Great Falls daily tribune., 1919-02-23
RECALLS PECULIAR
BASEBALL INCIDENT
SanbOrn Remembers When Two
Outs Retired Side With
Chances Cubs Asleep.
By !. e. SANB0RN.

1t makes a lot of difference whether
things happen in the limelight or out
of it as to their place in history. This
is as true Of baseball as Of politics or
war.
Possibly the most famous play-or
mis- -play-in recent years was Fred
Merkle's failure to touch second base
one day at the Polo grounds in Sep
tember, 1908. Its historic value was not
because it was unique in baseball lore,
but because Of its consequences. That
play in which Merkle was the goat and
Eyers the hero cost the New York
Giants a national league pennant ana
possibly a worlds championship, to say
nothing about the monetary consider
ations involved. Consequently it became
historic.
Merkle Play Not New.
The same identical play had occurred
several times before--once within
month of the Merkle episode and IN
National league game. Yet it attracted
only casual comment because it did not
become a national issue and escaped
entirely the eyes of the umplres IN
charge of the game.
No new principle was involved in the
famous touching second episode. and
the outcome of the controversy, which
gave the Cubs a pennant established no
precedent because it had been set up
before III disputes too trivial to rock the
baseball world.
Red Faber's Noted Boner.
Red Faber made himself target for
the rest OF his life by stealing third
with the bases full in the fifth game of
the worlds series of 1918, but he was
by no means the first major league
player who had pulled that bone play.
Nobody else had happened to do 1t with
the spot light turned on, consequently
YOU would think, to listen to the fans,
that Faber was the original performer
of that particular feat.
There is one play, however, which l
do not believe has a duplicate IN major
league history. That was half inning
in which only two visiting players were
retired; the victim of the error was
team fighting FIR the pennant; sad
victim lost perfectly good run and
vet there was no protest whatever.
Scribe Uncovers Mistake.
In fact the error never would have
been discovered except for two of us
Chicago scrbes who were travelling with
the Cubs at the time. The reason 1t
never made any noise in the annals OF
the pastime was because the mistake
the result of the game in which it
occurred.
This happened on the final day of
series in Philadelphia between the Cubs
and Phillies. Chances men went into
the first half of the ninth inning in the
lead. They filled up the bases with one
man out. Single was on third, Schultz
ON second and Steinfeldt on first.
The batsman hit sharp bounder to
the second baseman. who tossed it to
the shortstop. covering second, and
forced out Steinfeldt. In relayins the
bali to first for the double play that
was in sight the shortstop fired over
Bransfield's head and the ball rolled TO
the stand.
SteinfeIdt Called Out Twice.
Slagle scored from third and Schultz
scored from second on the out and the
error Steinfeldt. although aware Of
the fact that he was out at second, kept
right on running. turned third base and
legged it for home as if the game depend
ed on his getting there.
By This time Bransfied had recover