Bisbee daily review., 1911-06-18
BALL GAMES SHOULD
 BE SHORTENED

Drawn out matinees ard iardy diu- ner fans will be a thing of memory before long. The coming of the rub -bercOrk horseside and the resultant long games have caused concentrated action and this took form last week in an announcement from B. B. Johnson, president of the American league. and another from C. ". Mur- phy, Cub boss.
 The ultimatum of the American league chief comes in the form of a slight handicap for pitchers in that hereafter there shall be no more delay occasiOned by mound artists in their practice of warming up 10 the extent Of five balls at the beginning of each inning and in most cases after each putout It is figured that this alone will knock twenty minutes off the length of the game. and if this does not suffice there will follow a shift in the starting time Of contests in the American league says the Chicago Record Herald
 The edict from the Cub boss is to the effect that hereafter all games al the West Side park will be called at 300 o'clock sharp Murphy takes this step upon his own initiative. but indications point to it being followed by the other magnates in the older leagues. When informed of Murphy's
 action President Comlsky of the White Sox said the stand was a good one and that he would adopt it within a short time if the new ruling of Johnson does not have the de sired effect.
 Blame is Divided.
 The fault of the unusually long games this year is laid by President Johnson both to the players and um-
 pires as well as to the new ball,
 which has made heavy hitting a daily . occurrence The arbiters so far this season have shown an inclination to allow the players 10 run the game i according to their own ideas and in the statement issued last week Johnson took occasion to hint that a little hurry up" work on the part of his staff Of arbiters would be ac- ceptabie
 The managers have also come in for their share of instructions. II is claimed that many of the team boss es at different times make every pos sible ehOrt to delay the play. but this will also die a natural death if the umpire i'll the orders Of their chief. The major share of the time is lost in the players coming and going both to field and to bat, but they will have to hustle along from today on, under the possible penalty of being instructed to remain on the bench until they feel inclined to follow instructions.
 Comiskey is doubtful as to whether or not the new law will chop off twenty minutes from the pastime. A
 pitcher can ordinarily toss over five balls within a minute Allowing two
 minutes for each inning this appar-
 ently useless practice aggregates eighteen minutes but this does not | include time wasted in tossing the ball about the field after each put out or when a finger IS derricked to make room for a newcomer.
 Average Over Two HoUis. During the present year games in both circuits have averaged slightly over two hOurS. and many have been strung along for two hours and forty [ five minutes. This combined with the ! late start. has made supper at 2 seasOnable time an impossibility for the fans, and it was the complaints [ from their quarter that hurried the
 new ruling as much as anything else President Johnson in his edict ! takes exception to the reports of the
 new ball being at fault, but comar. ing this seasons game to those of ! last shows that the drswn-Out play is due principally to the cork sphere. 1 lt is very likely that Johnson's cru sade will eventually result in the
 same rulin by the National league,
 and it is also probable that before long the standard time for starting games will be 800 o'clock in both organizations.