The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-26

did we, for that matter. All was confusion. Finally Umpire O'Day walked up to the plate.
 They're all out!" he yelled, way ing his arms to include the whole diamond.
 Then. for the first time, we real ized that three men were out.
 In other words, I walked up to the bat with the bases full and none out. On one pitched ball the entiro side was put out and I was left standing there. Not ball had been hit.
 I don't believe such a play was ever duplicated in all baseball.
 You can well imagine how we sat and looked at each other as We rode back to the hotel
 Get The Lead In Stealing.
 The art of base stealing and base running does not necessarily rely on speed The main thing in stealing a base is to get the lead Without a lead the runner Is merely wasting his time. no matter how fast he is. The important thing is to study the pitcher closely and find out just throwing to first base and to the plate. That gave us chance to take some little mannerism that is notice able to colse student.
 Louis Drucke of the Giants, had a fault of lifting his right heel off the ground just before he turned to throw to first. If he didn't do that we knew he would throw to the plate. hat gave us a chance to take a lead. Drucke had great luck in beating our club in the old days, not withstanding this weakness, It took McGraw long time to discover how we knew when to take a lead, but ,A lixr No d. Drucke change his habits. That is an illustration of how close a young pitcher has to be watched.
 Fans often think a pitcher Is won derful, but they do not know of these little faults. Until they are corrected the pitcher Is not properly seasoned for fine work.
 After a runner thinks he has out guessed the pitcher he gets his lead and starts. Mind you. a base runner knows that the pitcher is also study ing him to see what move he makes for bluff or a real start There fore. the runner must watch himself as well as the pitcher. He must stand exactly the same when he in tends to bluff or to start. His move is to baseball what good poker players face Is to poker. He must never tip his mitt.
 Once 8 man starts he must go through. That thing of trying to get back to the base, if caught, is ing through with it. No man can be a good base runner without a good hook slide, and he must be able to slide either to the right or to the left. The direction in which to slide can nearly always be deter mined by the motion of the infielder who starts to cover the bag. I at n a n Ia . If you start a slide, go right on through with 1t, whether you are caught or not. If you attempt to check your slide you are likely to break a leg. Don't forget that the pitcher is as worried as you are. The main idea is to make him do the worrying.
 Ty Cobb has the right theory In base running He always took the chances and tested the other fellow s nerve, instead of letting the opposi- tion test his. There is a lot in that. Make them do the worrying. That is true in any business. Instead of letting the other man keep you wor- ried s to what he Is going to do, you should take the offensive and make the defense worry as to what you are going to do.
 Cobb, for instance, was never wor- red about being cut by the base mans spikes. But they were always worried about being cut by his. There is just as much danger one way as the other, but his aggressive and determined manner made them feel on the defensive always. I don't believe that Cobb or any other good base runner ever deliberately cut into baseman. No ball player wants to hurt another. The good ones, though, always want to win. That is all they think of.
 Tomorrow: The Plays That Take Baseball Genius.