Evening star., 1916-02-27

II
ure. yet 1 know of two instances where
such a thing actually happened.
In the 1911 series between New York
ard Philadelphia Frank Baker was the
topic for much discussion. 1t was the
general belief that if the Giant pitchers
could stop Baker the Athletics would be
beaten. The New York pitchers. in signed
articles, expressed the belief that they
Mr.. Bakers number. In the first game
Baker scored run and got two hits, but
his team was beaten, 2 to 1. In the sec
ond game home run by Baker in the
sixth inning, scoring Collins ahead of
him. beat AIarquard, 3 to /. In the third
game Bakers home run tied up the score
~ the ninth, New York leading l to at
the time. In the eleventh inning he scored
the run that won the game. He made a
single and home run in this game. His
excellent batting practically won the
fourth game of the series, making the
count 3 to 1 in favor of the Athletics.
In one of the games between the two
teams Mathewson, in pinch. passed
Baker. preferrinS to take chance on
some one else In discussing his batting
against the Giants in that series l. once
heard Baker remark: Those home runs
and the two-base hits made me feel awful
coed. but | don't think they pleased me
any more than that base on balls handed
me in pinch. ] knew then the New York
pitchers had little more regard for my
hitting ability.
Base on Balls Pleased Speaker.
In the 1915 series between Philadel-
phia and Boston the Philadelphia
pitchers were ordered to work their
hardest against iris Speaker. The
ability Of the Texan to clout the ball
at n
leasuers. Much attention was paid to
iris every time he came to bat In
the first two games he didn't bust any
fence. and although he hit the ball
hard enough. he could get it safe only
once in six times. In the third game,
the second which Alexander worked,
he got the range. After going out on a
long fly to Paskert in the first he hit
a screamer down the right field foul
line in the fourth which went for a
sacrifice fly. In the seventh he got
clean single. In the ninth, with
Hooper on second and one man out. it
was Speakers turn to face Alexander.
Manager Moran rushed out from the
bench and gave orders that Speaker
should be passed. AS he did so Iris
stepped out of the batter's box. doffed
his cap in Moran's direction and re-
marked.
Much obliged Pat. You know Alex
ander is a pretty hard man to hit in
pinch" Then turning to the bench, he
yelled at Lewis:+"Come on. Duffy, bust
it up; m getting hungry" That is
just what the ever present Mr.. Lewis
did.
..You could pay that bird off in base
hits" is a common expression among
players % describe how certain play
ers love to see the ball go safe. In this
connection I recall an incident that
came up in the American League sew
erai years ago. A new official in the
league was working his first game
with me. Two of the leading hitters
in the American League were on the
rival clubs. There was considerable
rivalry between the two relative to
their hitting prowess. Early in the
game one of the stars drove ball to
deep right field, which he ged to
stretch into three bases by some fast
sprinting The decision at third was
very close. but the new umpire called
the runner safe. 1t was a good de-
cision. No protest was made by the