The Washington herald., 1913-10-19
THE TROUBLESOF
A POOR UMPIRE
His Job the Most Thankless in
the Country, Says
Hank O'Day.
HE OUGHT TO KNOW
Says 1t Is Impossible to Please All,
and Seldom Pleases
Any.
HE OUGHT TO KNOW
By HANK O'DAY.

It's the most thankless position in the
United States, this being. an umpire.
There are altogether too many people to
satisfy, and by the end of the game
you're sure to have several hundred peo-
pie ready 10 shoot you.
The people expect every umpire TO
make every decision correctly, and IL
can't be done. A man behind the bat
has to make at least 800 decisions in 4
game, and the man who can do that
pretty nearly every day for six months
without making a mistake isn't fit to
be an umpire He isn't human.
Don't think from that that the UNI
pires makes a lot Of errors. They don't
am willing 10 bet that there aren't six
major league games lost a year on ac-
count Of the umpire's decision. But you
can't convince the people of that. Not il
you tried all your life. These grand
stand audiences think they know it all,
when, as a matter OF fact there is no
possibility of their telling just what hap
pened.
They don't even make up their own
minds fairly on what they see. They
take the lead from the attitude of the
players Lord, it's funny! Let a man be
called out at second on close decision.
and let him make a bluff as if he were
safe, and start to scrap with the umpire,
and the crowd will Immediately back him
up and start hooting the umpire
It's a crime to let fellows like that get
away with il. l know a lot of college
bred men in the game, and they are all
right; they only lack one thing-the Lord
be praised-and that's aggressiveness.
What's aggressiveness? Why, aggress-
iveness is kicking at everything; always
fighting with the umpire and making a
hit with the audience. That's the way a
lot of fellows keep their jobs, 1 think.
They get so much notoriety and so many
press notices out of their alleged aggress-
iveness that it almost as good as If they
were attractions because they were star
baIlplayers.
All Are Hard.
Do I remember any particularly inter-
esting game? What do 1 know about the
game? All am interested in is the play:
and / only care about that because it's
up to me to make the decision. No, and
don't know, either, which was the hard
est game l ever umpired- Any man who
says he can call time on the hardest
game he ever umpired is wasting con-
versation. They're all hard
There are umpires and umpires, though.
ANY man who thinks that he can become
a good umpire has another think COM
ing There have been lots of men that
thought they were the whole shooting
match while they were taking about, it,
but when they got on the field to do real
umpiring they hadn't any place to get
of. It takes natural ability to be a good
one, and don't know what that natural
ability is / think it's knowing bow TO
handle the players as much as anything
else.
You've got to know just how to take
their antics, just how to handle them
right. It's the same way as in any other
business; the manager of the team has
to drive some of the men, and so 1 have
to drive them in just the right way. too.
You've got to have nerve, OF course.
You've got to have that in whatever you
do, though. But you don't have to have
nerves. You can't afford to. suppose
a man new to the ufnpiring game does
get a little fiustered when the crowd be-
gins to hoot and jeer him. But after a
while he'll find his disposition win be-
come absolutely steady The catcalls and
all that sort Of thing haven't any effect
on me- I'm so used to them that think
I'd miss 'em IL they weren't there. 1
should worry about their opinions, I'm
doing my work, and / do it honestly.
and that's all there is to it I'm not
looking for thanks.