The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-07-15
PLAYERS PUZZLED
 BIZ GER LAYS

P11t7adeApkaa July 15s-Szhe. eas1es11l plaee in toe world to staxts an aEgu-. naent Is at 2 bail game nyon have any doubt of tIlss, just polk oEn sec- tdon Of the B1earhexs and spend the afternaOn 1E.ssazii aszg to the arguments among the ss5uess instead of giving our entire attention to tho game be- Ing played cm taaes fAs1ds The b1Baean- er1tes can pick out more plays to start a Wrang1e than ore could find If he searched fhe bnolx Of the greafs uatona1 pasf11ne from cover to cover. Usually the ar argunen4ssaEre sound and interesting and it is n0f always the closest student of the gam l1o cam 4 E5ve q correct solution.
 Even the men vino draw large ssd- aries for playing the game and the ux1pares, whose business it is to make decisions, often are pazz1ed by plays made in the course of 8eha aunpi ons11p game. A manager of a major 1eagueNl club told the Writera a few days ago that he did not think 9 per cent of the players in the game today pos-l sessed g. thorough understand ofl the rules and cited an instance con made a play which drew a greatShand of applause from the crowd.
 This play was being discussed on the bench and the man who made 1t was surprised to learn that it was an unusua1 play. When told about it hea said, Well. I didn't figure it out that way. I just took a chance of getting away with it, that's aI1.' The player in question is a college graduates and. as considered+ one of the stars. of the game
 In addition to the number of un- usual plays which occur in the season, some one is always figur1ng out. freak plays to start7a argument, and in try ing to obtain the proper solution of some of these freak plays the writer 7fez<sr1 -a3 VeI-e man V plays which might occur which were not covered by the rules and would be just as much of a puzzle for the ual1- plres as for the players or fans Fair play and plain common sense is the rule followed by the umpire called upon to make decision in such cases.
 An umpire is supposed to use. his own judgment in making some de- cis1ons and these plays are usually brought before the u1npires as a body and instruction given to meet repez sstition. The playing rules or the SCOT ing rules do not always cover the plays in question. and it is in these cases that an umpire, player or 8. scorer must use his own Judgment. < During a recent game between the AAth1eticsf and Detroit zin Shibes Park, Philadelphia, two plays occurred, which, when scored, according to the regulation proved that the rules
 
 attempted steal of second, Ty Cobb went all the way to third when Lappss throw sailed straight over the bag, neither Barry nor Malone making any effort to make the play on the run sner. According to the old rules for this play. Lapp would have been charged with a wild throw. but this seemed so unfair to a catcher that it was changed to provide for charging the error to the man who should have covered the bag
 In the instance mentioned above, the srror was given to Barry, because Cobb is a Ieft-handed batsrnan and it was figured that Barry should have covered. When asked about the play after the game. Manager Mack said. Malone was to cover, but got mixed up on his signaI'' This proved the fa1lacy of the official scorer in charg- ing the error to the man he thought should have made the play
 The other play also occurred on Cobb who struck at a wild pitch for his third strike. In this case, Wyck- off was credited with a. strike-out, al- though Cobb went all the way to sec ond and Lapp was charged with a missed third strike on a ball 1t was Impossible for him to catch.
 Had the ball been two feet over his head and Cobb had hit at it. the error would have been charged to the catcher just the same. This rule is unfair and should be changed, giving the error to the man who made it possible for the batsrnan to get his