Evening star., 1915-01-10
ONLY Time He Is Missed.

that had the umpire rendered the Pr
second, third or first the game "ouA"
pire gives them an alibf-
only Time He Is Missed.
lust so long as the umpire shows up
for the game every day, and performs
MIS- duties in capable manner, his pres
.rce Ia almost unnoticed. There Is never
amy applause for him. as is the player
,,ort,on when he pulls a great play. There
= never anv encouragement from the
crowd for the umpire is always IN host'ie
territory He Is the common enemy VI
the base ball fan at large II "ouio seI, ,i.
then. from the consideration usua,y
1,eted out 10 the umpire. that ne played
very minor role in the game of base pau.
When, then. is the Importance OF an UNI
pire realized? To illustrate TINS point' l
an, going to relate situation "nlch
veteran umpire created, slmpiy 70 pioHe
that after all the umpire Is very essen
t;aI factor. / will quote the umpire as
closely as possible.
at is the deciding game of the world
SERIES each team has won three games.
Forty thousand people are packed my
the park to see one OF the most important
games in the history of base ball, con,
test which would decide the winner OF
base balls classic, contest on WhiGh @
thousands of dollars had been wagered- 10
each player alone the winner OF the game
means a difference of at least $l.5o0:
The player of a losing team in world
series is certain of $4,000 for his snare
vet the umpire on whose decisions the
outcome of the series hinges gets only
half of that amount A dispute arises
just before the final game. the umpires
have a grievance that cannot be adjusted,
and they refuse to officiate. There 1s
delay in starting the game. 1t is I'M
possible to get satisfactory urnplres The
game must be played, SO there is nothing
to do but agree on two players When
the fans see that two players, not verSed
in the art of umpiring, are going to Of
fci2te, they let out mighty shout or
disapproval They want SO important
game in charge of umpires having repu-
tation for being impartial and competent.
Close decision after close decision comes
up early in the game. and the player
umpireS are in constant trouble. Before
the contest is completed the affair has
developed into more or less of farce. A
goodly portion of the crowd has left the
park disgusted At such a time as that,
concludes the veteran umpire, the inn
evident to the fans
Some Players Are Never Out.
There are infielders in base ball who
never fail to touch the base runner if
you would take their word for it.
There is never a play but what the
base runner is out. On the other
hand, there are any number of base
runners who are never touched with
the ball if you would take their word
for it. When they attempt to steal
base or take two bases on a hit
they always manage to elude the in
fielder if you would believe them.
With two such classes it is easy to
see that the umpire must of necessity
find himself in trouble when he rem
ders a decision, for each decision must
ha q
ed. After such a play the base runner,
If he is declared out, goes back to the
bench and tells his teammates what
blind man the umpire is, and usually
shows Just how far he was missed. If
the runner is declared safe the inf1eld-
er let's the world know that he had
him by yard. No matter how the
verdict is rendered, some one is sure
umpire.
Livery fan has attended game in
which the pitcher by some show of
disapproval would let it be known
that he didn't regard the eyesight of
the umpire as perfect. Ehss catcher
can in various ways make it appar-
ent to the crowd that he is not concur
ring with every decision on balls and
strikes. Nine times out of ten the UNI
pire has properly called the pitches.
In d pinch the pitcher Is looking for
everything. To many of the twirlers'
balls that are from three to six inches
outside or S1side are right through the
middle. If his control is bad there is
nothing in the world easier for him
TO do than alibi himself at the ex-
pense of the umpire. There are many
things he can do that just escape ejec-
.tion from the game. yet are of such a
nature that the base ball fan is soon
wise that he is not agreeing with the
umpire on balls and strikes. The next
day the umpire often discovers that
his bad eyesight was responsible for
the pitchers poor control and the loss
of the game.
Hard Spot for the Umpire.
There is one situation in base ball
that invariably gets the umpire in trouble,
unless the pitch is an extremely wide one,
or the batter relieves the situation by