The Washington times., 1914-03-08

second. IL he is at all fast, on n clean
hit, and therefore the advantage IN
stealing third. compared to the chance
taken. Is not go great.
Z Many tricks are practiced, both by
base runners and the basemen. ''Bill''
Coughlin used to be one Of the best
conversationalists In the big leagues
when he was In his prime As player
story and talk the runners foot right
or the bag and then tag him. I saw
him get a man one day in this way, and
] don't care to mention the victims s
name. for he 10 still in the league. The
shortstop had the ball hidden. and
Coughlin said:
that I took, which looked like my
monthly salary check, and a pair Of
aces. combined with little nerve, did
It. Yes, sir. had them all backed up
The base runner and the ~coacher were
both listening. The shortstop shot the
had become careless and left his foot
of the bag. always bad mistake.
Come around again and listen to
some more Of my stories.' laughed
"Bill.' as the crestfallen runner headed
for the bench. and bawiing cut fro m
his manager. - 80 - '=s-
- It Fools Bushers.
There Is an old trick, for which ! do
not desire to claim any credit, that
have often worked successfully from the
right field, particularly on bushers who
are just coming in. Suppose the run
ner is on first base and the batter pets
up f. to right field. The runner and
coacher naturally take a fash. at the
ball. 1 act as II the ny were going over
my head and stall my way afon,, until
the runner breaks for second in spite
Of the shouting Of the coacher. The
wise manager keeps shrewd advisers on
the coaching lines. but the impetuous
youngster frequently fails to heed what
they say when he becomes excited. AZ
soon as see the runner make a break,
1 get the fly and shoot the ball to the
bag for a double play. It may sound
like a simple trick, but II works often,
and the result rs the real test of any
thing. It Is like story heard re-
Gently about a young fellow who said he
asked each girl, as soon as he met her,
whether he might kiss her.
Don't you get in awful bad some
times?" inquired his friend.
Some Of them. do get a little sore,
replied this Romeo. but you would b
startled at my average. -
You would be surprised at my aver.
booS
runners.
In base running much depends ON the
coachers, as they can see the ball all
the time and are able to advise the
runners with a word or a motion when
he glances at them. 1t is frequently
coachers. as the noise from the crowd
is SO great that the runner cannot hear
what he says. Many base runners get
blamed for the mistakes Of Vcoachers,
and many coachers get panned for the
bones" OF a base runner when the lat
ter refuses to. pay attention, which is
often.
Run Wild On Bases.
On almost every ball club there are
some men known as hog Wild" rum
ners, and 1t is almost impossible to
stop them once they get going after
the batter has hit. To men Of this
type, third base Is a stop at which
they hate to pause. and many coaches
in the National League will tackle a
runner of this kind and throw him
back on the bag. 1 have seen McGraw
do this in a orld's series with Red
Murray, but they are stricter about
this sort Of football coaching in the
American League
To show how important managers
consider the directing Of the base rum
ners. l am going to relate an incident
series of 1872 between the Giants and
the Rad Sox. AL through the summer
.Heinie' Wagner. the Boston shortstop.
and Bill Carrigan composed the
club. They always roomed together,
and they used to spend their evenings
mapping out the campaigns. Stahl
would call upon them for advice in al
most every game.
to pitch the Monday contest in New
York after the Red Sox had won three
and lost one "Bill'' Carrigan, warmed
him up with his shinguards on. ready
TO go in, as he expected to work, pe-
cause he had been O'Br.ens catcher
throughout the season. Just before the
batteries were announced. Stahl came
to Carrigan ON the bench and said:
Bill. d guess wen let eaus 'A''"
what for?" asked Carrigan.
I'VE can use you better on the COACH
ing lines" z;a
That is how important Stahl consid-
cred his coaches to be. He held 1ne
shrewdest player on the team out OF
the contest when the pitcher ne w
accustomed to work with was IN .the
box in order that this man might dlfecs
the base runners. There is more to
this story, and how it worked IN dis-
or9anjzing the Boston club, but 1t is
moi I'D to me to tell the gossip Oh tne
Ieaeue that might reflect on any men
and the resultant lack of harmony
among the Red SoN-
Must Be Aggressive.
When a man starts out to steal a
base. he must always be aggressive
without attempting to hurt or cut any
body. II basemen find a man afraid to
slide In hard, they are going to block
him Off sure When l go out to steal a
bag, / make sure to get my start. the
most important part of making the dis
tance successfully, and then l never
turn around to see wnere the paii Is
coming. / just watch the man covering
the base and pull my body away from
where he is going to receive the bail 1
can always get a line on this 1:on MS
actions.
There is an old trick that works Irei IRE,
uuently when runners are on first ana
third and the word goes out for a
double steal The usual way in which
n team will endeavor to break this
double steal is for the shortstop to
come in about ten yards in front OF the
bag to take short throw from the
catcher In case the runner en- third
starts for home. IL he does the short
stop grabs the throw and returns the
bali to the plate. II not he lets the
ball 20 on to the second baseman TO
make the play for the man who Is
coming down.
Now, IL the runner on third Is only
stalliny and does not intend 10 try to
.pr,L, -, r,,. ;t''