Base (baseball)

“ A left-handed thrower will seldom make a success as a ball player except as pitcher or on first base. Left-handed batsmen, however, are a distinct advantage to a team, as nothing will so disconcert a green pitcher as to have batsmen standing first on one side of the plate and then on the other.
Every boy who plays baseball must know the rules thoroughly to be a success. It is in this way that advantage of every fair opportunity can be taken. Nothing is so disheartening to a team as to lose a closely contested game on a technicality of rules. ”

“ All baseball players like to bat, and nothing pleases them so much as base hits; on the other hand, nothing is quite so painful as to send out hard liners only to see them caught. And it seemed as if every man on our team connected with that lanky twirler's fast high ball and hit with the force that made the bat spring only to have one of these rubes get his big hands upon it. ”

“ Every boy knows that a baseball team consists of nine players, the positions being pitcher, catcher, first base, second base, third base, and shortstop, which are called the in-field, and right-field, centre-field, and left-field, which positions are called the out-field. The umpire has a very important position in baseball, as his decisions in a close game may result either in defeat or victory for a team. An umpire should always be some one who knows the rules thoroughly and who is not too greatly interested in either team. ”

“ If a Fair Hit ball strike him before touching the fielder and in such case no base shall be run unless forced by the Batsman becoming a Base Runner, and no run shall be scored.
SEC. 13. If when running to a base or forced to return to a base, he fail to touch the intervening base or bases, if any, in the order prescribed in Rule 45, he may be put out at the base he fails to touch, or by being touched by the ball in the hands of a Fielder, in the same manner as in running to First Base. ”

“ Base-ball is a scientific game, more difficult than many who are in the habit of judging hastily from the outward semblance can possibly imagine. It is in fact the cricket of the American continent, considerably altered since its first origin, as has been cricket, by the yearly recourse to the improvements necessitated by the experience of each season. In the cricket field there is at times a wearisome monotony that is entirely unknown to baseball. ”

“ Brush and his associates succeeded in placing Base Ball upon a plane of absolute fairness, so far as the proper distribution of the returns of the sport could be made between clubs, Base Ball began to prosper, and, for the first time in all its history, the owners of so-called smaller clubs felt that they could go forward and try to rival their bigger fellows with equally strong combinations. ”

“ The first baseman is usually a tall boy who is active and who can cover his position both in reaching for high balls and in picking up grounders. Of course in a baseball score the first baseman will score the largest number of “put outs,” because practically all he is obliged to do is to cover the base and to catch the ball before the runner gets there. ”

“ If a catcher can get a pitchout on a hit and run sign he upsets the other team greatly. Take a fast man on first base and the batter signs him that he is going to hit the next ball. The runner gets his start and the ball comes up so wide that the batter could not half reach it with a ten-foot bat. The runner is caught easily at second base and it makes him look foolish. ”

“ To me, if I may venture to say so, baseball has ever seemed most untidy. Personally I can imagine few things more unseemly than the act of sliding through the dust in order the more expeditiously to attain a given base or station ”

“ If the Umpire awards a succeeding batsman a base on four balls, or for being hit with a pitched ball, or in case of an illegal delivery—as in Rule 46, Section 5—and the Base Runner is thereby forced to vacate the base held by him. ”

“ The team was composed of fast men who were brilliant bunters and hard base runners. The soil of the infield was mixed with a form of clay which, when wet and then rolled, was almost as hard as concrete. ”

“ SEC. 3. Instantly after three strikes have been declared by the Umpire.
SEC. 4. If, while he be a Batsman, his person or clothing be hit by a ball from the pitcher, unless—in the opinion of the Umpire—he intentionally permits himself to be so hit.
SEC. 5. Instantly after an illegal delivery of a ball by the pitcher.
BASES TO BE TOUCHED. RULE 45. The Base Runner must touch each Base in regular order, viz.: First, Second, Third and Home Bases; and when obliged to return (except on a foul hit) must retouch the base or bases in reverse order. ”

“ Without a doubt the most practical book ever written which illustrates and tells distinctly how any one can become an expert ball player.
Especially adapted for College Players, Amateurs and Semi-professionals. It describes the proper way to field, hints to batteries, how to become a good catcher, how to play first base, second base, and third base, also a special chapter for fielders. The articles in relation to batting, both individual and team, are the best ever written. ”

“ To sit back of the catcher and see the balls come sailing over the plate, one will wonder why they are not hit out of creation, and when some player, who has allowed a couple of balls to pass directly over the plate without making the least attempt to hit at them, finally lets go at one that he could scarcely reach with a wagon tongue, much less with a 36- inch bat, the spectator is likely to question the fellow's sanity. It is amusing to sit in a base-ball crowd and hear the remarks. ”

“ But if the first baseman will be on the alert for such a hit, and throw the runner out at second, he not only balks the play but frightens following batters from attempting the same hit. With a runner on third and not more than one man out, all the in-fielders will play closer to the bat, so as to throw the runner out at home on an in-field hit; in such case if the batter should strike out, and the third strike be dropped, the first baseman should not go to his base to receive the throw from the catcher, but meet it on the line as near as possible to the plate. ”

