Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-29
BY BILLY EVANS.


Empires get credit for losing many a
ball game but never winning one DID
you ever hear a manager come out
boldly into print and say that poor
decision by the umpire made 1T possible
for him to win? l never did. l have
seen many a manager relate in print
in bold black type how a poor decision
beat him out of the game. Every fan
has read of how the home team was
robbed when 1t lost. Few have ever
read of how the visiting team was
robbed. when a close decision which
might have been given either way went
in favor of the home club. The umpire
decides as many games for the home
team as against it through the medium
of disputed decisions. Connie Mack is
one of the few managers l ever heard
say, that on the whole the breaks about
evened up. Most leaders will frankly
cision in their life. There is no deny
ing the fact that there are a lot of
close decisions, and surely some one
must get them. The trouble is that
most managers think they are only get
ting what they deserve when close
decision is rendered in their favor, and
when one goes the other way they are
getting all the worst of 1t.
Close Decisions Are Often Costly.
1t is really surprising the very i'm
portant part certain rulings PLAY, which
at the time appear very ordinary decis-
ions. Every umpire can relate any num-
Der Of games, which have been decided
on some point, which at the time appear
ed to be very minor detail Very often
the ruling out of player allows the sub
stitute to come through with an exhibit
ton that proves the determining factor in
the game. Very often. when a club ap-
pears to be getting the worst of a break,
the umpire is playing right into their
hands. 1 once heard manager rave for
week over ruling that was given
against him, when as matter Of fact
the decision of the umpire was directly
responsible for his team scoring a victory
in a very important game.
In the game in question the score at
the close of the seventh inning stood 2
to l in favor Of the visiting team. In the
first half of the eighth the visitors added
another to their total, making the count
3 to in their favor. Since the visiting
pitcher was moving along smoothly, the
two-run lead looked like a mighty good
margin ito work on. In the last half of
the eighth. the first two men UP reached
first because of errors on the part of the
infield The next batter, in attempting
to sacrifice struck out. Another error on
the part of the infield filled the bases. In
stead of the side being retired, as it
should have been. the bases were filed
with only one man down.
Manager Came Up for the Pinch.
The batter to step to the plate at this
very important moment was the man
ager of the club. He was a fellow prone
LOT Eal
delivered was a fast one on the inside.
The manager tried his very best to get
out Of the way of the ball 1t hit either
the bat or the batter. 1t was one of those
plays on which the umpire has to be
guided largely by the way the ball trav-
eled Usually if the ball hits the bats
man it doesn't travel very far. If it hap
pens to strike the bat it does just the
opposite. On this occasion the ball went
on a fly against the wire netting of the
grandstand. 1t seemed certain that the
ball must have struck the bat The UNI
pire reached such conclusion and de-
clared it a foul ball. The manager pro-
tested strenuously and showed where
the ball hit him and raved in general.
While not denying that possibly the ball
did hit some part of his hand. the umpire
ruled that it first struck the bat.
A long kick resulted, the manager in
sisting that he be sent to first. which
would have forced run over the plate.
making the count 3 to 2. with the bases
still filed and only one out. The game
was finally resumed, and on the very
first ball pitched the manager who had
been denied first base hit for a triple.
scoring all three runners and putting his
team in the lead by a score Of to 3.
The next two batters struck out. Had the
umpire granted the manager first base,
to which he claimed he was entitled be-
cause of being hit by the pitched ball,
his team would have scored one instead
of three runs. and instead of leading 4
to the visitors would have retained the
lead and would have probably won the
game. The ruling which at first seemed
adverse to the home team was the ruling
on which the game hinged. Yet for g
week the manager Kept asking the UNI
pre how hard fellow had to be hi
before he was entitled to first base. In