The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-07-03
WOMAN bALLFAN
KEEPS THE SCORE
The Count Was Lost i'm the
Seventh Inning.
The Players Came TrOtting
Home i'm Pairs.
is PUZZLED BY THE ERRORS
She Charges Up Six of Them to
the Umpire.
Puts Accidents i'm the ga" Col
umn of the Record.
is PUZZLED BY THE ERRORS

Mr. Clugston, our sporting editor,
has many friends, and one of them
likes him so we'll that he went so far
as to send him a crate of strawberries,
when they were selling at the highest
price. But 1 have decided that Clug
is hard man. 1 asked him for a
pass to the ball park that 1 might take
a last long look at the departing team
and watch the ceremony of interment
by which the Denver squad was to
be laid beneath the daisies. But I
paid my price. Ye sporting editor
demanded that I keep the box score
for the game. 1 protested that I had
never seen a score record but that was
of no moment to him. He took a big
blue book out of his desk and handed
1t out with the pass. His gesture was
significant. It distinctly meant that
L could take both or neither.
So I tucked the big book under my
arm and went forth to the game. L
hoped to keep such a score as would
make me invaluable to the sporting
department; 1 had visions of a tick
ct for every game and a firm place
in the confidence Of the chief of the
sport page. / took my coach along
with me, and faith, l needed her.
Those who have ever seen t11ea inside
the thing is. I have a theory that
score books were originally invented
as a means of mental discipline for
use in the schools for the feeble
. minded.
BY the time I got back to town 7
couldn't remember what could be the
meaning of any of the signs 1 had
made in that record. The letter F
was written in many of the squares.
ST is for fat the A 3 G rhyme books
used to say, and there were plenty of
examples of it in the grandStand, but
few on the diamond / might men
Of ms 07 n h0
found among the spectators, out L hes
itate to do so, since people have such
a silly aversion to oeing thought
adipOSe. Mr.. Mccormick was medium
fat but that letter F was strewn
around all over the page. I recall
about Mr.. McCornnick'S being a heavi-
ly built man, as my attention was
called to him by Harvey-HouSe Dutch
er's asking him if he was the Nc
Cormick that made records.
Lost the Count.
The score was faithfully kept up to
the seventh inning, and then Irene be-
gan to pitch. Thereupon our men be-
gan to dodge around to the bases so
fast lost count, especially when they
came trotting home in pairs. Besides
Dr. w. N. West came walking into the
grandstand at critical moment, and
/ wanted to see if he nmped. L had
heard that ne had been at home tend
ing a sore foot, and just wondered
how he walked so easily. Perhaps the
pine boards are softer and kinder to
the feet than the pavements down
town.
Off on one margin of the score
book is a place to enter the record of
errors. 1t seems that it is not always |
easy to determine when mistake is
classed as an error. OF course when |
a. batter hits a ball that lands out |
close to a fielder and then makes a |
home run on it, we all are sure, like |
the noble Six Hundred. that some |
one has blundered," but as for me, I
seem to fail in fixing the responsible |
1ty. I had the umpire charged up |
with six errors, and the visiting team |
with ten. The Topeka players, of |
course, didn't make any. And speak |
Sng of errors, man out in the field |
who was playing for us, fell down in a |
mass of mud and missed the ball. I |
said to the One Who Knows, was |
that an error?'' and she seq, seq she, |
mo, that was not an error; that was
an accident Right next TO the |
column for errors is one headed A. |
That seemed to be a. good place to
mark down the record of the fall in |
the mud. But Clug says that A stands
for assist" not accidents, which
proves the book entirely inadequate
for the purpose of keeping notes on a
ball game.
One of the Features.
The official scorer said that the
feature of the game was the fine
fielding, but he overlooked another
important feature, which was the |
presence OF cullen cain at the game.
Guile comes from st. Louis to visit
his old friends who are still frankly
devoted ~to him. I take this oppor-
tunity of calling him by his first
name. He used to be the boss in this
print shop, and then we all called him
Mister, betcher life.
1t seems that my day out was So
ciety day at the park; so many of the
fashionable set were there. Soft
hands so often stretched out to well
come the pink tea pilgrims. were used
to applaud the victorious team, and
lips that all winter lisp, "Ithn't 'thith
"a pretty pahty?" cheered the home
fellows and jeered the losers. Mr..
Clugston never uses a list of those
present I guess, but he could get the
names from me if he wanted to.
Several years ago Mr.. w. w. Webb
was an usher at a big afternoon
church wedding. and he is truly a
lion at this ushering business. Well,
he was at the game in his everyday
clothes, and I just thought how nice it
would be if it could be considered
proper for a man to wear frock
coat, grey trousers and a top hat at
a ball game. They are so becoming
to some meni Yes, and there was a
preacher out at the game a few days
age, too (not Sunday.) His initials are
s. s.. but they don't mean short
stop" There were those there unkind |
enough to insinuate that he was look
ing for fowls. B.H.