Show Umpiring a la Ia herlock loIme Holmes r 1 Mag Magnifying Glass Glass ad and Were Use Used fot for De Decisions na red I Say asked the fat baeb baseball l fan u I Iwonder wonder If Sherlock Holme Holmes was ever in Inthis this county country before he be began doing Eng land No Yore sure of that that Wel Well funny Iv Ive just been reading reding a book abut about hIm and his meth methods methode ode 1 could almost have sworn i it was the same same man tat that umpired te the famous ball al gme game between the Rarer Bearers d the Lilies In the sprIng of S I happened this wy way Jus Just as the contest was about to star start old Doe Doc who umpired all all the big pines gams in Jones Tone county had an Suicide the country hur hurry cal call from two miles out in inthe inthe While CaPt Slugger Burrow Burrows of the LIe Lilies and Capt Capt C Cy Priest ot of the Roar ers era wee were trying to agree on some one to take his place a tal tall thin man hOlding a looking bloodhound in leash walked out upon the field He 11 had a deep set set penetrating eye and an aquiline nose that looke looked a as though It could scent crime through the wort worst cold In the head hend that ever foiled a sleuth UHe He wore it a black slouch het rubber heeled shoes anda are yot hat positive that this man have bee been Sher Sher Sherlock lock H I It certainly looked a whole lot Jot like him Well Vel he wake walked up to where C Cy and the Slugger stood talking and tapped the later latter on the shoulder You want an umpire and you got one ho he remarked You dont say so said the Slugger lookIng the up and down ow who could have told you I wonder tat H His Is Strong I Nobody told me rue You have have murder in your our eye therefore you you want n urn um umpire pire Your h hatred tred does doe not seem scent to be on any r therefore yu you have not nt yet cho chosen en your our u umpire 4 Wonderful sneered C Cy Priest 4 I 1 will il uMpire this game the stranger calmly added Oh you ou wl will eb said the Slugger and who could have told you that pry pray 0 I 1 dont have to be told the stranger said with tUh a slight smie smile You ou seem to have taken rather a strong to me already That in Itself is sufficient proof that that I 1 am ging going to umpire Before either Cy or the Slugger luger could say anything furher further the se had flipped a coin Heads or tais tails ho he asked of Cy Pails als i It is 4 rH t sid said the Te The stranger led his bloodhound over overt overto t to the grand stand stand and chained hint him to the fen fence e eVat Vat That in t under did you close choose him for asked the Slugger 0 Me choose him retorted Cy C You choose hint bim yourself Bater Batter up Play bal ball Interrupted the umpire umpire And the game was on Bt h he want the scientific umpire though Why he had this do de ducton theory of Sherlock Holmes right at his fingers ends or at the tip of his tongue or it would do the most moat good For example in the third when Slugger threw high t to first on Cy Priests grounder the fIrt first baseman had to j jump mp to get te the bl ball and it was a queston question a ag to th the bag bag first Like a flash the thc umpire 5 over tere there and and on his knees examining Cys shoe shoes As I exp expected te he said Tere There are cle cleat marks on the Instep of your l left ft shoe The firt first baseman must here land lande landed ed on your fot foot Which proves that your e foot was already there when the first baseman landed The runner Is safe The LucKy Seventh In the th s V th Inning his extraordinary into Pink caine me evidence Perkins of the Roar rs drove a low liner to Fox Foxy Flenner the Lles Lilies third base baseman ase man Fox Foxy scooped it in almost as It the he gound ground HOld Old base yelled y Pret Priest to Perkins Perkins He catch It That hat was wasa a pickup How about i it Mr Umpire The umpire was examining the ground In front of third base gond U 4 No he said finally 1 find hero here mark of the third fingers I If it had been a pickup i it Is safe to a mime sume that the bal ball would have lef left a slight indentation on the bound ground Immo Imme In front of the finger marks I I find no such indentation The runner I Is out out He again showed his abib ability as an umpire agin in the first hal half of the he ninth I when Bul Bull Thompson who was catching for the tho Lilies kicked on a called ball Why th that