Those who like to wrestle around with knotty baseball problems might take a whirl with this one and decide the query: "Who got the putout?" Kid Elberfeld stepped to the plate one afternoon in 1917 in a game between Atlanta and Nashville. The count rose to three balls and one strike. On the next pitch, Elberfeld, who didn't take a sock at it, heard the umpire call out "Ball Four." So the kid started for first. The umpire called him back, snorting, "What are you trying to do-- that's strike two." Elberfeld looked at him, all be-wildered-like, and insisted: "You called bail." "No, I didn't I signaled strike," retorted the umpire.
The argument became heated. Finally it was decided to leave it to the denizens of the press box to determine what was the umpire's actually ruling. And this is what they reported. "The umpire called out 'ball', but with his hand, which he flipped upward he signaled strike." Proving that the umpire's voice and muscles were not in harmony. "Well, it's a strike that's what it is." maintained the umpire. "You go back to bat, Elberfeld, and the count is to 2." Elberfeld refused to return to the plate. He argued that he was entitled to be on first.
After waiting a reasonable length of time for Elberfeld to go back to the plate, the umpire ruled that he was out. Who got the putout? Or rather, who was entitled to it? No one "killed off' Elberfeld but the umpire. And his operations are not listed in the box score. Elberfeld was out but none of the rival players had retired him. Yet the out had to be tallied. The official scorer pondered over the thing a long while and then decided that the catcher was a good guy who loved his putouts and he gave it to him.
The argument became heated. Finally it was decided to leave it to the denizens of the press box to determine what was the umpire's actually ruling. And this is what they reported. "The umpire called out 'ball', but with his hand, which he flipped upward he signaled strike." Proving that the umpire's voice and muscles were not in harmony. "Well, it's a strike that's what it is." maintained the umpire. "You go back to bat, Elberfeld, and the count is to 2." Elberfeld refused to return to the plate. He argued that he was entitled to be on first.
After waiting a reasonable length of time for Elberfeld to go back to the plate, the umpire ruled that he was out. Who got the putout? Or rather, who was entitled to it? No one "killed off' Elberfeld but the umpire. And his operations are not listed in the box score. Elberfeld was out but none of the rival players had retired him. Yet the out had to be tallied. The official scorer pondered over the thing a long while and then decided that the catcher was a good guy who loved his putouts and he gave it to him.
