The Washington times., 1928-06-13
) Fl *
[ RS
SELDOM
WRONG
BY Babe Ruth

CHICAGO. june Is. guess
most. people figure that ball
players and umpires are natu-
raj enemies. I suppose il will
seem a bit funny to lot OF
them for i ball player to say
anything nice about umpires-
but that 5 what I'm gong to
do.
somehow fl always gets under
my skin To hear fans booing ana
Ieerfn0 at unapires. They're worse
IN some towns than in others but
they.rs had enough anywhere. Nine
times out OF ten or ninety-nIue
times out Of 4 hundred the UNI
. pira Il right and the fans are
wrong.
The fellow who tries to call balls
md strikes from the right field
bleacners, or back OF the third base
line Isl Just making p sap Of him
SELF The fellow who starts jeerinE
an umpire every time he sees
player turn to speak is just as bad.
always think Of little ex-
pefienee 81 mine ut the Stadium
one day. Clarence Rowland,
who = now scouting Tor the
Cincinnati Reds, was working
back 81 the plate and we were
having tough game. Clarence
had called me ont On strikes
and had had several close ones
at the plate and the fans were
On him.
Il
Earl WhitehilI of the Tigers was
stitching The crowd had been on
Clarence all day and finally, in
the ninth inning, / came to bat
with one on and one out. The
count went to three and two. and
then WhitehilI sent one through
that Clarence called q strike.
turned around and spoke to him
and immediately all the fans were
on him.
ION you bum. they yelled, and
one big. loud voiced chap who
was sitting back OF our dugout /
yelled out, TELL it to him Babe
Tell It to the big robber.
When the game was over, that /
same chap came rushing to the
runway TO pat me on the back.
guess you told that robber plenty, I
i&A& MQNAENA.
AS 4 mater OF fact that strike l
npIit the heart OF the plate 1t was /
perfect strike. What I said to
Clarence was just this: Gosh did /
you see the break on that ole.
That FELLOW never showed me a
nook ike that before
III Just goes 10 show how
wrong fans can be, when they
start To guess what's going on
out there on the field. Nine
times out Of ten they think
there's q hot argument, there's
no argument at all. Umpires
naturally make mistakes. They
can't be perfect. Ball players
make mistakes, too. And those
fans who sit up In the stands
and raxK and jeeF probably
make more than anyone else.
But umpires are square: they're
fearless, and they're about SO per
cent right. Otherwise they
wouldn't hold their jobs. Take a
fellow like Tommy Connolly, for
instance. Tommy has been UNI
pEring ever since the American
League started. He knows more
about baseball and baseball rules
than any other man l know. Now
and then he muffs one. of course.
But it's mighty seldom. And the
players know it.
Fans think players are entirely
! off of umpires. That's wrong.
Time after time I've heard
pitchers come into the clubhouse
after q game and remark on what
q fine game so and so umpired |
or how they had been right On
tough decisions on which the fans
b0oed plenty. Ii isn't easy to-
judge a fast ball or a curve to q
quarter Of an inch anytime. Good
pitchers are always pitching to the
corners and the umpires have
plenty of tough ones. The fact
that they get by game after game
without serious argument proves
, that they're generally right. That
the fans who boo and jeer every
decision are all wet
People think umpires are hard.
boiled. Take Tommy Connolly. for
instance. Tommy has umpIred
every day, and he hasn't had TO
put man out OF the ball games
since 1922. He put me out then.
Ihat was the last time / ever
When a fellow can call them
like that, / don't think he deserves
to be booed.
fcopyright. 1923 By the christy
b Walsh syndicste)
49,
Ward Oehmann Heads