Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 213, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 September 1916 — MAKING DELIBERATE USE OF BEAN BALL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MAKING DELIBERATE USE OF BEAN BALL

Charges that pitchers are making deliberate use of the bean ball are flying thick and fast in the American league. In the opinion of the majority it is high time that the solons of baseball took a decided stand in this matter and promulgate a ruling by which power was vested in the umpire-in-chief to discriminate between a fast ball that broke sharply at a batter and the deliberate use of the bean ball to drive a dangerous man back from the plate, says a writer in an exchange. Ajiitcher declared guilty of the, use of this unfair, if not illegal, delivery should be fined and suspended. To be sure, in the majority of cases the hitting of a batsman is due to accident, but Just so long as one pitcher is accused of making use of such unsportsmanlike tactics the batters should be protected. Imagine a man .like Walter Johnson, Jeff Tesreau, Grover Alexander or Jeff Pheffer, the

Brooklyn giant, standing up on the mound and deliberately trying to shoot his fast one at a batter’s head. Roy Corhan, now with the Cardinals, was hit on the head with a pitched ball and has been gun shy ever since. He was forced to take a short trip to the minor leagues because of his timidity at the plate. Walter Johnson almost killed Jack Martin on the old American league grounds several years ago. Roger Bresnahan was hit and almost killed, but he was an exceptional man, with Tare physical courage. When he recovered he plunged right bqek into the game as if nothing had happened. But many a good maq has been driven out of the game by being hit. Some have been permanently injured. John Kinley Tener, president of the National league, is bitterly opposed to the use of the bean ball and would gladly do his part in ruling it right out of the game.

OPPONENTS OF UNFAIR DELIVERY.