Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-04-07
BY BILL Y EVANS

|
theory on which Branch Hickey Of the
! St Louis team OF the American
League, waged his campaign last sum-
| mer Taking charge of a team that
was never figured in the running,
| Hickey for a greater part OF the year
| fept his club up in the race and Gre
ated all kinds Of enthusiasm among
| the Brown roOters. At the close OF
the season his team. which, on paper
| cid not compare with the Cardinals.
sOundly thrashed that club.
The ST. Louis club in an important
game last summer furnished several
| illustrations why it is very wise
| policy to take nothing for granted in
/ basebalr~7Perhaps nothing disgusts a
good hiuk r\ more than to send up a
, high fly tA-E&e infield. Every fan has
seen such IA happening and incden
tally watched the. batter hurl his bat
benchward and slowly jog to first. No
doubt many can recall cases where
, the batter absolutely refused to run
regarding the catch such an easy one.
1 that to waste strength in running out
,, the pop fly would be poor Judgment
hundreds Of times during the year bat
tiers hit sharp grounders to the pitch
! er, which are stopped almost before
/ the batter gets away from the plate.
Perhaps 80 times out of 100 the bat
ter is an easy out. bat nevertheless 1t
disgusts to see the player quit cold
and refuse to run. Manager Hickey of
the Browns had his own peculiar ideas
on VNlo 10 fNw 10
player who erred badly when trying
his level best, but he had no use for
kthe player who shirked his duty. and
to Manager Hickey running everything
out was first duty.
Ran Out Pop FIys
In the game have in mind, 'Clar-
ence Walker, noted for his ability to
hit the bali hard sent up a pop fly to
the third baseman. No player in the
game gets more satisfaction out of
hitting them far away than Walker.
The look on -hhEfaee told me that
Walker was more than 'disgusfed at
his. failure to hit safely. No doubt
Walker felt like walking back TO the
bench, assuming THAT the catch wonld
be made. However, he knew that
wrathy manager would await his COM
ing if he did such thing. Contrary
to the usual custom, Walker ran at
top speed, just as though there was
chance for him to score home run.
He paid no attention to the ball. for
Hickey had drilled into his players
+, that at such 4 time it was simply up
to them to run, aside from paying at
tention to the coaching. The uneX-
pected happened, the third baseman.
ordinarily a sure catch. made a bad
muff Of the ball. Walker was nearing
second at the time. Recovering the
ball, the third sacker made a hurried
throw to second in an effort to get
Walker. The throw was a weird one.
and by some fast, sprinting Walker
beat the return Of the right fielder to
the. plate. Walker, simply because he
had taken nothing for granted, had
scored q run on pop fly on which
the average runner would have been
contented to reach first base. II prov
ed the wisdom Of Riekey's policy in a
most conclusive manner.
Shotton Surprises the Pitcher
Bert Shotten, aside from being a
crack outf.eIder, is one of the fastest
runners In the game I don't believe
any player in the business can get
down to first base faster than ShOtten
He is called out on more close
first during the season than two or
three ordinary players, because on
hits to the infield that the average
player would be thrown oirt two or
three steps Shotten. because OF his
great speed, makes them decidedly
close. The average. fast runner will
not loose any time when he believes
he has an even chance, but there are !
a lot Of speed merchants who regard
it as a waste of energy to. cut loose
when it is 100 to 1 that they will be
thrown out a city block. In the same
game in which Walker had made the
circuit because he had continued tol
run out a pop fly that eventually was
muffed Shotton pulled his little stunt !.
that was equally worth while Getting
a ball to his liking. me hit ii back at
the pitcher with the speed of rifle
shot. II was In the pitcher,s hand, on
the second bound, almost before Shot
ton had got away from the plate, Re
CARELESS OF Shottonis great speed, It
seemed certain that he would be an /
easy out at first BY 1T least ten feet,
figuring the pitcher took his time IN /
making the throw Un1oahtedly the |
fleet outfieIder didn't figure he had I
much OF chance. but the way he /
tore down to first base would never
I. - 49,. q. - ~ =, AZ : -
cher tooksa little more time III max. /
Ing the throw than he should have, 1
because he didn't believe Shotton
would tear 70 first 1t Iop speed. Wien
ready to make the throw It N6s epi.
dent % him that amer toss would not
retire the runner: th1I 4 was neees.
sary for him % pnt Something On the
BALL He threw high md wide 10 first /
base. and before the Ian was return
"a to the i1fIeld Shot 81 was resting
81 third base h Sc q from third
moment later on 81 d - the outlield. +
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