Evening star., 1937-07-14
Bescher Was a Ghost,

ESS spectacular-and not nearly as
well remembered-Was Bob Bes-
cher. an outfelder who played with the
Reds and, later, with the Giants. But
There was time when Bescher rated
right up there with Cobb and Carey.
Bescher stole 80 bases in lell-80
bases in 80 attempts, Carey once told
me. There isn't anything in the book
that shows that But Carey was COM
Ing along as base stealer then and
was watching Bescher and keeping
close track of him. Later Carey had
record almost as good as that. I don't
remember now what the exact figure
vas. but Max wasn't thrown out very
often.
Bescher's forte was his speed. He
lacked the dash Of Cobb and the cum
ming Of Carey, but when he got lump
on the pitcher and put his head down
and started for second about the only
way to stop him was to shoot him.
Cobb was a fury on the base paths.
Carey was a coldly calculating young
man who bided his time right down to
the last fraction of secondhand then
made his break. But Bescher was
ehost-one Of thop now -you-see- him.
and-now-you-d don't blokes who, If the
pitcher gave him half chance or the
catcher 50 much as blinked, would De
sweeping into second base In a long
hook slide when but a moment before
he had been standing on first base.
Bescf1er was one of that Giant team
which literally stole the pennant-
Bescher and Herzog and Fletcher and
Shafer and that crew. They practically
slid themselves right out of their uni
forms on the last Western trip, when
they went snarling and storming and
stealing around the circuit with the
pennant at stake. They were in tat
ters. their uniforms held together with
safety pins and adhesive tape. when
they got back to New York. But they
had the pennant in their mitts.
Watching the Pitchers Feet.
COBB would give the enemy battery
men the jitters whenever he got
on base and he'd run when he didn't
seem to have chance to make second
or third, as the case might have
been-and his very daring would re-
suit IN crazy throws sometimes, which
was exactly what he was trying to
bring about. Bescher would be off
and into the dirt at second base-and
up again in long slide from which
he would rise more gracefully than any
other base runner I ever saw. But
Carey was the scientist on the paths.
Bases always are stolen on the
pitcher, of course-although to the
stands 1t always is the catcher who
looks bad. Any base runner will tell
you that if he gets the jump on the
pitcher, no catcher in the world can
head him off.
Il watched the pitchers feet"
Carey told me the last time saw
him. Il would get on first base and
pull the visor of my cap down over
my eyes so that all could see of the
pitcher was his feet, which was all I
wanted to see. I could tell from the
way he stepped whether he was going
could tell the instant he was about to
pitch. And when I saw what was
looking for, I made my break.
Criticism Stops Chapman.
ONCE. when Max was kid break
ing into base ball with the Terre
Haute club. he was on second base
with one out and saw chance prac-
tically to walk down to third, which
he did When he got back to the
dugout the older players on the team
ridiculed him for stealing third,
pointing out to him that he was in
scoring position on second and was
needlessly jeopardizing possible run
by stealing third.
Il felt pretty badly for a few min
utes and then stopped to figure the
thing out" he said. Il figured that
many times q fellow could score from
third base where he couldn't score
from second, and made up my mind
that any time I could get that extra
base was going to take it. So did"
wish Ben Chapman, the only one
Of the present-day players who ap-
preached those old-timers in speed
and skill on the paths, had been as
strong minded about his base running
as Carey was. Ben stole 81 bases in
1881 and was a sensation, but some of
the players criticized him for stealing
50 often, telling him that he did it
too many times when it didn't mean
anything. Ben listened to them and
promptly put check on his running
and as soon as he did that he ceased
to be q sensation.
(Copyrisht. 1877