Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-12-31
BIG GAP LEFT IN
RANKS OF UMPIRES
IN RECENT YEARS
"Silk 0'LoughIinr Last Of Fa-
nous ArbiterS to Hear Final
Out Called, Was Philosopher
and LikeabIe Man,
BY Hugh S. Fullerton.

Strike thr-r-r-uh!'' have been call
ed on silk" OBoughlin.
The death of silk" at Boston the
other day takes from baseball one OF
its finest and most lovable characters
and leaves big gap in the ranks of
umpires thinned in recent years by
the death of Tim Hurst and Jack
sheridan.
For twenty-four years silk had
been calling them when they came
over. and not even the widest UNI
pire hater among the players ever has
insinuated a thing against his hon
esty, They have quarrelled with his
judgment on plays. argued and fought
with him, raved because of his arbi-
trary handling Of all protests-but
they knew he was honest and square
and off the field he had more
friends among the players than any
umpire | ever have known
Frank O'Loughlin was something
of philosopher, in fact, all umpires,
after they have served few years,
become philosophical and very len
lent in their Judgment of men-much
more so than are either the players
or the reporters.
l remember walking up Broadway
one evening with Silk" and speak
ing CT a player who had INDUCED In
an ugly and uncalled for outburst Of
temper
He meant no harm" said Frank.
He was not trying to show me up.
His nerves got raw and he lost con-
troll Of himself. Now, if I had pun
ished him he would have been an
enemy for long time. He deserved
10 be punished but ] chose to ignore
him. He knew that he was wrong
he was Wild to win and disappointed
because he failed to get away with a
play that would have won the game
When he cools down he will be
ashamed of himself lie will know
that | had the right and the power to
punish him and didn't do it, He is a
right fellow, and he'll have more re-
spect for me and consideration for
me from now on.
There are two kinds of players
that need punishment-the first is
the fellow with nerves who gets into
the habit of letting them run him. 1T
does become a habit. / watch these
fellows and if it gets to happening too
often l prescribe a little dose Of dol
lars and a fast walk to the club !
house. But the other kind is differ !
ent. They are the fellows who, !
through mean spirit, try to show mp !
an umpire. Lacking the courage TO /
attack an imp themselves they try /
to incite the crowd to do IT, The !
minute one of these birds starts on I
me | stop him They are no good
you may think that an umpire /
feels hurt when the crowd yellS at
him. Some debut not me II is
part of the game, and after all an
American crowd is pretty square The
abuse usually is good natured and we
can tell from the tones whether it is
or not. The only danger is when
crowd gets a few vicious leaders. IL |
know of one or two cities where this
leadership exists and the leaders have
a selfish motive in melting the 9TH
ers the thoughtless ones
The crowds know in a minute
whether a player who kicks is hon
est or not. If player honestly
thinks the decision wrong he shows
it by the way he kicks. Others, the
nervous kind, always think they are
right and their kicks are often fun
ny. The fact is. however that four
fifths of the kicking on decisions by
players is four-flush or intended TO
alibi them with the manager This is
true on balls and strikes.
Show me a player who takes third
strike without a Kick and III show
YOU game and a good ball player"