Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04
BY UMPIRE BILLY EVANS.

The career of player or umpire often
depends largely on the success OF his
debut 1t is really quite surprising what
a good getaway means to the athlete, and
incidentally what a severe setback bad
start is almost certain to give. OF course.
there are lot of fellows who start with
flying colors and then fail to deliver. On
the other hand there are a lot of fellows
who fail to impress at the start, but later
develop into stars. Confidence is one OF
the biggest assets. A good start begets
confidence. Usually such acquired conf
dence is the only thing needed to make
players or umplres, if they have the real
ability
A poor getaway for the chap who has
the ability to make good simply makes his
task all the more difficulty. He must
overcome the bad impression he made
with the fans on his debut. Take the case
of Rube Marquard, for instance. He sim
ply burned up the American Association,
which. is put a few degrees slower than
the major leagues. Any pitcher who had
the stuff to do the things Marquard did
in the American Association should have
proven troublesome from the start In the
majors, but Marquards showing was en-
tirely to the contrary.
In his UeDuI at dOtHdII1. . VI
ferings were received with favor by the
opposition and the Giant outfielders were
kept mighty busy. This fierce initial bonn
bardment caused RUDE to realize that
there was a slight difference between the
two organizations. and, incidentally, 1t
caused him TO lose lot of that sublime
confidence that had always marked his
work in the minors. Marquard decided
that he would have to snow more stuff.
Trying to make his stock in trade all the
and developed a streak of Wildness that
made il easy for the opposition to get
runs without hits. When RUDE got them
over the opposition hit them, when he
didn't get them over they walked He
was in bad either way.
The New York CLUB paid something like
11eOO simoleons for the big southpaw.
Prior to his big league debut, he was
commonly referred to as 1.-The $1,000
beauty" but it wasn't long before lemon
had supplanted the word beauty. Con-
slant criticism of this sort also creased
the toboggan for poor work. Marquard
was known to have the stuff, but 1t was
generally believed that something essen
tial was lacking TO make him a big
Lacquer. Perhaps few managers would
| have tarried with Marquard as long as
did McGraw. No manager could have
been more patient For a long time he
did bench duty. then soft spots were
DlCktu lot HilH- anu llHdliS Nne.b III seem
ed certain that he had RECLAIMED his old
time confidence. he was shot in against
| the big fellows and came through with
| flying colors. Now ii would take consid-
| erably more than S11.G.o to buy Mar
| guard. but IL required three years of care
| full nursing to restore the confidence that
was lost through his very unsuccessful
debut followed by equally disastrous at
| tempts To come back.
Conditions with the umpire are very
| similar If a fellow happens to break
| into a certain city that is regarded as a
! hard one on the unpires. and the homt
| team has a losing streak. many of the
| games being decided by close decisions
| that go to the visitors. then the UNI
| pire's bed is not of roses. III. on the
other hand. the home team is III the
| midst of batting streak. aided by swell
| pitching. and the team is winning, ther
| the umpire is usually overlooked in the
| shuttle. which. Of course, is very pleas
Ing to the umpire. In such case the
break In luck figures very prominently
| in defining the status OF the umpire IL
| the city in question.
Recently an umpire broke into the ma
jors who seemed to have an excellen
| chance 10 make good He appeared t
| have all the requisites OF a good umpire
He got away to just fair start, and thel