Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-25

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IL
s ent conditions.
- There are mighty
few base ball en-
thusiasts w h o
~ would prefer
sloppy seventeen
fo-etght exhibition over q snappy Two
to-one affair. You never hear the wise
managers Of the game offer any iesis-
Elton to increase the hitting.
<eConnis Mack has been pretty success
eul In gathering an aggregation u
Mayors that will worry most any
nitcher. Frank Chances great Cup
machine Is always regarded with mucn
6ar BY. the star twirlers. John NC
Draw has a collection Of athletes rep
Sesenting New York who cause many a
<wirler to spend sleepless night
Nughey Jennings and his Tigers are al
ways dangerous. and no pitcher reeis
certain of a victory over Detroit until
Che last man has been retired. me
managers of each big league team-in
fact every minor league club-nnos
Himself able to pick up players who
will make the going interesting Ior
The pitchers.
cit would be pretty hard to improve
fhe game Of today. 1t IL a constant
Battle OF WIS, IH0 pISShSi os -
fne to outguess the batter. the bat
ter attempting to do the same w1rn the
pitcher The base runner is ever alert
90 slip one over on the battery men.
while the battery men seldom pass up
m opportunity to make the base run
aer look foolish A hit means some
Nhing under present conditions. NO
man is supposed to step up to the plate
end whale every ball to some Tar
distant corner Of the field. The Fellow
xhird time he steps into the batters
box is considered q mighty valuable
asset to his club. Yet withal, there Is
plenty of good solid hitting. enough TO
satisfy any fan. About the only EEL
Rw who longs for a lopsided score
and a game lasting between two and
dne-half or three hours is the chap who
Sakes a trip to the ball park once
year.
SHigh-class base running appeals to
ihe fan of today. just as much as the
Hitting end of the game. The fan revels
n daring thefts that invariably play
& prominent part In the result or the
came. Speed and the proper use OF
Mat speed is something aimed at by
every successful manager OF any ball
dub. The value and Importance Of that
Sne asset has been deeply impressed on
<he base ball leaders.
g Set the League on Fire.
Perhaps no better example Of this
<heory could be cited than the Boston
American League team Of three or four
Jears ago. At the start Of the season
little consideration was given the 4sos-
Won club 1t was known to be q club OF
promising young players. but no one
Agured it would cut any figure In the
Damaging the team that year. realized
Ae had club Of sprinters, most OF whom
Seemed able to use this natural asset to
advantage. No doubt Lake and his play
Ars mapped out campaign Of speed.
Never have I seen team take such
chances on the bases as did the Boston
club that year. Inside Of few short
months they were known as the speed
Boys" all over the major league circuit.
Ehey literally ran wild. Often they took
tuch desperate chances they were made
70 look foolish, but q majority of times
yhey profited as q result
@ 1t was only a very short time before
the Boston team, regarded as an also ran
"a the ante-season dope. was looked on
Is one Of the most dangerous clubs In
the Johnsonian organization. Opposing
mfields were always on edge, realtz1ng
<elip-up Of the slightest sort meant the
Toss Of the runner. Naturally working
under such conditions caused them to
s1pse players that ordinarily would have
been easy for them. In many dinerent
ways the Boston club prohted because
iaring use it made of 1t. At the close of
the season the club was picked rs q PEN
shant winner for the next year. A Few
changes were made, shift In the speed
policy must have been made, for the
club was not nearly SO serious con-
tender the following season.
iligh-class base running has come to
play such a prominent part In the game
that the managers exert every influence
possible to stop the mad career Of the
athletes on the bases. The battery men
TRY their best to break up the hit-and-
run with the pitch-out. some catchers
will go SO far as to waste three balls in
an effort to get some fast man stealing,
while pitchers devote hours OF work In
an effort to develop q half balk that win
cidentally make the base runner look
foolish
Time to Kill Burners.
Ed Walsh Is truly . wonderful pitcher.
a mighty hard man to beat under any
conditions. yet even as great an asset as
his wonderful spit ball Is the manner in
which Walsh holds the base runner on.
The base runner who steals with Walsh
pitching and Billy Sullivan catching Ia
entitled to honorable mention In the sum-
mary Of the score. It IL almost suicidal
for q base runner to take much Of q lead
and his throw to first are so nearly iden-
teal that II Is next to impossible to dis
crirntnate between the two.
When q base runner reaches first, with
Walsh pitching. the fans may rest assur-
ed that Walsh win Immediately start to
IL he doesn't get the runner he viii %
tire him out that An attempt to steal IL
4oolhardy. On one occasion last summer
saw Walsh throw to first base sixteen