for the bats to lie in front of the bench, and it is one of the duties of the bat boy to keep them in order. In a pinch, Collins proceeds to "muss up" the thirty or forty bats, and when he gets through, they are scattered in all directions. This having been done, his team is expected to make the necessary runs.

On Labor Day afternoon, last season, Philadelphia won a very unusual game from Washington, during which Collins did some fancy-work in scattering the bats about. It would surprise you to know what a prominent part the players believe the bat-scattering played in the victory.

The great Walter Johnson was pitching for Washington, and the game had gone into extra innings. In the first half of the tenth, Washington scored a run. With Johnson going at top speed, this run looked as big as a mountain. As the first Athletic player was retired in the last half of the tenth, many of the spectators began to file out of the grounds, in order to get an early start for home, as the park was taxed to capacity. By the time the second man was retired, one fourth of the crowd was outside the park. The next batter was Eddie Murphy, the lead-off man. As Murphy started toward the plate, Collins proceeded to scatter the bats in all directions. Murphy swung at the first ball and missed. The second strike was called. With two strikes and no balls on the batter, it looked as if Collins's pet superstition had failed to work.

On the next ball pitched Murphy singled cleanly to left field. As the ball left Johnson's hand, practically the entire crowd rose to its feet, in order to be on its way. It had grown a trifle dark, and Johnson's speed was so terrific that it did not seem possible for any one to hit the ball safely. Murphy's single caused a portion of the spectators to return to their seats. Then came "Rube" Oldring, who is always a dangerous man in the pinch, and a mighty good hitter at any stage of the game. Oldring had evidently made up his mind to strike at the first ball delivered. Also it was evident that he gave the hit-and-run sign to Murphy, for the latter was in action the moment Johnson started his delivery. The ball was a perfect strike; Oldring met it squarely, and it sailed on a line to left center, evaded Clyde Milan, and rolled to the bleachers. Murphy sprinted from first to the plate on the drive, and only the fastest kind of fielding on the part of Milan held Oldring at second. It was then up to Collins to deliver the hit that meant the winning of the game. With some difficulty he found his bat among the many he had scattered about in front of the bench. Stepping to the batter's box, he hit the second ball pitched to right field

batter, but three clean hits in quick succession changed an apparent defeat into a glorious victory. But, remember: by the players themselves the scattering of the bats was given as much credit for the rally as the hits of Murphy, Oldring, and Collins. And, incidentally, the four or five thousand who departed before the end of the game are still "kicking themselves" for not staying for the finish. "Never leave until the last man is out," is a pretty good rule to follow in base-ball.

A loser will do almost anything in base-ball to break his run of bad luck. The "Jonah man"

certainly pursued that famous manager, Frank Chance, most relentlessly last year. There is no denying Chance's ability as a manager. His wonderful record with the Chicago "Cubs" is ample proof of that. However, no manager can compete with strong clubs with a weak team, and make much headway. That was just what Chance was up against in New York last year.

The "jinx," as the players term it, worked overtime at the Polo Grounds. Despite the fact that the club played some exceedingly good games at home, it was not until June 7 that Chance succeeded in winning his first game of

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Chance, discussing with him his "run of tough luck." Chance was game, and was taking his medicine like a man. I remarked that such a break in luck could not last forever, and Chance replied that he, too, thought it could not, since he had all the "good-luck charms" that could be found. Then he took from a pocket in his baseball trousers as varied a collection of "hoodoobusters" as I have ever seen. He had all the luck charms that could possibly be gathered together. All of them had been sent to him by friends and well-wishers. "I'm putting five new ones into service to-day, as well as that old horse

the year at the Polo Grounds. On the road the club made a good showing, but, try as it might for the first two months of the season, it was unable to put over a victory at home. Game after game appeared won, only to be lost in the final innings by a slump in the pitching or some costly errors. On June 7, Chance managed to defeat Chicago by one run, and that victory was not certain until a timely single by Peckinpaugh in the ninth sent the winning run over the plate. Chance proceeded to do a war-dance that would have done credit to some Indian brave. He reasoned that the hoodoo had been eliminated; that from that time on, victories would be more frequent. And they were.

Just to show you to what length a manager will go in an effort to get a break in luck, I will relate an occurrence that took place at the Polo Grounds. The Boston "Red Sox" were scheduled to play a double-header with the New York team there on June 2. Before the beginning of the game, I was sitting on the bench with

shoe," which he had

nailed to the top of the bench. "I hope to win one of these two games to-day."

The first game looked like a cinch for New York until late in the game, when the Red Sox had a batting rally, and batted out enough runs to overcome the big lead piled on by the home team during the early innings. Chance was a sorely disgusted man when I went over to get his batting order for the second game.

"I guess a fellow needs ball-players, not goodluck pieces, to win ball games, Billy," said Chance, with a smile. "But, say, have n't you any suggestion to offer?"

