Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-07-06
Roughing an Umpire
In England Would
Mean 0stracism
Isles Football Players
Slip at Times, but Get
Drastic Punishment
BY GAYLE TALBOT,
Associated Press Sports Writer.

ASSOCIATED FreSs sports Writer.
NEW YORK, July 6.-The wasp
ish tempers Of our baseball players
in recent days and the resultant fist
fights and pop bottle barrages have
had a seriously depressing effect
upon Walter Leysmith of London,
England, who is here to satisfy q
lifelong curiosity about Americas
sports and tall buildings.
Walter, an old cricketer and foot
baller, has seen two baseball games.
In the first the players pushed the
umpire around frightfully, he says,
and in the second, at the Polo
Grounds, they had a regular rough
and-tumble.
1T was shocking" says Walter,
who for many years has been on the
staff of the New York Times in Lon
don. Such thing would be I'M
thinkable in cricket. Never in his
tory has cricket player showed an
umpire. If one should so forget
himself he would be banished from
the game for life and ostracized.
He never would be permitted to play
for his county again"
Football Not So Gentlemanly,
The severity of this punishment
will be lost on any one who does not
know what it means to play for ones
county. Suffice to say, it is a sad,
sad fate.
Our football isn't quite 50 gen.
tlemanly as cricket" admitted the
perturbed visitor, but still it's moth
ing like so rough as your baseball.
The penalties are so severe a player
hardly dares make a scene, much
less start a regular fight. The Sec
rotary of the Football Association
is absolute dictator of the game.
Several times in my memory a
team has gone off the deep end and
handled an official roughly. Each
time the secretary has closed the
grounds for two or three weeks. That
means the regular scheduled games
during that time are wiped off COM
pletely, a huge loss both to the Of
lending club and its scheduled op-
ponentS. If your baseball officials
mad that kind of power. now, you
would have less fighting"
(You said it, Mr.. Leysmith. Also.
we would have couple of league
presidents in permanent hiding, pro-
tected by the Army and Navy
Bottle Tossing Held Worst.
What strikes me as the worst,
though, is this throwing of bottles"
Walter continued. IF a man tried
that in England he would be caught
by the crowd and perhaps injured
before the police could get to him.
1t is dangerous.
"A spectator who creates a dis
turbance at one of our football
grounds-a really serious disturb
ance-is barred from all football
grounds for life"
This sounded like a large order,
especially In a city like London.
How could a football club possibly
keep track of its official outcasts?
"Oh, it just means that for a while
the club has to hire a detective to
trail the man on days when there's
a game and see that he doesn't 20
near the grounds. A fellow who
has been banished seldom tries to
60 back. He doesn't like the idea
Of being thrown out, neck and crop"
Even Could Curb Brooklyn.
1t was pointed to Walter that
such an edict would be difficult
to enforce at certain of our ball
orchards, where often the bottles
suddenly come down in showers.
"Oh, no, it wouldn't" he declared.
eff it were known that the first
person throwing an object would
never get to see another game, the
shower would not start"
mot even in Brooklyn" we asked.
Not even in Brooklyn" he in
sisted.