“ Base stealing, the gentle art of sprinting and 'hitting the dirt,' is the finest drawn and most closely calculated play in Base Ball, and the one that, above all others, reveals the mathematical exactitude of the national game. A player who can run eighty-five feet in three and one-third seconds from a flatfooted start, ought to reach second base exactly tied with the ball, nine times out of ten starts, if the play is perfectly made by the runner, pitcher, catcher and baseman. ”

“ When a fair or foul ball struck by a batsman on his side is caught on the fly, he must retouch his base, or be put out if the baseman receives the ball before he can do so. A runner on first-base is forced to run to second as soon as a fair ball is batted, or, being on second with another runner on first, he is forced to run to third. ”

“ The proper place for a third baseman to play must be governed by the nature of the case. For an ordinary right-hand batter, likely to hit in any direction, and no one on the bases, he should play from fifteen to twenty feet toward second and several feet back of the base line. For a very fast runner he should move nearer the batter, and, if there is danger of a "bunt," he may even have to play well inside the diamond, though, as before said, all such hits should be attended to by the pitcher. ”

“ Every batter should be ready to take his place quickly at the bat, and hit at the first good ball; every runner should be on the move; and with plenty of coaching, and everybody full of enthusiasm, it is only necessary to get the run-getting started in order to have it go right along. This is the game that is winning in base-ball to-day, as every observant spectator knows. ”

“ A run is scored in this way: One of the nine batting players takes his position at the home base and endeavors to hit the ball, thrown to him by the opposing pitcher, to some part of the field where it can neither be caught before touching the ground, nor thrown to first base before the batter himself can run there; if he can hit it far enough to allow him to reach not only first base, but second or third or even home, so much the better, for when he has made the complete circuit of the bases his side is credited with one run. ”

“ For a batter who hits along the foul-line, he will play nearer his base, and for one who invariably hits toward right-field, he will move around toward second base, going, in some instances, even as far as the short-stop's regular position. ”

“ The basemen, instead of playing 'off,' are standing, each with one foot on his base, and a base runner is 'glued to third,' although the pitcher is ready to deliver the ball. In short, the general aspect of the field is enough to give a modern Base Ball captain nervous prostration. ”

“ The New York team of 1887 demonstrated the odd fact that a man who seemed entirely unable to play second base, could yet play third in good style, while another who was but an average third baseman could take care of second equal to any one. ”

“ Even the pitcher, for example, should run behind the first-baseman when the ball is thrown to the latter by another, in order to stop a widely thrown or missed ball, which, if allowed to pass, would enable the runner to gain one or more additional bases. Bases vacated by their basemen while fielding balls must often, also, be promptly covered by another player. ”

“ It is a mistake to break up the in-field by bringing a third baseman in close to get hits which a live pitcher should be able to field. When a batter who is likely to bunt the ball comes to the bat, the pitcher must be ready at every ball pitched to move in the direction of the third base line, where such hits are always made. ”

“ As the catcher alone faces the whole field, he is able to warn the pitcher when to throw to a base in order to catch a runner napping off the base, and by secretly signalling to the pitcher (usually by means of signs with his fingers) he directs what kind of a ball is to be pitched, so that he may be in the proper position to receive the ball, be it high or low, to left or right. Some pitchers, however, prefer to reserve their choice of balls and therefore do the signalling themselves. ”

“ Change of pace, disguised as well as possible, is also an important part of pitching strategy, as well as variation of the delivery and the play upon the known weaknesses or idiosyncrasies of the batsman. Good control over the ball is a necessity, as four “balls” called by the umpire,—that is, balls not over the base, or over the base and not between the shoulder and knee of the batsman,—entitle the batsman to become a base-runner and take his first base. ”

“ To thousands: “Batter up—play ball!”
He saw a tall guy nod and beck
And then cut one around the neck,
While in a trance the slugger there
Inanely paddled at the air;
He saw the shortstop leave his place
And flag one back of second base
And wing it swiftly on ahead
To where the dashing runner sped;{18}
He saw, before his flashing eye,
The keen outfielder fenceward fly,
And with a mighty effort pull
The drive down with the bases full.
He heard once more the rooters call,
The ringing clash of bat and ball,
The cry of “Belt it on the snout! ”

“ In fielding balls hit along the ground, the fielder should not wait until the ball comes to him, but run in to meet it as quickly as possible. Then, if fumbled, he may still have time to get it back to the infield before base runners can take an extra base. ”

“ It should, therefore, be understood that, in every case when the batter strikes at the ball and misses it, the catcher will throw to third, whether or not he has previously given the signal. In touching a runner the baseman must not run away from him; he must expect to get spiked occasionally, for, if he is thinking more of his own safety than of making the put-out, he will lose many plays by allowing runners to slide under or around him. ”

“ Without going further into a consideration that might be greatly prolonged, I reassert my belief that our national game is a home production. In the field of out-door sports the American boy is easily capable of devising his own amusements, and until some proof is adduced that base-ball is not his invention I protest against this systematic effort to rob him of his dues. ”