Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-21

force play is made and it is put down
in the scorebook as fielder's choice. II
bags there would not have been a
chance to catch any one and the batter
would have been given credit for hit.
Instead he is penalized, as was the bat
ter who hit into the outf1eld.
Here's Another Kick.
The players have another roar. Both
Sox and Cubs insist that every official
scorer outside of Chicago favors the
home team and that consequently they
never get an even break. They recog-
ntze in this the fairness Of the Chi
figure that they have kick coming.
but they contend. with some justice.
that players In other cities have an ad-
vantage.
sys city ;,a has -
no intention Of padding the records. some
certain leader with the stick Is given the
edge at every opportunity. The sox claim
that Stuffy McInnis of the Athletics IL
helped out in his stick work by the Phila-
delphia scorers. Any close play at FIRST
was handed to Stuffy. according to this
claim. and the fielders who handled the
ball seldom get an error.
These charges are not new, but they are
repeated with more frequency this year
than formerly, probably on account OF the
poor stickwork Of the great majority.
Charges have always been made that Cobb
gets all the close-in ones in Detroit: that
Cleveland: that Wagner Is similarly IA
vored in Pittsburgh: that Sisler gets the
edge, in st. Louis. and SO on down the line
Some Poor Scorers.
Players as rule do not charge any
crookedness in this connection, but they
contend that there should be more uni
formity in the scoring Of hits and errors
AS 1t must be borne In mind that scoring
is la5Ssly ina matter Of Judgment Wt The
come true for some time. although thers
is proof that some Of the official figure.
making is pretty poor in several towns.
In this connection It has frequently been
by the heads of tho league. the same ~
umpires. but even this would have IT.
drawbacks. as ball player would much
rather murder scorer who robbed him
called him out on the bases.
The base hit Is the most sacred asse,
OF a player. The safe knock is not only
an automatic introduction into the best
base ball society but 1t Is used as lever
for increases in the annual stipend, fol
loud clothes and vaudeville contracts.
The Case of One Man.
In discussing this angle the other
day with a player who is now on the
w LAL6 SOA 6Quau, Out VINO formerly
was on an eastern team in the ,Ameri-
can League. here is how he sized up
the importance Of the base hits in the
everyday life Of ball player:
II had not been hitting nearly al
we'll as some OF my mates on tho
team" he said. but. like other play
ers. had considered that all the close
ones had gone against ma. At the
end OF the season I started to talk
contract for next season. but was told
that didn't have nearly as good a bat
ting average as two other men on the
team and that could expect no in
But 1 have driven in a heap moro
runs than either of the other fellows"
l said. Well. the upshot was that !
was talking to a real base ball man,
who Immediately delved into the rec
ords and found that what 1 claimed
was true and I got my raise.
This simply goes to show what an
asset base hit Is to a player and how
easy it Is for a scorer to actually rob
a man of his livelihood. If in this par
ticular case had not been able to show
the owner in question about the runs l
had driven in l would not have re-
ceived an increase. I could not show
a good batting average, but 1 actually
think to this day that bum scoring rob-
bed me of a 300 average that season. u
But who gets the close ones?