t wa was as cle as ever split te the plate protest a te the Bun holding the balL where he had caught i it The umpire umpire drew a a powerful magi magni glass rom om his and focused it on toe the ground just outside of the home plate Come here he saId to the Bull As Bul perhaps you are a aware re the draft creat created d dby by the passage or of swiftly pitched baJ ball slightly disturbs the oarth carth be beneath beneath neath i It When the diamond is as dry dryas as it is today the disturbance Is quite marked Lok Look through the magnifying glass gIAS a a moment moment Do you vou see that groove where the tho dust bas ba been blown aide Well Vel the coune course the last b ll took and its it a just an a Inch and a half wide wid of the outside corer corner of the plate Are you ou satisfied Bu But the climax came In the Lilies hal half of the ninth wit with the scot score 9 to 8 In favor of the tWO out Bun Bull on third and one of the Foote twins at the bat bat I say one of the Fote Foote twins just which one it H would have been impossible to S say Basted the Bal Ball Right Foote and Left Fote Foote you see see they held down right and loft left fields re ro for tor the mates It If ever two feet were mates Both of them wore al all to the good a as outfielders but while Right Foot Poem was a holy terror at the bat Left Foote h YO ve lilt hit a of toy baloon balloons If oud held them right In front of him For that reason Captain Slugger Bur Bun Burrows rows always s put their names pretty far apart on the batting list so that neither of them ever cae came to the bat while the theother theother other tem wa was on base base In this way i it wa was to have Right Foote bat for Cor both bothof bothof p of them and on account of the brothers extraordinary resemblance the team could never spot pot the change Therefore in the ninth Inning al although although though It wa was Lef Left Footes footes tur turn at bat bata a good may many of us un had sneaking god Foote who really that it was Right rely toed the tho plate plate Then a moment later he basted the tho ball baU Ven over oyer the center field fence coming in behind Bul Bull Thompson wih with what we thought wa was the winning rn run we had no doubt as to his identity The Liy Lily rooters cheering like Bed on election night swarmed out on the field Cy Priest rushed up to the umpire gesticulating wildly 0 That hat was the wrong wron Foote he was That hat was Right flight Foote Ho batted out of turn Lef Loft Footes the right Foote Fote Order commanded the umpire mo motioning toning back the crowd wih with him hand handI I 1 scent foul play He trotted out to lef left field and o ox the ground with his magnIfying glass Then gound lie he came in to the pla players ers bench glas where the Foot Footh twins wore Si sit sitting ting and seized one of them by the l g The Win WinI 0 Lets see the bottom of your shoo shoe he said I I have leared learned by the footprInts in left field that Ilat the man who has been playing lef there thore has a a broken cleat cloat on his right shoe He Ha As I expected Your cleat is not broken Therefore you must clet le Foce la 4 what i If I am snarled RIght Foote Taint me that made that last hit ml me brother Lety Lefty Hey there thre are you doing Before Foote could him the umpire had whipped out a hunting knife and slashed a long strip off the sole of oC his shoe 0 Well Vol soon Boon see whether you your brother made tHat rn run or not ho he said SHe He walked over and loosed the blood bloodhound bloodhound hound wako t at he ha had chane chained to the grand grandstand stand at at the beginning of the tho gamo Leading him to the plate be rubbed the leather he had just cut from Right Footes shoe across the brtos brutes nose After him Fido after him After a mOments hesitation the beat beast pose to the ground set off like a flash for first He gound rounded second and third without a waver wayer and came tearing down towards home as If 57 different kinds or of Eliza were pacIng him over the ice course Elza in Uncle Toms Cabin As I expected the umpire calmly an announced Right Foote out for lor batting out of turn rho Boaters win Before the spectators could recover from their astonishment the stranger an and his dog had silted quietly out through the gate And that wa was the lat last wo we ever saw I 1 dont care what you say that must have hae been Sherlock Holme Holmes |