Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 203, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 September 1917 — TO DETERMINE A BEAN BALL [ARTICLE]

TO DETERMINE A BEAN BALL

Difficult Matter to Determine Whether Pitcher Is Trying to Hit Batsman —lnstance Cited. Just to show the difficulty of deciding whether a ball whirling near a batsman’s head is or isn’t an intentional bean ball: In a game between Brooklyn and tile Giants, Lew McCarty had to fling himself flat on the ground three times to escape being hit by Pfeffer. The crowd hissed and hooted, and the fans were positive that Pfeffer was trying to hit McCarty. Yet Pfeffer and McCarty are two close and devoted friends—and. Pfeffer was almost sick with fright over the narrow escape of his old pal. Not one of those balls was pitched at Lew’s head, but it surely looked that way to the crowd.