The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-02-24
BY TED SULLIVAN.

| Will say there 10 one rule to-day
i'll base ball that will be amended and
that IL bringing the pitcher down to
the level Of the hatsman and making
IL three balls instead of frur. The
pitcher at present should have mar
gin of only three balls, as We all
know the batting is getting lighter,
or course, there will be 10000 spar
rows jump up at this suggestion. but
nevertheless, they will come TO this
rule anyway. The real machinery OF
the game ia not in action until the
ball Is hit.
What mess Of historical mistakes
OF GONE syndicate stuff / have read
this winter that has passed through
the press for mental digestion of
the eredulous fan. Talk about the
mistakes OF ancient history. it is moth
ing compared to the baseball history
that Is passing before ones eyes every
day. One Of those syndicate articles
stated that Jack Chapman. Of the
famous Aflantios OF Brooklyn, started
his career at Philadelphia and ended
* at Wayne, Ind. / wouldn't be sur
prised ii the same historian some
day would state that Buck Ewing
started his playing at Baraboo. Wis
consin--then 10 Oshkosh and ended
his career at Kalamazoo. Who would
he vain to be accused Of possessing
baseball knowledge when those will
o'-the-wisp historians OF the game can
get paid for such stuff az that.
Regarding Empires.
The sample OF baseball retrogres-
sion was never made more consplcu-
Gus than the rule made to dispose of
umpires TN the National League by "A
vote OF FIVE clubs. when such a rule
was in vogue some fifteen years ago
or more, many times was a poor
umpire subjected TO the taunt OF some
tough captain, who. when coming in
from the field. would say TO the off,
cial: Well. old fellow, there are four
votes 10 let you out. already, and /
will see the president OF my club and
have him make II the fifth tonight.
What's that I saw in the paper the
other day about tipping off the signs
IL stated the sign catcher Of to-day
could catch tha signs OF the batteries
Of twenty years ago that were 80
transparents and crude that they
would never stop hitting the ball,
Yea, did followers ct the game listen
10 such twaddles as that. Think OF
those intellectual and stalwart giants
behind the bat In the persons of Mike
Kelley. Robinson. Ewing. Bennet and
Snyder and those great intellectual
pitchers like kadhourne, Ciarksen.
Mccormick. Kcefe and others.
Old-Tfme Catcbers.
Listen, my young writer's that
grand gallery of catchers did not
have To come out at midnight and
htde their signs under the home plate
and then delay the game by sauattina
down TO find them in tho dust like
some OF the piginY catchers OF to-day
Those catehers were ideal in stature
who stood erect. whose intelligence
matched that aggregation OF pitchers
that the half-wise sign Upper of to-
day would be lost trying to fathom
what the battery signs We're or any
sfsfsf' <sigfss, for THAT matter. 'sN -
lll conclude with this chapter or
the transparency and cfumsiness 81
some of the battery signs that are
used to-day, compared with some oil
those great batteries of the past. Thai
sign Upper could sit on the root
Of the lighthouse OF Sandy Hook on
the Jersey Coast with spy-glass In
his hand and see every sign of some
Of the pitchers and catchers Of to-
day from the Polo Grounds clear to
California.