Evening star., 1918-03-24
CROJNDKEEPER AT BALL PARK
HELPS HOME TEAM WIN GAMES
Many Schemes Can Be Worked Out Dur
ING Season That Will Prove Ben6cial
- to His Employers.

employe I learned Mr.. Groundkeepe1
was slipping one over. that he had nae
the material on hand the day previous
but refused to use it: To say wa.
unfair tactics to my way Of thinking
had no place in base ball I reported
the affair, and feel safe in saying nc
such tactics will again be pursued by
either %anaseT .,s or Gonaxs1lpesd snsolTed
the groundkeeper from any wrong,
because he was simply acting under
orders, and to do other than instructed
would have probably meant his JOB.
Aid to Bunters.
Not many years ago. when the bunt-
ing game was at its height, q well
known manager aided his players In
getting away with the bunting game.
The plan of the manager was known
as the inclined foul line. The manager
had noted that many a bunt, which
seemed perfectly timed as 1t left the
bat and struck the ground. often would
carry foul by a few inches. The In
would beat the ball II he made a play.
would let it roll. taking a chance that
it would finally go foul. He would
make 1t a point to follow the bali care
fully. and the moment 1t got fraction
of an inch into foul territory wouio
pounce upon it and get the decision.
1t evidently occurred to the wise man
ager that If q slight elevation was
given the territory that boruered tne
foul line. many a bunt that would toll
territory because of the lack Of the
necessary momentum to carry 1t up
the slight incline.
The fielder in the habit of taking a
chance, where it seemed the runner
had the ball beaten, would make no
nlav 6our;no II would 90 foul Then to
his great dismay he would often see
the ball roll back into fair territory,
just as he was confident 1t would go
foul, simply because it had spent its
innovation didn't overdo the scheme,
and his club greatly profited thereby.
The elevation of the territory bordering
on the foul line was SO slight tt was
next to impossible to discern it, yet II
was just enough to fool the fielder and
greatly aid the batsman.
Finally the scheme was discovered
and the mystery was rapidly passed
around as soon as 1t was solved. One
manager went SO far as to make an
foul line. This was going too strong,
for under such conditions a slowly
batted ball seldom rolled foul. The
practice was severely criticised, and
was so unpopular with fandom that it
was dropped as suddenly as 1t started.
1t was overdone so strongly in most
cases that it removed entirely the un-
certainty that goes with an effort to
bunt the ball safely.
Elevating the pitchers box was an
other practice worked out by the
groundkeeper. The nome pitchers got
accustomed to pitching from the raised
box and after a time didn't notice it,
but visiting pitchers, unaccustomed to
1t, found much trouble getting the ball
over. One manager in an effort per-
haps to stamp out the evil, went 80
far that general protest went up over
the practice. Like the raised foul line.
the elevated box is also a memory. The
schemes have a very
short life.
Good pitching means a lot to a ball
club. Hard hitters are in great de-
manG men with speed are always well
coined, but don't forget the ground
keeper when considering a winning
club. He does his part in many a way,
and In Justice most of his efforts are
commendable.
Copyright, 1913. by ". G. Bvans-)