Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-10
SEE It DIFFERENTLY
PLAYERS and Umpires Work on
Law at Cross Angles.
FORMER FOR WEAK POINTS
Arbitrators Enforce the Rules Who
ever the Decision May
Hit.

OF course, umpires and players see the
rules differently. writes Billy Evans in
| the Sporting News. To the player they
are made to find weak points In. if he
can. for his advantage. To the umpire
| they are merely the law of base ball to
! be enforced. whoever the ruling may hit.
and the easier it is made for the UNI
pire-the palmer the rule-the less con-
troversy there is likely to be and the
more satisfactory the result for all con-
cerned.
| Perhaps no change in recent years was
more appreciated by the umpires than
section of rule "a. which says: IF a
thrown or pitched bali strike the person
or clothing of an umpire onsfoul ground
the ball shall be considered in play. and
the base runner or. runners shall be en-
titled to all the bases they can make. -
| Until a few years ago the ruling on this
point allowed all base runners to advance
a base when a thrown or pitched ball
| struck the umpire on foul territory. Very
| often this ruling got the poor umpire into
| many an unfortunate jam. Often a ball
that would not have rolled more than a
| half dozen feet would just touch the UNI
! pire, making il necessary for him to allow
all runners to advance base. Had not
| the ball touched him it would have been
| utterly impossible in most cases for the
| runner to take an extra base. L WILDLY
| recall a sixteen-inning game that WIS
| lost because a pitched ball. trickling
| through the catcher's glove, barely touch
| ing the umpire's foot. and, not rolling
! more than two feet away, resulted in the
winning run. II necessitated the scoring
, soon discovered that the fans did not care
| to see games won in that manner, and
changed the ruling.
| Umpfring is quite a different PROPOSE
RI YNJQ vi n n ~ 10 n
| on the road players do not look for
much consideration, but when at home.
unless they have been going awfully
bad, every player has a big following.
| Ask any ball player who has ever
taken up the umpiring end of the
| game. after his playing days are over
| and he will tell you it is like starting
all over again.
Sui pitcher. Now Dineen must be
cNassed as a great umpire. When a
plNyer Dineen seldom objected to a de-
cfsAon, his favorite kick when a ruling
! diskleased him was simply Why"
Whln Informed why the player was
declkred out or safe why the deliv-
cry was called ball or strike Dineen
; mace no further comment. Bill likes
tfE double umpire system. and says he
Eould quit If he had to go it alone
How umpires used to work alone
and get along as well as they did. is
deep. dark mystery to me" remarked
D1neen one day last summer II have
my hands full trying to satisfy people
When two men arc on the Job. How
one man called balls and strikes raced
around the bases and tried to look a
half dozen ways at the same time has
got me- Candidly. I would rather UNI
than play. but I would rather go back
to the rolling mill than try to do the
job alone.
NO person can appreciate the position
OF the umpire as we'll as the player-um-
pre-. In my days as a player I have SAT
on the bench and watched a PLAYER called
out on What appeared to be a good third
strike Although such players protested
only slightly at the plate. it used to be
a caution what they would saw when tbov
got back to the bench The bali was
either foot outside or foot inside I'm
around the eyes or down at the ankles
me umpire nine times out of ten had
erred the player had always been mis-
Gated. ms
Il often used to wonder if the umpires
were really as bad as many of the NAV
ers tried to make them. Never when
p1scnlng dld thu! seem to me to be much
on color. OF course, II have often figured
when pitching that the umpire missed
TINS or that one. but just as often have
felt that he favored me- / would believe
II BALL only to have the umpire declare
it a strike. l never could see tho ,,,,,,.;re
in as unfavorable a light as did mari Of
the batters on the teams l have nIayed
1t seemed to me that very often hayine
failed to deliver, the batter was trying to
a!loi himself at the expense of the UNI
pire. UNI
different managers were d;Aeron+,
anected by this constant kicking of tho
players. as they reached the bench RI
the team happened to be winning and
the manager was at all level-headed he
would usually pay little Or no attention
to the kicking. Often he would inform
the player that he would increase his
average II he paid more attention to tho
pilcners than the arbitrators. If the
team happened to be losing. If All thc
close plays seemed to be going the other
way, then this constant kicking would |
get on the nerves of the manager in
charge-would cause him to believe that
every umpire was actually giving bis c,mh
the worst of it. that all umpires were
even bhnder than some of the nIayers
tried to make them seem
Now that l am an umpire noth;no
Deeves me more than to hear a plaver on
back to the bench and tell what rotten
strike l called him out on. have no
doubt that players really think the strike !
was bad one in majority of the cases |
often. perhaps. the strike actually was |
bad one, but In a great majority of cases
know the umpire was right I shall |
never forget the first time 1 called out |
on strikes fellow who as 2 plaver On
the same team with me. was very good
friend. The pitcher, with the count three
and two. had slipped over a beautiful |
curve. When the ball crossed over the
heart of the plate the batter was looking
In the direction of left field. 1t was |
fast, :sharp-breaking curve as it ap-
preached the batter. it seemed sure to be |
inside, and the batter naturally pulled |
away to keep from getting hit. 1t was |
perfect strike. If there ever was one. |
After being declared out the batter stood !
for moment at the plate, dropped his /
bat to the ground and walked to the |
bench. not forgetting to remark as he de-
parted