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Show i . "r i I BILLY EVANS SOLVES BASEBALL PROBLEMS j J (Written Especially for This Paper by the Famous American League T Umpire.) X A play came up in one of the smaller minor leagues several years X j I ago that probably will never happen again. It was a freHk pure T and simple, but It is always a X possibility, for I once saw Hal J Chase turn the same trick in i practice, and "Kid" Elberfeld X pull it in a game, but not with such results as happened in X the minor league episode. t In the game in question, X the play came up in the last Y half of the ninth, with the bases X filled, no one out, three runs T needed to tie and four to win. It happened the year after the T rule had been changed, and the recruit umpire not being famil- J iar with the change, interpret- t ' ed the play Incorrectly and a X riot followed. At that, most o Y the fans really did not know X what they were kicking about Y at the time, most of the trouble X makers simply stirring up Y things on general principles. The batter, one of the hard- T est hitters on the team, hit a line drive in the direction of I the second baseman. It was Y evident to the runners that the X ball was so far over the field- T er's head that there was not a X chance for him to get it ; at Y the crack of the bat they had X Hal Chase. 1 !all started to advance. As the ball neared the second baseman, that T player, seeing that he was unable to get it, tossed his glove in the air X at the ball. As he afterwards admitted, he did not know that he was I violating any rule. Anyway, the glove struck the ball squarely, caus- X ing it to fall toward the ground within a short distance of the second X baseman, who recovered the ball before it struck the ground, touched X second and threw to first, completing a triple play that was allowed by X the umpire. Of course, there was a big kick, in which the home crowd joined In X lustily. Had the Infielder not thrown his glove at the ball and checked Y its course, it might have gone for a home run and won the game. X Answer to Problem. X Throwing one's glove at the ball to stop the progress of such drives Y as the player was unable to reach otherwise was a rather common X practice at one time. To eliminate this objectionable stunt, the rule- T makers imposed a severe penalty, which has practically stopped it en- X tirely. The rule entitles the batsman to three bases on all plays where x the fielder stops or catches a batted ball with his cap, glove, or other part of his uniform while detached from the proper place on his person, X X Thus, in the play described, instead of allowing a triple play that re- Y tired the side, all three runners should have been permitted to score, X X and the man who hit the ball granted third base. I saw Elberfeld i make such a play in a regular game, with two out and no one on the X bases. It really worked to advantage, for the batter who hit the ball Y X was very fast and probably would have made a home run, but for the rule, as it seemed impossible for the left or center fielder to reach the X X ball. Elberfeld was playing shortstop at the time. X w (Copyright by the Wheeler Syndicate, Inc.) Y |