Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 109, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1911 — LUCK A BIG FACTOR [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

LUCK A BIG FACTOR

BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE OFTEN DECIDED BY SMALL sit. - -- CTMIMA&. •'' : ■>-•?’•«-■ M:"'- . HOW PITTSBURG LOST OUT T-' 4?»‘< .•>* “ x Might Have Won Great Bittie of ISOS If Club Had Known Facta In Conj teat With Chicago—Tinker’s Stage Fright By HUGH 8. FULLERTON. rg Baseball championships often depend upon the slightest turn of the .wheel of fortune. Often a pebble, even a tough blade of grass, will turn the entire season and make or- mar the prospects of a club. Possibly the closest shave ever a championship dub had was that of the Chicago Cubs In IMS. That waa the year that Merkle forgot to touch second base, the year that the Chicago club finished tie with New York after beating Pittsburg in the last game of the season, and then won the pennant and later the world’s championship by winning from New York in the play off of the tie game. This yarn Is about that last game of the season with Pittsburg. There is no harm in telling It now, but if the Pittsburg club had known the facts that day it could have claimed the pennant and. won It without an effort. The Chicago club had been on the road, battling desperatetly to hold even with New York. The Pittsburg team, coming from behind with a tremendous rush, had unexpectedly leaped to the front On that last day of the season—Sunday, the situation was this: New York was done. If Pittsburg won the Pirates won the pennant on percentage. If Chicago won the Cubs and New York would be exactly tied. Chicago was baseball crazy. Over 82,000 persons piled into the grounds to see that struggle which was to determine the championship of the National league. The crowd was banked around the playing field fortj deep and every ball that was fouled into the crowd disappeared never to return. And thereby hangs' this tale. Secretary Williams, of the Cubs, had been on the road with the team. When he left home there were hundreds of balls boxed and ready for use, he jerked out two dozen balls, and sent them to the umpires when play started, but within two innings those balls had disappeared into the crowd and the umpires were demanding more. Secretary Williams, summoned from his duties of watching the crowds, rushed for new balls and to his dismay discovered that only a bare half dozen balls were left. The others had disappeared. Not a ball that was fouled off was coming back into play and it was certain that the half dozen new balls would not last more than an inning or two. Failure to furnish bails meant forfeiture of the game and the pennant for Pittsburg and it was certain that Manager Clartee; would not hesitate to seize the advantage. The situation called for action and Secretary Williams acted. It was Sunday and Spalding’s store was closed, but inside of three minutes an automobile containing one of the park employees armed with a key to the store was racing down Jackson boulevard to bring balls. Meantime

Secretary Williams, with a bushel of practice balls, balls that had been used and were being kept for morning practice work, was clinging to a screen on top of the stand watching each ball that was fouled off. Every ball that he saw go Into or over the stand and disappear he replaced with a practice ball tossed onto the field near the umpires. In spite of his work there were only • four balls In the bands of the umpires. Neither Clarke nor the umpires detected the trick. By the fifth inning seven balls were in the hands of the umpire. Sbeckard came to bat and fouled off four rapidly, and watch as he could Williams could only get one back onto the field. Two more were fouled off. An honest fan over in the right field crowd threw back one. He did not know It, but his honesty may have saved the pennant for the Cubs. The supply had dwindled until the umpire was demanding balls when that one came back and It gave Williams a new chance. He took desperate chances and threw three more balls onto the field, all from different points on top of the stand, and wlth- . out arousing suspicion. Meantime the man who bad gone after new balls had been held up for speeding on the return trip from the store and was

delayed ten minutes. The aituatfoa was desperate tn the seventh inning when the auto flashed up in front of the office, and a few momenta later Secretory Williams was able to furnish now balls as fast umpires demanded them and the danger was “The only time I ever got stage fright,” relates Joe Tinker, the actorball player, “was the night I opened in vaudeville this fall, and the cause of It all was one of the wisest baseball sane I ever saw In my life. Ho knows baseball all right, but I never saw him before and I certainly hope I never will again. “When I first started trying to act it was pretty hard on the nerves, but I got interested In the work—which was hard for me, and forgot ail about the audience. After one season I thought I wouldn’t have any trouble and when I went onto the stage at Danville, 111., to try out the sketch I was as cool as If it waa a ball game. Down in the second row. on the aisle

was a big easy-lobklng fellow and I decided he would be a good man to play to as the stage director told me when I first started always to pick out one or two persons and alm at them while acting. I never made a worse guess in my life, even when trying to figure whether Bender was going to pitch a curve or a fast ball. ‘7 hardly had got started when that fellow began to give me the Cub signals with his eyes and hands. The first thing he .did after catching my eye was to slip me the hit and run signal that Steinfeldt and I used last year. I don’t know how he got it, but when he flashed it I began to weaken. Then he switched and signalled me to bunt. I tried to get my eyes off him and watch someone else, but it wasn’t any use. When I looked back again he signalled me that I was to cover second, using the same signal Evers uses, and I nearly forgot what I was doing. He had me on the run. I was nearing the climax of the act and had almost forgotten him when I happened to catch his eye again. He was getting up from his seat and looked bored. Without a smile he signaled Chance’s signal to steal. I stuck to the base, but I never was more tempted to try to steal—into the wings—than I was right there. “I don’t know him or how he got his his signals, but if he comes around again I’ll strike out sure.”

Cecil Ferguson, the Adonis of the Boston National league team, made what was perhaps the most peculiar assist ever made In the season of 1910. The play came up late in the season in a game against Brooklyn and resulted in a victory for the Boston team. At least it prevented Brooklyn from taking the lead and as Boston afterward won the game the chances are the play turned the tide. Ferguson was 'pitching. Both teams had been hitting bard and making many runs and Fergy was thrown in to save the day with a runner on third base and one out He pitched well enough, but in spite of his efforts the batter drove a fly to Miller, who was over in deep left center. The runner held his base and the batter tore around first to race to second on the throw to the plate. Ferguson went over on a line between the short stop and catcher, being ready to catch the ball and throw to second base in case he decided there wasn't a chance to catch the runner going home. He decided at the last instant, that Miller's throw wae good enough to catch the runner at the plate and dodged quickly into a stooping position to let the ball go on to Harry Smith, who was catching. But in dodging Fergy miscalculated the shoot of the ball, which darted downward, cracking him on the top of the head. Instead of losing the game the accident won It, as the ball carromed perfectly off the pitcher's pate into Smith's hands and tbe runner was out at the plate by a foot And, as Fergy came to the bench Manager Fred Lake cruelly remarked: *Tm glad to see you using your noodle at last.” (Copyright, DU. by Joseph B. Bowles.)

"I'm Glad to See You Using Your Noodle at Last."

“He Gave Me Cub Signals With His Eyes and Hands.”