New-York tribune., 1922-06-04

The crowd cried, Bravol Well triedp A
week or two later went up % the Polo
Grounds. a visiting batter leaned on a
straight one and sent a. skimming toward left.
The left fielder turned at tho crack Of The
bat, ran fifty yards, leaped high in the air and
just touched tho ball with his fingers, and from
10000 throats rose tho hoarse macedonian cry.
Take i'm out"' The parable holds much
truth.
But IL is not in our professional ranks that
we must look for baseball Of the highest type
however 10 may excel in execution Nor IS 10
even in cur colleges, where the national game
attains n ftful brllliance, only 20 lapse into
strange, weird plays and ATTACKS Of the "Wil-
les' which reduce tho freDzied adherents %
insanity and send tho old grad home with
a snocr on his face and a bitter remark on his
lips To the effect that 1T wasn't Ike that IN
the old days when Dutch Carter was pitch
ing; they used 10 win all their games then"
30; diyerting as these phases Of the sport
are. they arc 40 best but vlcar.ous exercise,
and il is sadly true that many thousands of
able bodied men are content 10 eat peanuts in
the bleachers who would be much better OF II
they would 20 out IN a back lot and play bali
themselves. For nothing can compare with
the excitement that comes in the rea. old
fashioned catch-as-catch-can brand o. ball
which Artist Hogarth has so captiyatngly DE-
lustratod. the kind Of game that is organized
at the country club or during fne annual field
dav and barbecue Of the Mems Club Of Thistle.
hurst. This Is zeal baseball for The masses,
the true, unalloycd gold Of democratic enjoy
mcnt.
The first requisite is 10 yet just as much
out Of condition as possible By eating an onor.
nous luncheon. The sides are then chosen.
unless The opposing teams already have been
selected by some natural classification, such
as the married nea against tho single or tie
fat against the thin. The mcokeTt member of
the community is then appointed 20 sct as uni-
pre. This always makes Tor much ploa9an,
confusion. have played in many hundreds
Of contests Of this sort and have never known
il 10 fail that the umpire was a meek vaci..at-
ing type Of man, usually with pale pink
mustache and a blond voice, the sort -
man who hastily royerscs his decisions upon
the slightest protest and spends most oi ihe
afternoon surrounded by arguing players.
This Is fortunate, for 10 gives The players
chance 10 rest. They could never survive aci
tual playing for more than Ten minutes.
on every picnic baseball team viii be found
certain definite characters whom Mr. Hogarih
has clearly characterized. Notice in the draw
inr. for instance, the pitcher What a mag
nifcent pose Is his, Do you see his college let'
ter? I recognized him 40 once. He IS my
friend Barnwell, the old Yale pitcher Tie waf
a star way back in l9OO There is nothing
left Of his pitching but bis wind-up. which is
AS long and elaborate as that Of Gilbert and
Sullivan opera, under cover Of which Leonard,
an ex.sprinter, Is engaged IN The hazardous
occupation Of stealing home. II IS a terrific
moment. complicated by the fact that jerry
Williams. the fat druggist, IS at bat-Jerry'
who was not supposed TO know anything what
ever about baseball, but who has succeeded ~
knocking two home runs and triple in spite
- tho fact that he closes both eyes during the
operation.
One Of the grea. difficulties Of this sort Of
play is that OF ever getting a side out. once
in mower. it IS apt TO stay so until a series OF
hannv accidents counts up the necessary three
removals. The happy result is great confusion
ss % the actual outcome and the game ends
with all eighteen exhausted participants claim
inc the victory. The final score is approN'-
mately "a to about %. That is all we know
and surely II is enough