Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-01-22
ED WALSH TO De
AN UMP WHO HAS
FANS WITH HIM
Ex-Sox Pitching Star Possesses
the Affection of Major
League Bleachers.
BY /. e. sANBoRN
SpecIai Correspondent Of Great Falls Tribune


Chicago. Jan. 21-When big Ed
balloon, saunters out toward first
base to make his debut as an Ameri-
can league umpire he will have four
of the greatest assets new arbitra-
tor can possess. ThNy are the con-
fidence Of the fans, a wonderful record
as a pitcher, the friendship OF the
players, and confidence in himself.
Somebody may rise to ask If knowl-
edge Of the playing rules is not the
chief requisite for an umpire, but
such question can be squelched by the
statement that that is less important
than the four assets mentioned in the
first paragraph. No one can play
| baseball as long as Walsh did without
acquiring thorough working knowl-
edge of the playing rules. There may
be hundreds Of rooters who have made
study of the code and could tangle
or imaginary plays But not one of
those rule sharks could go out on a
major league diamond and get by as
easily as Ed Walsh will at the start.
Tough to Win Over Fans
No matter if nonplayer has been
the best umpire in the minor leagues
LII years. anu Can REPEAT LIE UdSeudA
rules backward with his eyes shut, he
is bound to have tough time making
good with major league fans and play
ers. Billy Evans, who is today the
most popular arbitrator with both spec
tators and performers, had his head
cut open by a pop bottle. thrown by
an irate st. Louis bug early in his
career, but Evans stuck on the job and
made everybody like him. If he had
been q star player his task would have
been infinitely easier.
Bill Dineen, himself a great pitcher,
broke into the arbitrating ranks with
out any such troubles. Dineen once
told me the players made him an UNI
pire by accepting his decisions, wheth-
es right or wrong, without a kick, the
first few weeks he wore the blue uni
form.
Fans Take Cue From Players
A great majority of the rooters take
their cue from the players in the mat
ter of umpires' decisions, and one of
the reasons why the American league
games are more free from Wrangles is
the policy adopted by President John
son of adding retired star players to
the staff whenever possible.
Although more than q decade will
have passed when Umpire Walsh makes
his debut, baseball fans from st. Louis
to Boston will not have forgotten that
record he established in 1908, which
never has been even approached by
subsequent slab stars.
That was the year in which the
American league pennant race was SO
close that four teams were within
reaching distance of the flag in the
closing week of the schedule, and the
NThS&n nv no%Nnsf
in the final game of the season.
Pitches in 81 of f56 Games.
Walsh in 1908 pitched in sixty four
of the 1876 games played by the Chi
cago team. There were two drawn
games, in one of which he figured.
That was twelve more than one-third
and only fourteen less than half of the
total battles of his team. In the ay-
erages of that year Walsh was credit
ed with thirty-seven victories, fifteen
defeats, and one tie. In the other
games he neither "won" nor ''lost,"
the games being charged to other
slabmen.
Big Ed pitched 464 innings in that
record season. and in those rounds he
issued only fifty-one passes and struck
out 165 antagonists, his best record
for 1908 being fifteen men IN eight In
nings against Cleveland, the day Addie
Joss beat him / to 0 by not allowing a
man to reach first base.
Defeat Not Chargeable
I OF the fifteen defeats charged
against Walsh that season. six were
due to the fact the White Sox were
shut out and could not make even one
run for him. That leaves only nine of
the defeats in which he had chance to
win, and seven of those nine games
charged against him were battles in
which he relieved pitchers in desper-
ate situations, and could not save the
games.
Walsh remained with the Sox until
the season of 1916, when he took part
in only two games. President Com
iskey offered to stake Big Ed TO a
half ownership with Frank IsbeH in
the Wichita club. but Walsh still
thought his good right arm had a lot
of cunning in it, SO asked for his re-
lease and signed with the Boston Ma
tionals for 1917. He pitched in only
four games with the Braves, and since
then has been managing and playing
with teams in his native state of Con-
necticut.