The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1911-05-23
BY PAUL HALE sRuskE.

N. BY PAUL HALE bHuSkE.
ANY time that press and public
agree that there Is something ap-
proachfng the sure thing coming on
at our ball yard, hang out the danger
signal!
Any time that the crowds take II
into their heads to stay away because
Of their oyerpowering sympathy for
the Tiger victims, look out! A chunk
Of raw meat, thrown into the cage
where the Bengals are licking their
chops, Is going TO turn into some
hing ravenons that will send the
monarchs OF the jungle tearing madly
About, looking for the exits!
: Yesterdays game is in point. The
Washington club dropped In at Ben
nett park, battered and bruised by
eight consecutive buffetings at the
hands OF st. Louis and Cleveland, and
crippled by a series OF Illnesses and
injuries surprising anything on rec
ord. The talent which lays the odds
and risks its money, offered the lib
eral quotation OF to with Tigers
on the short end. Ed Lafitte-one OF
our rapidly diminishing staff OF un-
beaten twtrlers. stepped nattily on
the slab. Against him was arrayed
"Dixie'. Walker an unlettered son OF
Alabama. who has been so punk on
former appearances this year as 10
call out the threat on the part OF Man
agor McAleer, of suspension in case
he failed to get himself into condi-
ton.
And then?
Well, Dixie allowed the Tigers six
- hfta urnIlld haua held
them to one run but for untoward cir
cpmstances. while his mates pounded
LATTE for eighteen-count EN- eight
out Of the nine.
In a considerable experience In
baseball. the writer does not recall
any former game in which one team
worked the hit and run play as sue
cessfully rs Washington did yester-
day.
No less than FIVE times did the
: washington runners cut loose with
the pitch, drawing either Bush or Del
\ ahanty over TO cover the sack. On
each OF those occasions the Washing
ton batsman whaled the ball through
the stance left vacant by the Detroit
Il IxlNEiuEf Wuo was NotOtLhb Nhc oe~@N'
The base runners could always take
couple of sacks on this procedure, and
there was nearly always someone at
the bat who was able to get one or
them home In some way or other
hit and run play figured In every one
& OF the Senatorial batting rallies.
When one stops TO ponder the al
/ most miraculous ingenuity which the
successive repetition OF this feat I'M
plies, he Is necessarily smitten with
Increased amazement. !.
& 10 perform successfully hit and
run play the batsman must first de-
eide that the Detroit pitcher Is going
90 cut the plate. He must then de-
termine which .inhelder IL going TO
rover the bag. He 10 then under the
Necessity OF smashing the ball accur-
htely 10 the vacated spot. To break
up the play It is only necessary for
the catcher or pitcher to waste one
ball. The batsman IL unable to 60
through his part OF the procedure and
The runner, as result, isf ound high
and dry, and IL usually a mark for
his opponents.
Nothing like this happened yester-
day. Lafitte and Stanage wasted
many q pitch. but none OF the wasted
balls were those on which the Wash
jHgten bunch had elected TO pull on
Dts specially.
There was something positively
<wierd and uncanny about the way
they outguessed our befuddled clair.
voyants.
NJ becomes necessary to take cog
nee Of O. man whose performances
Drday surpasses anything In the
records OF Lajoie, Cobb or Col
The athlete referred to Is Mr..
bride. the talented Washington
or<1topper.
NJ. Mcbride has been in fast COM
my = long time and has been noted
- q helder able to give Bush lively
1rgument for ability In grabbing ugly
rounders and In heaying them to
Irst with accuracy and dispatch.
I[any times critics have gazed pity
ugly on Mcbride and remarked on
What grand ball player he would be,
were he only able to get hit occa-
rionally.
After yesterdays performance there
~ no longer any sympathy locally for
Mr.. Mcbride. Nice fielder but poor
hitter, Ell?
I Take back them cruel wordsl Mr..
mcbride win henceforward be known
here as that terrible slugger whose
big bat Is likely 10 keep him In the
game for many years after his throw
ting arm has withered and HIS agile
legs have become knotted with spav-
Tins,
Five times Mcbride faced LATTE.
Five times heifiailed the ball to spots
where Detroit thelders were not. There
was no doubtS about n single one OF
bis hits. They'were all clean and only
lone Of them had the least element OF
doubt about It. this being the third
lone which was q fly. just long enough
70 loop the heads of the infielders
but too short to permit apprehension
1by the outer gardeners. The rest OF
the McBrideNefforts were line drives
which. nobody could catch.