Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-19
By Umpire Billy Evans.


Every man who has ever oh1cfated IN
major or minor league as an umpire VIII
smile as he peruses the above questions.
These and a few million more Of q SINH
lar nature are passed up to the umpires
every year. ,,.,
II is really extraordinary the opinion
that some of the fans have relative 10
the above questions. Ofttimes l n1xe
asked my questioner what he though.
on,nions conquered. Quite often the
scores of games as they appear IN tne
paper causes one to believe the contest
must have been a diff1cult one 70 umpire
because of the closeness as wen as .n6
snaIlness Of the score, but usuaiiy sueh
in far from being the case in,
"What was the score today, Billy
said a fan to me one day last summer
while on my way to the hotel
.One to nothing, in favor or the noihc
team. twelve innings" replied. ;,
"Must have had your troubles TO-DAY,
he said. as he thanked me ana WaAAso
away.
Was Easy Contest to Umpire.
The fact that it required twelvc innings
for the home team to win the game oS
the narrow margin Of to was enoush
to cause the fan to believe 1t must haVe
been a hard game to umpire. Such was
Tar from the truth. In fact, the con'es'
was anything but dificult to PRESIDE osS..
Most any one could have got away Wltn
o,,t a kick. The contest was pitcners
battle. Neither team could do anyihi "a.
with the stick. weak grouhoe's anu
lie pop flies being the usual contfauu
lions. when the batter ESCAPED goins UHoe
10 the bench over the strike-out ROUTE:
There was hardly a single oecIslon -,
any consequence for the base uinp,,e az
render, while the two pitchers were ~
steady and effective that the i nnsh "r
hind the plate had scarcely strike or
hall questioned The winning run was
the result Of a triple and single ,,o..
Contrary to general opinion the sn n,t cheers
small score games So IN t T hardest to UNI
nire. Any Judge of play Will teii you
that there Is much more 20 do In s4nie
replete with hitting in which some one
IN always on the bases. the more me"
an the bases. the more base running.
conseouently all the more DECISIONS ~.
xba ,,rnnire Games in which pitcners
are wild or getting hit increase INC
york Of the plate ~ ym . hundred a free
SIttinS game with q to score Is con-
siXerably harder to umpire than a. atca
erss battle of twelve innings VII"
to result. ... n,tchers
a. uork behind are the best. nave
S@ten heard fans say after wafer So. t,
son has pitched one OF ms "onoe'A1'
gemes: .,,,u hat. 70 work behind
xsst Fellow johnson with his wonoerLui
sred and curves He must be an a"
III hard man to Judge correctly.
lob Il Easy With johnson IN BOX
Ask any umpire in the American
LEAGUE what pitcher is easiest Tor him 10
uvrnire behind, and he will be sure TO IN
,,ras the great Walter johnson. ASK any
National League umpire what pitcher ne
,,ou,d prefer passing judgment on: ano
the reply would surely De h.S
Ns,hewson." who Is generally FeSAIoeo
AZ the premier twirler OF that orsse~
ton. Usually great pitcners ,h poss Chr,sty
Nathewson hit only three bafters IN 'n ~,
National League last year IS pfooa -
that. A pitcher who Is steady - "ut a
easier man to work behino tnan .no
iocation OF the plate Pitchers who are
prone to be wild are always trouoIoeoe
twirlers who are achieving success NOR
through their brain than Drawn are IL
vays hard to umpire behind
n,r,nr the regime Of Dusty Rhoades IN
the American League there were pient!
az pitchers who had more STUN, -ve.
Rhoades was, perhaps the haroSst %
them all to work behind. Inc pan W.
always Just on the inside or OUTSIDE cor.
rer of the plate. and just above or Just
below the knee or shoulders with tnree
and two on the batter, he was just as
likely to slip up MS SLOW peh -
ene. Groove balls were few and far De-
tween Quite often Dusty would express
n belief that the umpires regarded the
corners Of the plate as purely ornamental.
Another thing that makes 1t easier Tor
the umpire, with q really star twirier
nitcbing. is the fact that few star pitch
srs do much kicking. Rarely do you see
n,tchers like Mathewson. johnson, Brown.
Coornbs and any OF the other hfgh-ciass
tvtrlers in arguments with the umpire.
They take what Is given Them oeheVins
that on the whole they are not being mis-
treated They have confidence IN tneif
ability and are not always looking 10 tne
umpire for assistance. Quite often they
believe the umpire has erred. but they
aIvays express their opinion In way
That wins the respect rather than the
antipathy Of the umpire.
Like to Work in Certain Cities.
Naturally umpires regard the differ
emit cities in entirely different lights A
certain city that is hard place for one
umpire to please may be the stronghold
of another umpire. 1t all depends on tine
success and luck that follows the umpire.
Nine times out Of ten the doing OF some
thing that at the time appeared quite
trivial will seriously work against the
umpire's popularity.
BILLY KLEIN and Silk O'Loughlin regard
PHILADELPHIA as their jonah town. Silk
gave q decision against the Athietcs IN
that memorable seventeen-inntng game OIL
I0OS with Detroit that the followers OF
C-opp;e Mack refused to forget. Several