The Washington herald., 1914-03-10
BY EDDIE COLLINS.

Whenever / think of how crowd a
ball game can collectively influence it.
outcome 1 recall to mind an incident
which took place on the old South Side
grounds in Chicago several years ago
Plank was pitching for US on that oc
casion. and the White Sox were giving
US an awful battle. We were leading;
to 0, going into the ninth. when the
Sox began to solve "Eddie's'' delivery,
and after Billy Sullivan. Walsh, and
Eddie Hahn had singled in succession,
scoring a run and leaving first and Sec
ond occupied, things were not so bright
for us. Jones sacrificed and moved his
comrades uo a base.
When this rally began the crowd, par
ticularly that part of it in back of third
base and the left field bleachers, started
to tear up newspapers, score cards, etc,
and to cast the pieces in the air. For
tunately for U.S. there was a strong wind
blowing, which carried the majority of
these paper fragments directly across the
diamond. giving the appearance Of a
snowstorm. The bleacherites, of course.
were tickled to death. They thought this
would serve to unsettle Plank and the
were aiding the Sox greatly.
Hard on the Batter.
Instead, it acted quite the contrary, by
making it much harder for the batter to
see, and so increased Plank's effective
ness rather than lessened il. AS a result,
Isbelle. the next batter, struck out The
Sex coacher on third tried to make the
fans stop, but they misinterpreted his
81. ffa str fr-TTnf
increased in fury. Result No. plank
struck Dougherty tout, the game was
over, and, thanks greatly to the Chicago
fans, they had uncCnsciously aided us to
victory.
These same fans are about as loyal
American League rooters as you can
find anywhere. The reception our club
received in Chicago for the worlds cham
pionship in 1910 will live long in my men,
ory 1 know it exceeded by far anything
We had ever got in any other city. A
number of our players remarked about
il at the time. and wondered why the
Chicago fans seemed so glad that the
Athletics had won. why. that's Com
iskey and his American League bunch"
some obliging fan answered. Some big
bunch" was all we could say.
Quite a contrast to the manner in
" hich some few New York fans accept
..
Giants. ct our hands last October. In
New York, as in Chicago. We went to
and from the baseball grounds in taxi |
cabs. but instead of a cheering mob to |
greet us. we usually ran the gauntlet |
Of a shower of sticks, stones, ripe"
and other missiles too nu- |
to mention. Beyond the smash |
ing of a few window lights in our taxis, |
no damage was done, however.
"FriendIy" Feeling.
The Giants got a taste of the same |
kind of friendly feeling on the part |
cf the Philadelphia populace last sum-
mer, when Umpire Bill Bremen rem
1e-ed his now famous decision which
forfeited a game to the New York team.
McGraw and his players were certainly
Injustly assailed, as they had done
nothing to influence the umpire's YER
1ict, even though they were benefited
Jy il temporarily.
The action of the crowd up in Bos-
tor at one game of the 1872 worlds
series. when they broke down a tenn
Dorary fence and encroached on the
Dla ying field. thereby causing a delay
1f ten or fifteen minutes in starting the
.ame undoubtedly had much to do with
Is final outcome.
As / remember. Joe Wood was out
n the pitchers box. warming up all this
ime. but by the time the game finally
rot under way his arm had got cold and
tiffened up. and the Giants got to him IN
he initial inning for six runs.
An overflow crowd in the outfield on a
liz day will frequently show partiality
n the way they will open up to let a
ome player go as far back as possible
fter a ball which threatens to land in
heir midst, but never bulge an inch for
visiting player when he starts toward
hem.
Can't Stop Ty. |;
A Philadelphia crowd in right field as
umed this attitude of immobility against
Ty'' Cobb one day last year, but ''Ty"
Tas not to be stopped by little opposi-
ion like that, so in his chase after the
all he never hesitated because of the
rowd at all, but made one hying~leap,
eet first, in its direction. and there was s
wild scramble to avoid his spikes. All {
to give him an opening, but as !
e caught the sphere one of his feet tele- |
coped a straw hat which some far, had
ropped in his hasty flight. The capture s
T that fly was worth the price Of a
ross of lids" and then some.
The action of several fans in the left
eId bleachers in Philadelphia last sea- {
on, in their anxiety to grab a fair hitd G
all, precipitated a long argument be- I
ween "Hughie" Jennings, manager of u
he Detroit team, and Umpire .'Bill'' Dr. I
cen. The hit in question was one iden- I
cal with the home run Merkle made in l
he worlds series, which first struck on I
ne playing field and then bounced into
le left field seats; only this one a fan
cached out and caught after II had
ounced but before it had come in Jen-
ngs contended that 1t should have been
mited to two bases. according to ground {
lies. but Dineen ruled IL a home run, as | Y
his judgment, II would have gone into "
le bleachers anyway. o
Several years ago, when big Socks" h
eyhold was playing right field for the n
thletics, he made a great picture one p