Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 172, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1915 — CALLS BALK ON CATCHER [ARTICLE]

CALLS BALK ON CATCHER

One of the most peculiar incidents ever seen in a ball game came up in the TuftsDartmouth game recently. With a Tufts man on third, the signal for a squeeze play was given. The Dartmouth pitcher started to wind up, and the man on third dug for hofflM. The Dartmouth cat cher jumped out of his position and yelled to the pitcher, who had just time to deflect the ball to the left. As it came, the batter moved out of his box, and, stretching around, hit the ball. The base runner came rushing in and the ball hit him. This was a fine mix-up for the umpire. He called a balk on Wanamaker, the Dartmouth catcher, for being out of his box, and allowed the runner to score. The batter was ordered back to bat, the ball counting nothing against or for him, being dead on account of the balk. In addition to this decision, which was the logical one, two plays might have been called. The batter might be put out for jumping out of his box and batting the ball, or the base runner out for being hit by a batted ball. The balk occurred first, and therefore took precedence. It was a play that could not come up in years. Not all baseball fans realize that a balk can be called on the catcher as well as the pitcher.