Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-13
iIIEY YSUNDAYSTOLE
mDR BASES ONCE ON
air. OWN MIR. MACK
Fast That One Sporting
Writer of His Day Said
j. Could Do the Hun
dred Under 10 Seconds.

HfnfN kLAkNASA
r.,.aav was a fast man in his day.
~ ,.ssional ball player, the newspe-
snortInR writer's of the sos and
ha was one OF the fastest He
Z = -onder at stealing bases. they say,
one game we hear Of his stealing
-. on Connie Mack. now famous
manager Of the Athletics.
H,. Mack was the catcher of the
Vaa ..on team in 1889, and Billy was
IN, fielder for the Pittsburgh Pi-
" Tho two teams were lighting life
..tb hattie for last place. The
b..rh team was sadly disorganized
bail players, but the Washington
"a, was even worse.
- ,.sma met in Pittsburgh on August
sa,, had lust been mentioned as man
Z. u the pittsburgh team, and he was
b,s head off. 1t was a miserable
,he papers say. Pittsburgh won
~ 4. score OF is t6 8, and Sundays play
-. The only brilliant feature. Fer
~ sullivan pitched for Washington
cornte Mack was behind the bat.
s..s,. stealing the four bases on Connie,
4 .,,- ,rove out three hits, scored four
4. and made four catches in the OUT
M that did a lot to keep the Washing
Isn score down,
,sst chilled forth considerable
srsIse from the press.
apav Sunday, of the Pittsburghs, Is
I. sastest ball player living" said the
s...,,roH ENQUIRER. He can cover
! ,..srsd wards in straight-away run
! lsss than 10 seconds. There is no
.h,r player in the country who can
sunlicate this performance or come any
.s.,s near even time. The honor OF
~, the second best man lies between
l,Va Latham, of the st. Louis Browns,
IA Billy Hamilton, of the Kansas
ntva It Is a toss up for choice be-
sr,sr these two players. Both can unde~
hyciable circumstances on a good cinder
! .,,E urobably do the hundred in some
fling like Ii seconds
PORTING WRITER'S DISAGREE.
An the sporting writer's of the day,
A.usyer, did not agree with the En-
sIrer's comment that Billy Sunday
i ouId do 100 yards in less than 10 sec
sbds. and we read In the editorial Of
lho Sporting Life of August II, 1889,
5 comment by It's editor, Francis G. Richter,
probably one of the best informed men
On athletic records of his time:
"our Cincinnati contemporary" says
III, Richter, treats seconds too lightly.
These are but small divisions of time,
but Of immense Importance even in frac-
tons In sprintlng. Ten seconds for 100
yards Is the best amateur record in the
World and If Mr.. Sunday or any other
hl player could cover the distance In
. bat time or less he could make more
hohay at professional sprinting than at
hl playing"
NJ Richter thought lot of Sundays
laity as sprinter and frequently re-
faied to him as the "Chicago sprinter,"
liking the name from Sundays home
l1sn. Sunday was great favorlte with
lhe fans here. In fact, during the sea-
laa 81 1880 Sunday and HeckeT were about
20 only players on the PittsodrGh team
leai the fans cared to go to see.
Sunday made the star play of the
tiX says the PUBLIC LEDGER of the
nonlng,aafter one of the games with
nguburgh here in 1890 TT was a run
sng catch which he made after daring
ete near the base lines. Sunday also
s. nus side at the bat and by his sprint
hg scored Its only run.
sunday hit the first ball pitched for
~ and stole second. The next two
asa were easily retired. but Laroque
esased out single and Sunday scored
% very close decision"
NOT ALL GLORY FOR SUNDAY.
But Il was not all glory for Sunday in
u Baseball days. The bleachers and the
Apefs went after him the same as the
et The records charge Billy up with
h'aE some games for his club. I'm
ae ienth inning the Phillies scored three
- the records say, "and the Pitts
nasas-thanks to Sundays stupid base
.sAaihg-only two, and thus the locals
y by the score of 5 to L."
ps stupid play that is referred to was
- going to sleep" while taking a
= u hrst base. Smith, of the Pitts
- team, was on third base and Sun
~. en hrst with two men out, and
sAssarsh's heavy artillery at the bat.
- took big lead and then stood
- Under the circumstances. the pa
- sa'd, II was up to Smith to get
because Sunday was a sure out.
y smith was caught and the game
- aha the defeat was charged against
n oase runner Sunday was in a class
stoyey. OF the Boston team, and
hhslhaIon and Fogarty. of the Phlllles.
~. ~ - year In the game, 1890, the year
~ m. ne nnished the season with the
- -, was his best year as a base
~ In that year he stole s6 bases and
s.. second only to Hamilton, the man
= ne Cincinnati Enquirer said could
- = saa the hundred in less than II
- saa an interesting race between
.s'l'on and Sunday for the base-steal.
Feo1a But Hamilton was a better
8 : - sna got on the bases more and won
A SIX clean 'swipes'' to spare.