The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-06
CONFIDENCE IN UMPIRES

UI
 integrity of umpires than they will ad-
 init. l once knew a scribe whose only
 fault was snap judgment ill blaming
 umpires. l had row with Charley
 Rigler one day and protested that he was wrong on a play. The scribe, see- ing my earnestness, felt sure 1 was right and gave Rigler a roast the next day. l went to the writer ana said to him:
 You should not have done that on
 Rigler. He makes mistakes like all
 of us, but the other players tell me that in this case he was right The conscience stricken scribe did not know how to atone for his error,
 but he vowed that day that never again would he take up an umpire's decision in print.
 Players and umpires will sour on each other over plays that come up, and frequently a major leaguer will get madder at bush" umpire in an eXhi- bition game than he will at an um- pire in worlds series contest. On our barnstormoing tour through West Virginia and Ohio last fall, we encoun- ! tered a bil: umpire in a West Virginia town who looked like Jess Willard, but had a high pitched voice on the order of a church soprano or a Melba. Doe" Johnston was very much amused by the voice, but finally be- l came involved in a row with it's owner | because of a called strike. The um- 1 pire raised his voice to a higher pitch 1 than ever and ordered Johnston to
 the bench Doc" walked over to the laughing crowd and with his bat on his shoulder, asked:
 Say, what should 1 do to that chap hit him or kiss him?'
 But for the honesty of Artie But Ter and Jack Miller, now with St. Louis, there would have been a terrible and unjust roasting of Umpide Bill Byron on our second trip east in 1913. Our club had won 12 out of If games and
 naturally feeling ran high. At a game in Brooklyn they had Daubert on first and none out, with Pittsburg five runs ahead. Someone hit to Jack Miller, and Dots shot the ball to cecond to head off Daubert for the first half of a dou-
 ble play The ball arrived 10 feet ahead of Jake, but Byron called him
 safe. We all stormed and fussed ana
 even the Brooklyn crowd abused By ron terribly. In the press box the Pittsburg scribes were so confident that Byron had robbed us that they spent the rest of the game coining abusive paragraphs about him. Butler and Miller kept up their knocking with the rest of us. We lost the game and that made them sorer,
 but Miller, realizing the situation, went to the reporters and suggested that they see Butler. They halted Butler outside the clubhouse and Butts" man fully exclaimed:
 NO, boys, hand it to me. It wasn't poor Byron's fault. I stood astride the bag when I caught that throw. but had neither foot in contact with the cushion"
 That is how it goes. I once heard a players expression of confidence in Bill Klem that would have done his ears good. He had always boosted Klem, and one day in New York, with runners on second and third, Klem really missed third strike on Snod- grass.
 DO you still think Klem is the squarest umpire in the world?' cried another player.
 "Yes. i'll say he is even if Snodgrass hits the next one for home run" re-
 piled Klem's admirer. "All l will say is that he missed it."
 But McQuillan shot over the third strike.
 HANK O'DAY A GOOD ONE Hank ODay always had it on me ! while umpiring, but put one over on him one Sunday in 1912 when he was managing Cincinnati Hank. you know, has the playing rules down pat, but here and there in the book is an old bewhiskered chestnut to which little attention is paid and I sprung one on him in a game.
 It was one of the hottest Sundays i on which I ever played ball, and the man who suffered most was Tom 1 Clarke. the Redland catcher Tom per ] spired terribly, and for the sake of