Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 January 1917 — BILLY EVANS SOLVES BASEBALL PROBLEMS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BILLY EVANS SOLVES BASEBALL PROBLEMS

(Written Especially for This Paper by the Famous American League Umpire.) There.are sqme battens who can hit equally well -from the left or the right side of the batter’s box. “'Wally’’ Schang. the famous yoimg

catcher of the is such a batsman. When southpaws are working against the Athletics, Schang hits right handed and trice versa. He pre* fers hitting left handed, as It renders his speed of ‘ * greater value, but he finds that he has much better success against southpaws when he shifts to the right side. This by ' way of preface to the desetiption of a - simple play that, caused a big riot, with a well-known International league umpire as the central figure. This umpire had been selected to preside over a series of games at a big baseball tournament held at one of the county fairs In the West, where such events are very popular. - All the teams were heavily loaded for the games with minor league

talent, while one team had two big league players in the line up. The team with the two bigleaguerS happened to be one of the teams in the final play-off. On the other team was a first baseman who had been very much In evidence with his hitting. He hit left handed. = Going into the last half of the ninth, the team with the two big leaguers led by a one run margin. With men on second and third and two out,' it was the turn at bat of the hard-hitting left handed first baseman. A southpaw pitcher of considerable minor league reputation had been warming up and was rushed into the fray to try to battle the left handed hitter. It so happened that this player could bat equally well either way. Believing that he was pulling something out of the ordinary, he remained in the left side of the box until the pitcher started to wind up, then he shifted to the right side, and, hitting right handed, singled cleanly to left on the first ball pitched, driving two runs across the plate. The big leaguers rushed at the umpire as the crowd rushed on the field. Who won the game, and what did the umpire do? Answer to Problem. The team with the two big leaguers in its line-up won’ the game, although the crowd and the team at bat thought to the contrary. The two runs needed to win, and which had apparently been recorded on the hit to left, were rendered void by the actions of the batsman. Under section 10 of rule 51, the batsman is out if he steps from one batsman’s box to the other while the pitcher is in his position ready to pitch. The big leaguers were quick to take advantage of this slip and protested, and, of course, the umpire was compelled, to call out the batter who had singled and not allow the two runs that had apparbeen scored. This made the third out, retiring the side and giving the game to the other club by the one-run margin it held when the final inning was started. , (Copyright _by the Wheeler Syndicate, Inc.) , _ ,