Browns Need a Traffic Cop as Tigers Capitalize on Costly Mix-Up

Content From St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Tues Evening June 1, 1926

In This Edition

• Traffic Cop Is Needed by Sisler's Men
  • The Punch Is There
  • Call for a Good Cop
  • Five Brownie Errors
• Hornsby's Answers
• Advertisements

TRAFFIC COP IS NEEDED BY SISLER’S MEN

Failure of Harry Rice and Baby Doll Jacobson to Catch Easy Fly Gives Detroit Three Runs in First Game, Lost 10-7.

By J. Roy Stockton.

That's a remarkable race in the American League this year. Six teams in the league have percentages of .500 or better and though the New York Yankees appear to have a commanding lead, with a percentage of .721, it is not as commanding as it first appears. The Yanks are only six games ahead of the Philadelphia Athletics.

However, that's not the most remarkable thing about the league race. The thing that stands out to the poor bimbos who sat through more than five hours of the Browns-Detroit double-header yesterday afternoon is the astounding fact that there is a team in the league that is below the Browns in the standing. And yet it is true that the Boston Red Sox are a full game below the Browns.

The Punch Is There.

George Sisler's men succeeded in gaining an even break with the Detroit Tigers in the twin bill, thanks to a devastating attack in the second and third innings of the second game, an attack so vicious that it overcame a five-run lead that the Detroit club had gained in the first two innings.

It is not difficult to see what is wrong with the Browns. They need pitchers. And someone who knows a pitcher when he sees one and who knows how to coach pitchers and how to pick them for duty. The pitching of the Browns this year has been atrocious. There are many men on the staff who have pitched good baseball. Milt Gaston and Tom Zachary have done fairly well all year. But the other members of the staff have pitched a good inning here and a few good innings there and in between have been so many bad innings that the Browns would have to win 16 successive games in order to reach the .500 mark in the race for the flag.

Call for a Good Cop.

Another thing needed on the Brownie team is a traffic policeman. If the Browns had such a person, with a nice whistle and everything, they would have won both games from the Tigers. That's how bad the Tigers are. But there was no policeman and no whistle, and so, when a fly went to right center in the ninth inning of the first game, with two out and two Tigers on the bases, Jacobson and Rice did not know what to do. They both went after the ball, being well-trained fly chasers and knowing that to go after fly balls is proper. But when they got to the ball and each found the other there they didn't know which ought to make the catch. Either could have caught the ball easily. They were standing so close together that they could have shaken hands. But they didn't even shake hands. They just stood there. They didn't have a single traffic policeman and oh, how they needed one. To make a sad story sadder, the ball fell safe and the two base runners loped over the plate. Another unearned run crossed the plate before the third out could be made and so that absence of a traffic policeman gave the Tigers three runs. The game was lost by three runs, the score being 10 to 7.

Five Brownie Errors.

There were five errors in that first game, the miscues giving the Tigers at least three more runs. The Browns outhit the Tigers, 15 to 10, but the Tigers played errorless ball.

The second game was called after six and a half innings, because of darkness. The first game started at 2 o'clock and it was seven when the poor fish went home.

The third and final game of the series with the Tigers will be played this afternoon. Sisler will have to decide on a pitcher before 3 o'clock.

American League umpires recently were ordered to announce the time of game. It was not done in St. Louis until Sunday, when Ban Johnson attended. Yesterday the umpires gave the time of the first game, which started at 2 o'clock, but after the second they would have had to do some serious arithmetic and passed it up.

Umpire George Geisel needs experience. He got some yesterday. He saw a foul tip coming and ducked his head. The ball hit him on the dome and he went down for a short count. He got up in time to get a draw and the crowd gave him a cheer.

Herschel Bennett made his first appearance in a game since his injury in Philadelphia more than three weeks ago. He batted for Wally Jonnard in the second inning of the second game and singled to center.

If the Browns had a good traffic cop for outfield duty at Sportsman's Park, he could switch to duty in the Cardinal infield when Rogers Hornsby's men are at home. Remember how Tommy Thevenow and Les Bell collided recently?

The crowd was estimated at 22,000 by Secretary Willis Johnson of the Browns. No such gathering was expected and there was congestion at the gates. Double-header crowds are always hard to handle. They come late, so the afternoon won't be too long. But it was yesterday.

Groundskeeper Bill Stocksick certainly knows his stuff. The greensward, badly cut up during reconstruction of the stands, is coming back fine under his careful nursing. It looked particularly green after the first game.

HORNSBY'S ANSWERS

Runner on first. Pitcher steps into position and winds up to make his delivery. Runner starts for second. Pitcher steps out of the box and throws runner out. Is this a balk?—ROBERT BUCHELE, 5815A Highland avenue. Yes.

Batter tries to dodge a pitched ball and the ball hits the bat. A says it is a dead ball. B says it is a strike.—A. B. B. It is a strike if the ball rolls foul unless the batter has two strikes and a fair ball if the ball rolls fair. It is not a dead ball.

Batter fouls to third baseman, who muffs the ball. Batter then strikes out. Should the third baseman be given an error or be exempt from one because the batter did not get to first base?—SCORER. Give the third baseman an error.

ADVERTISEMENTS