view raw text
Umpires Must Call More Balks— Lippy Cites Umpire Pinellis Failure to Call Miscues In Giant-Brooklyn Game By MILTON RICHMAN United Press Sports Writer NEW YORK, N. Y., May 1.— Umpires arent calling enough balks to suit Leo Du-rocher. The mapority of big leaguers claim the arbiters .suddenly have become "balk-happy" and are calling too many but the ■ fiery New York Giants pilot disagrees. It Is his opinion that the umpires are not interpreting the new rule literally enough. "If theyre going to call balks, let em call em," rasped the Lip. "Take that game Dan Bankhead pitched against us last Friday night," he steamed. The guy was balking every time he threw but Babe Pinelli, who was behind the plate, wasnt calling balks. "The rule says a pitcher has to stop a full second before he throws. This guy never stopped before he threw. Hed move his arms down, hed even slow down, but he never stopped. Thats a fact, he never stopped." Durocher, considerably worked up, paused to catch his breath. A writer took the opportunity to suggest that maybe Bankhead stopped briefly and the Lip hadnt noticed. The Giant manager laughed at the suggestion. "Just watch me now," he instructed, raising his arms above his head to simulate Bankheads pitching motion. "See, hed come down like this and when he got his hands down near his belt, hed keep going right on through," Durocher explained. "I would have seen it if he stopped, but he never did. I went over to Pinelli and told him about it but he told me he couldnt help it." Leo sighed and sat down hard. "Its bad enough to lose a game without having balks committed against you that arent called," he said. Make Them Call Em All "I have nothing against the rule but if the umpires are going to call balks, then let em call em all. The way it is now I dont know what to tell my pitchers. The umpires ought to get together and tell the managers. They ought to get it straightened out." During the game .in question, one balk was called against the Brooklyn pitcher but Durocher didnt mention it. What obviously bothered him were the alleged balks that werent called. "I say an umpire has to crouch slightly to see whether a pitcher is stopping before he throws or not," Leo continued. "If he stands straight up he wont be able to tell whether the pitcher balks or not. Yet, I see a lot of umpires stand straight up. "They cant see "a balk that way and I know it. This new balk rule was supposed to make umpires more alert. "I dunno," wheezed the Lip. "I really dont know." Durocher got up again and looked around the room. Someone changed the subject and the Lip began talking about his Giants. "Yeah, weve gotten off bad," he declared, "but its early yet and you still cant tell anything.. From what I saw in spring training, we cant be as bad as we look now. Well give em all a helluva battle before its over. Ive got some good kids on the club and they arent going to keep on losing. "Well get going soon. We just got to, thats all there is to it."