| Show WOULD ELIMINATE THE ERROR COLUMN va V cut out the error column this Is Js the suggestion of fred ten ae famous first baseman once man ager of the boston national league club and now with the new york by the elimination of this column in the tabulated score with the exception of df wild throws on which base runners advance an extra base this veteran believes than another step forward would be made his idea when care cully fully considered presents conditions that are worthy of thought how many times are batters rob bed of what are almost sure base bits hits says tenney this is especial ly true in line drives to the infielders no na great credit is due the infielder elder tor for getting these balls as a rule tor for they are shot straight at him of course there are exceptions as there are to almost everything but that is the rule As a matter of tact the batsman is al at most entitled to a hit bit su ely he be hit the pitcher hard enough to get one but the luck of the game that cuts such an important figure in baseball happens in that instance tc be against him bo I 1 figure that it if the error column so tar far as tumbled balls or b d throws to a baseman bt iseman are concerned was elim making everything a hit t would only just about even up tor for those infield line drives that the bat ter loses because the inhelder infielder apkens to be right in front of a lard hit ball driven straight ino into his bands hands naturally the scoring of a fielder s choice would remain just as it is today tor for the batsman Is not entitled to a hit bit where the infielder nelder in makes the play on some other base runner when the batsman could have been thrown out at first again there must be some way of scoring extra basab taken by a runner on a bad throw for that I 1 would leave the e column in the box score but it would represent wild throws not tumbled balls or a bad throw to first on a batted ball this would naturally make some difference in the batting and fielding averages of the players but I 1 don t think it would boost any batsman very much while it jt would tal e away aay that excuse tor for a fielder shirking a hard cnance chance tor for tear he might be penalized for a display misplay there are some suet men playing the game you know though one of that kind Is never v high class performer it wouldn t take long for those jhc are watching the batting average closely to figure out the difference thi change would make in the hitting of a player and I 1 say why should a bat ter be penalized by having a hit taken taker away from him when he manages tc hit the ball in such a way that an in fielder musses it up upa rather I 1 think to do justice on all sides a base hit should be credited iso no one who follows baseball close ly ever thinks of judging a player players e ability in the field by the official field ing averages we all know well thai that a good player goes after everything within reach never tearing a possible error through a tumble or a bad throw to first he is there to tr to make the play to get everything he can get his hands on and if he shirks becaas he e is atrall atra d of that error then he isn t going to get lots of balls that he might have handled cleanly and gone through with tor for a put out the pres ent fielding ave averages are practically worthless worth lebS tor for it is almost always thai that the best players have the lowest per while those who don dont t 01 01 can t cover much ground get away with the fewest errors and therefore thereto r e are at the top in the averages hence hene in picking young ball players judge by what they see them do not by what they read in the fielding av brages I 1 believe that such a change in the scoring rules would make good bal bat players of some of the poo er ones and that it would make still bettel performers ot the bestif best of them tc me it looks as though ft it would be E step in the right direction keeping pace with the rapid advances now be ing made in baseball no nr one boule be oe hirt while both batsmen and field ers would be benefited I 1 would like to see the baseball writers association of america tak this question up at its meeting this winter and present it to the joint rules committee of the national and ameri can leagues tor for serious consideration |
