Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-24
BY BILL PHE1oN.

CINCINNATI. May 19.-Judging from
the scores, averages ande details up to
date, there has been some fine pitching
in the east and some horribly bad pitch
| ing in the west The eastern clubs have
| been having small-score games. many
| shut-outs, few bases on balls and general
excellence all along the line; the west.
ern teams have had regular Nightmares
| of games, with loads of free tickets and
pitchers scattering in focks Whyfore
such a difference? Have the climatic
conditions in the east been more favor
able to good ball playing. or did the
| eastern pitchers get into better condition
| than those on the western clubs? Such
| a performance as a 1 to game in extra
innings would seem like a lovely day
! dream to the western bugs right now
what they've been getting is more like
0 to games in three hours play. Funny
| how base ball has its moods and phases.
isn't it?
Ghe ragged pitching in the west may
have one effect in the records-it may
help a lot Of the boys to fat batting aver
ages, while the clean-playing eastern
1 teams will have such light records that
they Will never catch up. At the end OF
the season. therefore. there will be much
wonderment over the poor showing OF
some clubs which have swell hitting
totals. and equal perplexity over the
standing of other teams that are farther
down in the averages
The pitchers. though. even when at
their worst. don't get punished and per-
\ secuted these days as they used to in the
time of the old Orioles and Bostons.
| Nowadays you almost never see a bats
man take quick. aggressive stride for
ward and a good solid smite at the
ball before the curve breaks. They all
stand with their hind feet wistfully CROP
ing for the water bucket: they wait it
out. pitch after pitch, and the fellow
| who can bend 'em over soon gets them
in the hole. Then they have to take
quick swing at the last one. with ex-
was not the way McGraw. Kelley. Kee-
Ter. Jennings. Long. Hamilton. Collins
and the rest of those gay gazabes played
the game. They would run up on every
pitch that looked good to them and slam
it into the next congressional district.
| their feet often being way inside the
diamond when the blow was swung. Vio-
lation of the rules? Ought to be called
out for such sinful work? Oh sure; but
In those times it was pretty hard for one
umpire to watch the pitching. the bases
! and those devils at one time. Some OF
that work would help several clubs right
| now II they only could summon up the
nerve to try 1t.
Speaking Of the umpires. even the dou-
bic system won't stretch to cover all the
! things which come off now and then.
For instance, at the Cub park the other
day. with a Cub on first. Evers hit dex-
| trously into right field-a hit good for a
short single. Both umpires focused their
| eyes upon third base and the play they
expected to come off over there as soon
| as the right fielder could send the pellet
after the fleeing runner. Evers, seeing
| this, promptly cut through the infield
not going within fifteen feet of first, and
bobbed upon second with an innocent
| grin.
| The modern players, subservient to the
rules and accustomed to being watched
by two umpires. don't know much of the
stun our daddies used to pull when only
one Jump was on the job. 1t was almost
| as much as a mans life was worth to go
| from first to third against the old Orioles
or Browns. Those assassins seemed to
know by intuition just when the umpire
wouldn't see them, and the quickness
| of their doings would get the respect of a
KelIar or a Hermann. If you edged
away from first the big fellow covering
| that station would slip YOU the leg and
| spin you. oftentimes so far away from
| the cushion that the pitcher could lob
! the pill across for a put-outs II you
| finally escaped from him. the second
baseman would contrive to block YOU as
YOU dashed for the middle borough. II
you got there uninjured the shortstop
started alons-and slight nip at the
back of the belt will throw a man off
| his stride. The third baseman. pretend
| ing to be merely reaching for the ball,
would either fall on you set himself
! so you'd have to run wide. and when you
! finally got to the plate there would be q
mountain of a man to block you. Defni-
ton of an earned run? One that you
scored against the Browns or Orioles in
| those golden times.
OF course. these tricks had to be per-
formed dextrously. with light ffnesse. or
even single umpire would tumble to
/ the deviltries. I'll never forget how
Charley Reilly. playing third for Pitts
burgh. tried to initiate foxier folk. and
i grabbed Cliff Carroll by the belt as Car
| roll rounded third with the winning run.
All that i,eily needed to do was to pluck
Cliffs pants with deft and sinuous skill.
thus tossing him off his stride. but
Charley. meaning well and anxious to
show that he had learned the tricks.
] clawed Carrolrs belt with one hand. and
| then, finding that Cliff was getting free,
seizing the slack Of his pants with
the other hand and did a tug-of-war act
around the base. Everybody in the park,
of course, saw the performance and
bowls of Homeric mirth shook the sky
| while the umpire was disentangling them.
| Some of the maya zine writer's who fill
their allotted pages with weird. wondrous
dope have been playing up this old-time
stuff. and even going so far as to tell
about third basemen who carried needles
with which they would jab the passing
runner and confuse him to his downfall.
Great idea-but where would the base
| man keep his needle while waiting for