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Show BILLY EVANS' BASEBALL PROBLEMS Written Especially for This Paper by the Famous American League Umpire. r T Freak plays are much more frequent in the minors than in the big show, but a play came up In the American league that is nrobablv with- 2 ' r I ft I As. r 1 S i out n parallel in baseball. It has been put up to any number of umpires, players, and managers, and r all contend they never heard of a similar happening on a ball field. Washington and Philadelphia were the opposing J teams. The Athletics got away to a good start, anil r when the ninth inning rolled around had piled up a big lead. With two down in the last half of the ninth, Eddie AinKmith, the crack Washington 2 catcher, hit for a single. With a lead of seven or eight runs, none of the Athletic paid any attention r- to Ainsmlth, who stole second on the first ball " pitched and third on the second ball delivered by Chief Header. Then some fan In the third base s blenches veiled : "finish nn tbe 1ob V.iU die,' by stealing home !" That Is Just what Ainsmith essayed to do, and incidentally stirred up one of the most peculiar arguments In baseball history. As Bender started to wind up, Ainsmlth started for home. Bender, J i with n smile, decided he would permit Ainsmith to go through with . his Intended theft. In order to make sure that the Washington catcher would reach the plate safely, Bender kept on winding up his right arm until Aiusmilh had slid over the plate In safety. Just about the time J t Bender had finally delivered the ball to the batter, Ainsmith had re- U. gained his feet and was busy dusting off his uniform. As luck would have It. the batter hit the ball to left field, Oldring making the catch that retired the side and ended the game. The question naturally & arose as to whether or not the run counted. What would you have & i. done had you been the umpire? r J Solution of Problem. " The run does not count. The play, of course, is based on rule 59, which relates to the scoring of runs. Bart of this rule states that a it run shall not be scored If, after touching the first three bases, the J runner comes home from third on n play in which the third man is forced out, or Is put out before reaching first. The umpires contend that the start of the play was when Bender i began his wind-up, and that the completion of the play was the hit- p-p. p-p. ting of the fly ball to left Held, the batter naturally being out before J he reached first. Hence, the run should not count, even though Ain- smith had scored before the ball was really started on its way to the J plate. That really has nothing to do with the situation, the start of J the wind-up being the beginning of the play. It Is a question that will cause many an argument. (Copyright by the Wheeler Syndicate, Inc.) |