80 



BASE-BALL. 



the theoretical knowledge requisite for the 

 purpose can be readily acquired in an hour's 

 study of any standard work on the subject ; 

 while an afternoon's practice on the field, in 

 an amateur contest, will afford all the practical 

 information necessary. To become an expert 

 professional player, however, not only neces- 

 sitates an attentive study of the rules of the 

 game, and of those special applications of them 

 known as "points," but also a regular course 

 of training in order to insure the highest de- 

 gree of skill in each of the several departments 

 of the game. To learn the game, therefore, for 

 an hour or two of recreation is a simple task, 

 but to go into a regular course of systematic 

 training in order to become a skillful profes- 

 sional player is like everything else in which 

 any special standard of physical skill is aimed 

 at, viz., a task that involves steady and per- 

 severing application, fatiguing exertion, plenty 

 of pluck, thorough control of temper, and con- 

 siderable powers of endurance ; and, withal, 

 the physical aptitude to excel in one or the 

 other of those special departments of the game 

 known as " pitching," " catching," "base-play," 

 out-fielding, batting, and base-running. 



The Plajlng-Rules. It would be beyond the 

 scope of this article to occupy the space with 

 details of the regular code of playing- rules 

 of the game that now govern it, and there- 

 fore, in place of the elaborate rules of the 

 game, we embody the pith of the rules in de- 

 scribing the playing of a regular match-game, 

 in which are introduced the prominent points 

 of play as developed under the rules of the Na- 

 tional League, the professional code governing 

 the game throughout the country. 



Supposing the diamond field laid out, con- 

 testing nines chosen, an umpire selected, and 

 the choice of innings tossed for, the nine cap- 

 tained by A going to the bat and that by B go- 

 ing to the field, the umpire calls play, and 

 the contest begins. When the batsman takes 

 his position at the bat, the umpire asks him 

 whether he wants the ball delivered to him 

 " high " or " low," and on his naming the char- 

 acter of the ball he wants, the pitcher is re- 

 quired to deliver the ball as directed; and on 

 his failure to do this, the umpire inflicts the 

 penalty of " called " balls, a penalty also appli- 

 cable to the pitcher's failure to deliver the ball 

 over the home-base. When six such unfair 

 balls have been pitched that is, "tossed," 

 "thrown," or "jerked" to the bat, the bats- 

 man becomes a base-runner, and he is given 

 one base on the six called balls. If the bats- 

 man succeeding him is similarly sent to his 

 base, then the occupant of the first base is 

 given his second ; and, in case of four men be- 

 ing similarly given their bases in succession, 

 then one run is scored on balls called. If three 

 fair balls viz., balls over the home-base and 

 at the height called for are delivered to the 

 bat, and the batsman either fails to hit them, 

 or refuses to strike at them, the umpire decides 

 him out on " strikes." unless the catcher fails to 



catch the ball "on the fly" viz., before it 

 touches the ground in which case the batsman 

 must be put out at first base in the regular way, 

 or touched while off the base. The moment 

 the batsman hits a "fair ball " that is, a ball 

 that strikes the ground in front of the foul- 

 ball lines he drops his bat and runs for the 

 first base, and in so doing he is privileged to 

 overrun that base after touching it, and then to 

 return to the base without being put out, pro- 

 vided he touches the base in the first place be- 

 fore the ball is held by the base-player while 

 touching the base, but not otherwise. In the 

 case of the batsman's hitting a fair ball, not 

 held on first base as above referred to, which 

 is caught on the fly, he is out; or if a foul ball 

 is similarly caught ; or if, in running to first 

 base, he runs outside the path of the base-lines, 

 or if he hinders a fielder from catching the hit 

 ball, he is out. As a base-runner he is also out 

 if he runs three feet beyond the line of the bases 

 to avoid the ball while in the hands of a fielder ; 

 or if he be forced to leave a base by the act of 

 the batsman hitting a fair ball, and the ball is 

 held on the base he is forced to run to, before 

 he can touch it, he is out. When the batsman 

 hits a foul ball a ball touching the ground 

 back of the foul-ball lines though he is liable 

 to be put out on such ball by its being caught, 

 base-runners are not forced to leave their bases 

 on such balls, as in the case of fair hit balls, 

 and in case they run bases on such foul balls 

 they are privileged to return to the bases they 

 left when the ball was struck, provided they 

 do so on the run. On a foul ball caught on the 

 fly, however, the base-runners are privileged 

 to run a base the moment the catch has been 

 made. There are two classes of foul balls, 

 one class comprising balls hit high in the air, 

 and the other balls hit directly to the ground. 

 If a ball, hit up in the air, falls on fair ground, 

 it becomes fair ; if it falls on foul ground, it 

 becomes foul. But if the ball be hit direct 

 to the ground, no matter if it first strikes the 

 ground fair or foul, it only becomes a fair or 

 foul ball as it rests on the ground in rolling 

 from foul ground to fair, or vice versa, provided 

 that it so rolls before passing first or third 

 bases. Base-runners are each given one base 

 whenever the pitcher makes a " balk," and this 

 he does whenever he fails to deliver the ball to 

 the bat after making any one of the motions 

 to deliver that he is accustomed to make in 

 pitching, or when he steps outside the lines of 

 his position while in the act of delivering the 

 ball to the bat. The batsman, too, is required 

 to stand within the lines of his position while 

 in the act of striking at the ball, or he will be 

 given out on a "foul strike." Then, too, base- 

 runners are liable to be put out for allowing a 

 fair hit ball to strike their persons while run- 

 ning a base ; and also for hindering a fielder 

 from fielding a ball. It will thus be seen that 

 the batsman, first as a batsman and then as a 

 base-runner, is liable to be put out in eleven dif- 

 ferent ways first, on the catch of a fair hit ball ; 



