The Washington times., 1912-02-01
HUGHES HAND IS
!, NOW MEND|NG IN
!. SATISFACTORY WAY
Injured Digit Will Be In
Shape When Training
Starts.
! SPECIAL CONTRACTS
= ARE NOW NUMEROUS
q; Griffith Offers Special inducements
., to Players Who Show I'm
81 proved Form.
BY SENATOR

Tom Hughes injured digit In mend.
ing In manner satisfactory to the
surgeons who performed the operation
! upon the fractured knuckle which the
: pitcher suffered at Chicago last sum-
'dmsr.
From the time the player received
: the injury the ring finger on his pitch-
: ing hand was practically useless In base.
ball. and 1t was thought that he might
II nave 70 retire permanently, but the
/. now said that ali that is necessary to
Z bring 1t around to its normal condition
: will be exercise. The stiffness incl
d dent to the operation is disappearing
OF weeks at Charlottesville there Will
.f,be no trouble. FL .-0
!, !, Bonus to Player.
! There will probably be more PLAYERS ON
u the Washington ball club working un-
der bonus contracts next season than on
y !. any other club in either Of the major
u leagues.
!, Terms are always a matter of conf
= dence between manager and player, but
Griffith admits that he is a strong be-
/, lever In having his men in such q posi-
r uon that they must work and SHOW
) 70 earn real money. There have been
several members Of the team who have
them, ana In each case the manager ha q
!, come back with q proposition Of addi-
uonal salary In case there is a certain
Improvement. This is particularly true
OF the younger players, but also affects
those who have been with the club for
,, two or more seasons. -. -
!. think bah player should get all
! tain figure. but i am also Of the D. opinion
/, tnat q man can and will do better work
when ne has special inducement in
the way OF added cash. Griffith says.
y have been as liberal as is consistent
, with common-sense business, and there
VIII be quite few of our players
earning additional money II they show
tney can put up q better article Of
baseball than they did last year.
eo'Day on Umpires.
When Hank O'Day, the veteran UNI
pire, was appointed manager Of the Gin
cinnati Reds, there was considerabl BILE
speculation as to how the members of
that club would treat the arbiters. Now
Hank. has come forward with a state
ment.
I'VE are going TO give them a fair
:: show and good treatment in ,Sincir,-
/ matt, says he. Il have been an u,u-
Pr; P;r for ,,,,,s, 50 long that can appreciate
& Take the dressing-room idea. as an
instanct. In several cities the umpires
are forced to 90 to their hotels before
tucN cau cnin9s thelr clothes. Suppose
YOU are an umpire and work in a game
on very hot lay in July. After 1t is
over You may not have quarters at the
grounds. and. therefore. must get on
car and ride four OF five miles to your
This isn't fair to the umpires. They
all work harder in u came than some
O. o., the I,aY PLAYERS; They always try to be
Iair IN their decisions end do their best
Therefore. they should be accorded. at
least, good treatment.
Ihey deserve to have rooms at the
Gs%a1,a. grounds which which,, they can reach without
/ one Of the clubhouses. That is What
We are going to do for them here. In
chicago, Tor instance, they have to 20
up through the stands before they reach
tnelr rooms. They used to have to do
! New York. - - -
Must Have Judges. (
1T isn't fair to them to make such
restrictions. The umpires receive all
the taunts of the crowd which they
meet. and there have been times when
q good swtpe in the face would be the
pest treatment for some of these spec
,Tnder our new system the judges
Which is shown to the players. They
III have their own rooms, which they
can reach without being insuited b.
tho ShVwuo. AlSOi tH6y can CnanRe
their clothes there and will have a
nice shower bath for their own use.
You must have umpires at ball
games. Players come and GO; most OF
them 60 faster than they come. You
can take any player out Of a game and
1t goes on just as before. But the UNI
pire always has to be On the Job. He
ts always listened to by the players,
because the rules Of baseball make
them respect his decisions.
Fans as Umpires.
"Close points which he states one
way or the other always cause a howl
The folks in the grandstand are often
$50 feet from these decisions. Yet they
maintain that the play was in favor
OF their club, should the umpire de-
eide the other way.
"He Is right on top Of every play and
sees 1t with but two or three feet be-
tween himself and the men engaged in
It. His decision is right in more than
ninety nine cases out of every hum
dred, even though players do call him a
robber and thief when they leave the
game.
"I respect the umpire because I've
been one and appreciate the manner in
which he has been treated. 1t isn't
right to knock him because a certain
play Doesn't go the way Of your own
club. That's the childish way of look
ing at it,"
m. SH AnE.