The Washington times., 1936-07-14
OSSIE BLUEGE PLAYS SMART BALL AROUND SECOND BASE
InfieLder
Thinks
Fast
By FRANK BUCK" O'NEILL


The tumult and contention that
ragged around second base yester-
day afternoon when Rogers Horns
by argued against a decision by
Brick" Owen, may reverberate
through the meeting chambers OF
the American League next Win
ter. Out of it may come a clarifi-
cation of Rule 40, Section Z, which
defines when base runners are out.
The second sentence Of Sec
ton Z of the rule reads: But
in case a fielder be occupying a
base runners proper path in at
tempting to field batted ball,
then the base runner shall run
out of direct line and behind
the said fielder and shall not be
declared out for so doing"
There is the rule, and here is
the play to which it applied in
what might have been a vital point
in the battle between the Browns
and the GriffS.
In the sixth inning with Carey
on first base, Elon Hogsett hit a
grounder which went past White
hill and toward Bluege. Carey,
running for second, was bumped
by Bluege and carried half way
into the center Of the diamond.
He was ruled out for interference.
and as the rule generally is inter"
preted, no blame attaches to the
umpireS.
The point is stressed that Bluege
bumped into Carey, for the rea-
son that since Bluege hit the base
runner with full force the fielder
could not "be occupying the base
runners path" Since Bluege ran
into the base runner, the latter
could not have interfered with
him, nor did the runner have any
real opportunity of running out
of line and availing himself Of
the protection provided by the
playing rules.
Smart Playing.
Section 8 of Rule 40 states that
II the runner fails to avoid a
fielder in the manner described in
Section (which means that if
the fielder be occupying the base
runners path-the runner is out.
Nothing is said, nor inferred that
protects the runner if a cagey in.
fielder runs into him at a crit.
cal point Of a game. And that, in
the final analysis, is what Bluege
did yesterday. It was smart base.
ball of the sort you would expect
from one Of the leading opponents
Of defensive strategy.
The rules as written afford UNI.
p1reS no latitude for Interpretation
unless the official bases a decision
on the fact that in cases identical
with the Bluege- Carey crash,
that the fielder was not occupying
the base runners path for the
reason that the runner was on a.
certain spot before the fielder ar.
rived; hence the collision.
In addition to figuring in the
controversial play of the game,
Bluege had a great day against the
Browns. He went to the plate four
times officially, making a double
and three singles. He was hit by
a pitched ball, which does not
count in the averages. Bluege
drove in three runs, leading the
team in that activity.
The Flaming Arrow Of Ala
bama" had another great day.
Ben had three singles and two
bases on balls. He stole a base
to gladden. the hearts of fans who
love Chapman's dashing and ag-
gressive baseball. Twice Chapman
hit into right field and drove run
ners into third from first. Chap
pie made a sweet running catch
of a drive by Hemsley in the
fourth inning and brought the
game to a close with a great grab
OF a smack by Moose Solters.
Started as Duel
The game started as duel of
lefthanders, Elon Hogsett facing
Earl Whitehill, and developed
some unusual incidents. There
were times when it seemed as if
the boys were trying to outdo each
other in interpretations of minor
league baseball. In the end the
Browns were just a little bit more
persistent and that made the job
Of the local warriors somewhat
easier.