Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-02-16

! with Tim on the subject Here IS n
! substance what he said:
! They never slide. Bill. unless they
are pretty sure they are song to ~
| thrown out. They hope tn confuse
| the umpire, obscure his view so he'll
miss the play in their favor. 4 have
; decided none of them can "a. any
| thing over on me. All plays TX which
| they slide are close. Many might bt
| given either way. | shall call then
! out. Once they know that is my sys'
TEN they won't slide. That will maxi
/ it easier tor me.
! ! have never seen the play in just
| that light. A player has as much
right to slide into first as any other
| base with me, and l call the play as
see it. All umpires do. Yet each
| time a player who slides into first is
called out the general impression is
| that the umpires all follow the theory
Of Hurst. I believe Tins theory was
based on fact but I know of no UNI
pire other than Hurst who could get
| away with the execution of such a
theory.
Looks Like Evening Up"
It may seem strange, but every
time I render a close decision that
does not meet with the approval OF
both teams. l always hope that the
next play may be equally close, and
that / may see it as / did the other
one so that it won't appear that I
have allow the protest that greeted
the other decision to influence the
present one. Somehow it seems that
in most cases the next close play VIII
invariably go to the team that mad
the protest. Such a coincidence gives
rise to the belief among spectators
to y---t n
having given one close play to one
team, he feels duty bound to give
the next one to the other team.
Any umpire who adopted such a
scheme wouldn't last month In the
minors or majors Perhaps some
players strenuously protest close
play that goes against them with a
hope that the memory of such pro-
test may influence the next play, but
they are in error. Fate may cause the
next close play to go to the team tnat
made the protest, because fate plays
many peculiar. FRANKS. yet the rams
seldom see Ii from that angle.
Ball players soon determine the
strength or weakness of an official.
If he lacks courage, ii his judgment
can be influenced. they go the limit
Many a good official has been erased
from the base ball world simply be-
cause he couldn't stand the "gaff'
under fire. Protests of players and
the criticism of the crowd in no way
, affects the judgment or courage of an
established official. 1t is simply the
breaks of the game that makes 1t
seem 50.
The impression also exists that il
the umpire. after rendering a de-
cision. realizes he has erred. he tries
to wipe the slate clean by perhaps
ruling the same player out at some
other base, just to even up things
That Is wrong. 1t is bad enough to
have made one mistake. To- even UP
simply means the making Of Sec
ond mistake. There are many times
when, a moment after I have rem
dered a decision, feel I have erred
but I let it go at that-forget it.
So the next time you go to a ball
game and the umpire calls out the
runner who slides into first, remem
Der he wasn't called out because he
slid. Also. when a close play goes
| to a team that had made kick don't
say the umpire is trying to even it up
He is just giving the plays as he
] sees them.
! Copyright, 1918, by W. c. Evans.)