"You seem to have tried most of them," I answered; "but in the bush leagues I 've seen managers of home teams go to bat first, in an effort to change their luck." (In base-ball it is customary for the visiting team to bat first.)

"That is one stunt I have n't tried as yet," replied Chance. "When you go over to get the batting order from Manager Stahl, tell him that we will go to bat first, instead of Boston."

New York managed to make a couple of runs in the opening inning, and Chance again had hopes that luck was finally coming his way. But, about the fifth inning, Boston made a half dozen runs, and three or four more in the next, and before the conclusion of the contest, the New York club was again swamped.

FREAK plays, about as weird as some of the superstitions of star ball-players, often occur in base-ball. For a man to bat twice in the same

inning, and single each time, is rather unusual. For that player to bat out of order his second time up, and make a hit that decided the game, is very extraordinary as far as the Major

scorer discovered that Chance had batted out of the proper order. Immediately he made known the error to the St. Louis players, but it was too late to rectify the mistake. The rule on this point says that unless the mistake is discovered before a ball is pitched to the following batter, there is no chance to penalize the batsman who has batted out of turn. Had not St. Louis made three runs in the final inning, bringing the score to a total of 8 to 6, it is likely that little would have been said about the play. Since Chance's second single, when he batted out of order, had scored two runs, and he had tallied later, the error was the turning-point in the game. With these three runs ruled out, St. Louis would have won 6 to 5. That club protested the game, but of course they gained nothing.

The man who was playing short-stop for the New York club that afternoon and batting eighth, was responsible for the mix-up. Since Chance had batted for the pitcher his first time at bat, it was necessary that he again bat in the pitcher's place. Instead of doing this, he batted in place of the short-stop, who did not go to the plate at

EDDIE COLLINS, OF THE PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS.

Leagues are concerned. The climax of the affair was the loss of his job as a Big Leaguer by the player who forgot his turn at bat. Naturally, the luckless New York Americans had to figure in this play.

That club and St. Louis were the contesting teams, at St. Louis. The "Browns" led by a run or two until about the seventh inning, when Chance decided to call on all his reserve force, with the hope of pulling out a victory. He started the inning by going to bat himself, in place of the pitcher. He singled, and scored a moment later on a single and a double. He had started a rally. After scoring his run, he went down to the third-base line to coach. With four runs in, men on second and third, and one out, one of the New York players yelled to Chance from the bench that it was his turn to bat again, as he was still in the game. Chance responded with a single through short that scored two runs, and a moment later he also scored. The Yankees had made seven runs in this inning, and had gone into the lead with a comfortable margin.

After the side had been retired, and the second half of the inning was about to start, the official

FRANK CHANCE, OF THE NEW YORK "YANKEES.

all in an inning in which seven runs were scored. Chance then and there decided that any player who could not remember his position in the batting order belonged to some other club.

I had a play come up in a very important game last year which, while not unusual, was just con

fusing enough to the crowd to draw upon me its censure at the time, although I was forced to rule the way I did. Late in the game, with the visiting team three runs behind, one of the visitors

LAJOIE, OF THE CLEVELAND "NAPS."

reached first base on a clean single. The next batter gave the hit-and-run sign to the man on first. The catcher anticipated the play and called for a pitch-out, and then, in his anxiety to get the ball, and realizing that he must make a hurried throw, accidentally tipped the batter's bat at just about the time the bat hit the ball. It is possible that the accidental interference in no way affected the play; but that has nothing to do with the case. It was a fast grounder to the shortstop, who tossed the ball to the second baseman, apparently forcing out the man from first on a very close play. The second baseman wheeled quickly, and by a perfect throw managed to get the ball to first an instant ahead of the runner.

The home crowd was jubilant. It was sure that this fast fielding had killed any chance the visitors might have had in that inning. I was umpiring balls and strikes that afternoon, and after the umpire on base decisions had waved out both men, it became necessary for me to get into the argument. The rule on interference by the catcher is very plain; it simply entitles the batsman to first base, other runners advancing only when forced. Instead of allowing the double play, I granted first base to the batsman who had been interfered with by the catcher, and sent

the runner who had been on first to second, although he had apparently been retired at that base. That left two men on the bases, with no one out. The next batter responded with a flyball, which would have made the third out and retired the side, had there been no interference. It was a bad break in luck, for the next four men hit safely, five runs resulting before the side was retired. The visiting team won the game that afternoon by a one-run margin, and naturally the entire blame for the defeat was placed on my shoulders by a majority of the fans, simply because they did not understand what had happened on the ball-field. Only the fact that none of the players in any way disputed the decision saved considerable trouble. A great many of the fans evidently knew that the umpire must have been correct in his ruling, since the verdict was not disputed in the slightest.

Losing track of the number of men out, or the number of 'innings played, has been responsible for some of the freakiest plays imaginable. It would be utterly impossible to produce such plays unless some one slumbered on the job. To illustrate:

Several years ago, two of the leading teams in the National League were engaged in a very important contest. With the beginning of the last half of the ninth, the visiting team enjoyed a