The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-05-05

making mention Of the Giants of 1859
because you were one of them, and they
did use their brains. 1 believe that you
licked US good"
Strangely enough Ward has ball team
Of his own-the Boston Nationals-and
there Is reason to believe that Hanlon
would not object to returning to his great
est love if he could locate himself in q
major league city.
The lost art of basebal-base running!
Was base running ever so excellent that
the contrast between the present and the
past gives warrant for such a statement
on the part Of an old bali player, or are
the criticisms which are passed upon
the ball players of the present merely the
tendency of the old timer to glorify the
days of bis skill and triumph as opposed to
those Of later generations?
A little PEEP into the records wiz have
to be taken to ascertain the truth, and a.
little peep into the records, just an offhand
glance, shows In the very frst year upon
which the eye CHANGED to light-1S91-that
the ball players of to-day are amateur base
runners as compared with the bail players
of Hanlon's time. Hamilton, of the Phila-
delphia National League Club, had us
stolen bases; Latham, of Cincinnati, SO !;
Ward, of Brooklyn, so-that is the same
John Montgomery Ward who was talking
above-Grifin, of Brooklyn, IS, and 50 on
down the list. Tom" Brown, of the
American Association, gathered ITO, and
Duffy, of the Boston club, was second with
So
Ty Cobb, Best Base Runner.
The best base runner Of 1911 was ''Ty'
Cobb, who stole 50 bases for the Detroit
club, and the second best was Bescher; Of
the Cincinnati club, Of the National
League, who stole eighty bases, and bOtt
were thought to have accomplished some
thing out Of the ordinary.
The best base runner who ever lived
was Harry stovey, Of the Athletics, who
stole 15e bases in 1855. Every one Of
them was bona 6de. There were no
padded figures, no favoriti<m shown, for
he had to make the round Of the circuit
to obtain his record. He simply stole
bases because he was q master hand at
studying the different pitchers whom he
met from day TO day, wonderfully fast
starter, in his stride in one or two steps,
and q splendid runner after ne had start.
ed. And now he is policeman prevent
ing larceny Whenever he, can, though
with less speed in his legs than he had
in the days when Philadelphia showersd
him with gifts and Hattering applause
What is there in the absence of base
running, or the inability to run bases wen,
which induces students Of baseball, men
of brains like Ward and HanlOn, to
descant upon the subject in vein Of
pessimism?
This is the answer. Aside from the
artistic value Of base running, which d
considered to be one Of the most attrae-
tive motives of the sport. the ability to
run bases wei and intslIigently means
results.
In any close and hard fought game.
where al other things are equal, the
odds are Eve TO four that the better base
running team viii win. For Eve years
records have been kept and complied BY
the writer in which a standard Of batting
was established and . standard Of asId-
ing, based upon the average Of hits IN an
inning IN which runs were made. and the
average Of errors in innings in which
runs were made. wherever these records
we're mutuaux alike. Or nssrlz -. i Sssl