Evening star., 1940-05-15

Case goes after stolen bases Tor the
sake of his individual glory, to de-
velop his reputation.
They Didn't Stop Ruth
When He Struck Out
OF course, there's no harm in that
so long as the manager Of the team
tolerates it, and I don't believe
Bucky Harris of the Nationals ever
has attempted to curb the predatory
instinct of George Washington
Case. II he has, the totals donr
show it.
No one corrected George Herman
Ruth when he hauled his bat clear
back to the next county and swung
from his heels, with the honest pur-
pose of adding another home run
to his collection. Naturally, this
practice caused Mr.. Ruth to strike
out sometimes when strikeout
damaged the hopes of the Yankees,
but the management did not pro-
test. After all, every strikeout was
q potential home run, and every
home run was money in the box
office.
To a much lesser degree, Case is
q box office draw because Of his
hobby. Not since Ben Chapmen's
feet grew heavy has there been the
like of young George for pilfering
those cushions. The nearest thing
to him is his teammate, Gerald
Walker. Between them, these two
put on a vaudeville act of embezzle-
ment which, firmly believe, draws
many a fan to the ball park when
tho Washingtons play.
Cobb Set BotteYmen
Crozy by Speed
Getting down to the purely tech
nical aspects of Mr.. Haney's argu-
ment, stolen bases by the gross are
a help as well as a hindrance to
the ball club. Naturally, steal
which merely is gaudy will hurt the
team sometimes when 1t fails. But
the constant threat offered by Mr..
Case and Mr.. c. Walker will worry
the coolest catcher and pitcher, and
tighten the nerves of the enemy
flelders to some extent in any game.
Ty Cobb stole 96 bases in 1915,
and set a major league record in
the same year by being caught 38
times. When somebody mentioned
the debit side of this ledger to Mr..
Cobb, the Peach shrugged his shoul-
ders.
Don't matter If I was caught SO
times" he said. IT had those
pitchers and catchers crazy and
throwing the ball all over the field
The records don't show that"
Mr.. Haney, who played with and
for Cobb in Detroit, argues that
them days is gone forever. His is
the familiar hypothesis: Why steal
today? The risk is silly and the
ball is lively and some one will slug
you around those bases II you wait
Customers Now Need
Some Flash in Come
Myself, don't think the ball Is
as lively as all that. The produc-
ton of singles still is enormously
In excess of the home-run output
and any manager will tell you that
he would rather have a runner on
second than on first. In fact, most
managers still go to great and pain
full lengths to achieve this situation
The base -stealer has his value here
and the chronic base-stealer has the
further value of twanging the ene-
my's nerves.
The Washington team, further
more, is not notable for batting
power. It is chiefly one-base ball
club, and q hit for one base will
not bring Mr.. Chase home from
first.
But all this is secondary to the
principal issue-baseball needs the
kind Of thing which base-stealine
represents. The game Is a trifle
on the heavy side nowadays, and
the thrill Of seeing a base panther
at work Is all the keener for Its
novelty. It brings out the Gus
toners.
Thus, with no little pontification
I have answered the argument Of
Frederick Haney, and hope he viii
agree with me from now on. Blu,
I guess he won't. Stubborn fellows
these theorists.