacrifice hit, we believe, has served
It's day for the simple reason that it has
fallen into the routine class. Base ball can
never survive the contemporary progress
and development il it becomes merely rou-
tine. IL Will have to keep far away from
that to continue in a straight, sure line of
progress The sacrifice hit is routine for
Thea reason that It is the expected thing.
Everybody knows just when to ook for it.
The game opens with 10 ill., natter try
ing for his base u .uedl.s that seem
best under the .>nces and it is a
foIegone conclusio" ...4C the next man up
will sacrifice. Now, is there any argu-
ment TO deny that this deprives the game
OF certain amount of interest and thrill
which it should possess? But it will be
said It is not the time to hit II out. \
batter takes too many chances in trying B,
hit ball at such stage of the game.
Well, that is d question How many hunts
at such times are ever beaten out? A
scant minority. The team in the field
knows exactly what to Iay for; it's nfield
GENES in and soon the little bunt is laid
down and nine tin es out of ten the runner
goes out at first and the only gain is the
runner is advanced one base. In the mean
time he might have been, and frequently u.s.
thrown out at second. Base ball must be
like war, surprising at every angle. The
fellow who. like Hannibal of old. can pull
off what the other side is not looking for
is the best man, and only when used in
such cases, as emergency proposition,
can the sacrifice lift today be highly val
ued. IL the second batter up teaches the
out team that 1t cannot count on his bunt-
ing no more than on his hitting 'er out"
the game takes on a new interest and more
science. The origin of the bunt was base
hit The old Baltimore orioles made 1t
common, though. of course they did not
originate 1t, and used it always with the
expectation of making a base hit out of
it. Certainly players were bunting, or,
as they called 1t then, tipping" the
ball back in the SOS, but not even then
did they ever have the notion of using 1t
as sacrifice, but always a hit. And that
Is what have got to come to in this
day of great thought and resource IL we
would gave the game from the bane OF
stilted formality.
Gotch pursued the system of wrestling
In the Zbyszko match which had he pursued
In his contest with Hackenschmidt would
have cut short his victory there to a mat
ter of few minutes instead of stringins
out the affair for more than two hours and
ending in a dogfall. II we are to accept
things as they come to us we may say
that 1t was Gotchs avowed purpose to go
into Hack from the start as he rushed
Zbyszko, but Farmer Burns said no and
held him back for the waiting game. OF
course the match with Zbyszko is not sub
ject to the criticism that other wrestles
sometimes incur as to their squareness
for in THIS match hippodroming could have
nothing to gain by a quick fall such as
both these were, the former unprecedent
distinctly than ever as a man alone and IL
his own class, and sets the thinking Amer
lean above the gruelling foreigner in thi
fine, old test of mental and physical agil
ity. There never was a chance anyway
OF this Zbyszko throwing Frank Gotch. HI
" not in his class and really had no licens
n wrestle him except that his looks ant
strength made him a good drawing care
at the box office and were sufficient I,
fool many people into believing that h
might down the Iowan.
Another week has come and gone withou
disclosing any material steadiness in tn
playing OF Omaha's much loved ball team
out not even that should give a faithful
IAN serious worry. The season Is young
the weather is irregular and the team 4
potentially strong, and 1t is not the onl!
one in the league that is losing. Beside
ali this President Rourke is still hiring an,
looking for new material. There is no weak
ness except In the box, and 1t is a cues
Kuon II after the weather settles dow
pshere will be much of a weakness there
The best pitchers are getting their bump
these days and will get them so long a
Mr.. Sol and Mr.. Pluvius are unable L
come to more amicable terms. to say moth
4 ing OF Old Man Boreas. OF course Oman
wants winning team and Omaha Is en-
titled to winning team, and II Pa Rourk
can accomplish what he is trying 10
Omaha will have winning team. o.
paper it is the strongest lineup in tn
league, and on the field it is until you &c
10 the box. so that with the recent add
tion Pa has made TO the staff we may hop
for prompt rejuvenation there.
Base ball is game wonders. The
have been counting off the consecutiv
games won by Brooklyn. But as a matte
OF fact Brooklyn is one Of several team
4 that must be reckoned with for time /
= like the st. Louis Nationals. Cincinnati an
Boston Americans, has been wedding OF
old men and drawing in new ones unit
It has a good team that ought to go we