Baseball plate

“ Early baseball had melted rubber center. Ball of the 1840's weighed only three ounces and was very much "alive". The early-day baseball was composed of a melted rubber center around which yarn was wound, and generally included a sewn-on cover. The weight of the ball was three ounces and because of its size and construction it was a much livelier ball than the baseball of today. Scoring of over 100 runs in a game was not too uncommon until, in 1846, the rules were amended to provide that the first team to score 21 runs was the winner. ”

“ The baseball has undergone very little change since the early days of the game, at least in the specifications prescribed in the rules. Basketballs, footballs, helmets, shoulder pads, baseball gloves and mitts and uniforms for all sports have undergone numerous changes in size, shape and appearance, but for nearly 100 years—since 1872—the baseball has weighed five ounces and measured nine inches in circumference. ”

“ Unto that game I took her
Into the baseball park.
Light as the down of thistles,
The fielders chased the ball;
Loud as the roar of tempests
Followed the rooters’ call;
And I heard my heart beat loudly
As our star man came to bat,
When my little sweetheart murmured:
“Say, look at that woman’s hat!”
Loudly the base hit rattled,
Bringing the tieing score;
Wildly the crowd upstarted,
Yelping a mighty roar;{63}
Softly there came the whisper,
Ending my joyous fit:
“Why is that poor man running?
What is a three-base hit?” ”

“ In the first year of the existence of the National League several of its pitchers began the delivery of the curved ball, that is, a ball which, after leaving the pitcher's hand, would curve to the right or left, and could be made to deceive the batsman by appearing to come wide of the plate and then suddenly turn in and pass over it ”

“ The Yeggmen beat the Grafters, but the Grafters made them fight.
McGee, the Grafters’ pitcher, had to hide his head in shame—
He tried to bribe the warden, who was umpiring the game.
If Saturday’s a pleasant day for outside games like ball
The Con Men play the Lifers, and we’ll be there, one and all.
For the finest “inside” baseball I have seen in many a day
Is inside the dear old prison, where they like to have me stay. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The pitcher may not have good control of the ball or pitch wild, the catcher may make a bad “muff” and let the ball get by him, or what we expect to be a bunted ball may be a home run, but all of this is part of the sport and helps to make baseball one of the most interesting and exciting of games. ”

“ The required ball for the National Association of Baseball Leagues is not less than 5 nor more than 5-1/4 ounces in weight, and measures not less than 9 nor more than 9-1/4 inches in circumference. A slightly smaller ball is used in junior play; that is, for boys under sixteen. The best construction of baseballs is that in which there is a rubber center wound with woolen yarn, the outside covering being of white horsehide. Good balls cost from fifty cents to $1.50 each, but baseballs may be had at five cents each. ”

“ A pitcher should always pitch over something laid down to represent a plate, and if possible get a batter to stand and hit against him. Let him practice with some method, pitching nothing but a straight ball, and trying to put it directly over the plate every time. He should not be annoyed if the batter hits him, as he is only practicing. When a pitcher is able to cut the centre of the plate eight times out of ten he may begin with his curve and work it in the same way. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Another hot-weather corroboration of the flat theory is the fact that all of life, as we know it, moves in little, unavailing circles. More justly than to anything else, it can be likened to the game of baseball. Crack! we hit the ball, and away we go. If we earn a run (in life we call it success) we get back to the home plate and sit upon a bench. If we are thrown out, we walk back to the home plate—and sit upon a bench. ”

“ The pitcher saves the time of turning around and has the additional advantage of having the play in front of him, where he can better see every movement of the runner. When the game is depending upon that one put-out the best place of all to stand is a few feet toward third and directly on the line. From there the catcher can reach the runner whether he runs in front of or behind him, and if he slides he will come against the catcher and may therefore not be able to reach the plate, or, at least, the catcher may delay him long enough to make the put-out. ”

“ The pitcher shall take his position facing the batsman with both feet square on the ground, one foot on the rear line of the "box." He shall not raise either foot, unless in the act of delivering the ball, nor make more than one step in such delivery. He shall hold the ball, before the delivery, fairly in front of his body, and in sight of the Umpire. When the pitcher feigns to throw the ball to a base he must resume the above position and pause momentarily before delivering the ball to the bat. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Baseball shoes are usually provided with steel plates or leather knobs. Spikes are very dangerous and should not be permitted. The regulation baseball shoe reaches just under the instep.
The rules of baseball are too long and complicated to be published here. Almost every year many important changes are made to improve the sport and to make it harder for the batsmen to make runs. All of this tends to make the game more interesting and to develop it from a scientific side. ”

“ A diagram is marked with chalk on the floor, as per accompanying diagram. Round wooden disks six inches in diameter, one inch thick at the centre tapering to a quarter of an inch at the circumference, in the form of a discus, are used. Rubber quoits may be used instead of disks, if available.
A player "up to bat" slides disks from a line thirty feet away from the baseball diamond until he has four balls, three strikes, or has earned one or more bases. If the disk, upon being slid forward, lies so that any part of it lies over any line, it constitutes one ball for the batter. ”

“ Each player must secure a stick about 2-1/2 feet long. An alder stick with a small bend at one end furnishes an ideal implement for this game. An old baseball or where this is not procurable, a tin can or a block of wood, may be used. The players are divided into two teams. Two stones, placed about five feet apart at each end of the playing space, serve as goals. The playing space should be about 30 to 50 yards in length. A level stretch of road can be used, or an open field. The game starts by each team taking a position anywhere in the half of the field nearest the goal they are defending. ”

“ The rules of baseball govern the game. After a player finishes his turn, he takes position at the farther end of his side, and the next in line takes his turn, thus preserving the batting order. When three players have been declared out, that side is retired and the other side takes its inning. ”

“ 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. ”

“ As the home team was responsible for furnishing the ball, strategy entered into the determination of the type of baseball to be supplied. A team with a lot of batting power furnished a lively ball while a good defensive club could be expected to put into play a dead ball. One New York firm, in an effort to find favor with good fielding teams, claimed in an advertisement that "our professional dead balls... are made of all yarn without rubber and are the deadest balls made."
The cork center baseball was introduced in 1910. ”

“ 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. ”

“ There are many fair ways to steal the signs of the enemy, so many that the smart ball-player is always kept on the alert by them. Baseball geniuses, some almost magicians, are constantly looking for new schemes to find out what the catcher is telling the pitcher, what the batter is tipping the base runner to, or what the coacher’s instructions are. The Athletics have a great [Pg 150] reputation as being a club able to get the other team’s signs if they are obtainable. This is their record all around the American League circuit. ”

“ But in the case of the first base being occupied by a base runner, when only one man is out, when the third strike is called, in such case the batsman is out on called strikes, whether the ball on the third called strike is held on the fly or not. The batsman is out too,—under the new rule—if, when the thud strike is called, the pitched ball hits him or touches his clothing. ”

“ There are some players who don't know how to drop their bats and get away from the plate. Some stand until they see whether the hit is safe, and they run to first with the head twisted around to watch the ball. The instant the ball is hit, no matter where it goes, the batter should drop the bat and start for the base; leaving the ball to take care of itself, he should put down his head and run, looking neither to the right nor the left. Every foot gained may be of vital importance, for in most cases the runner is thrown out by the distance of only a few feet. ”

“ They moved the pitcher's box nearer the plate at least ten feet; the pitchers threw an underhand ball; the batsmen called for a high, low or fair ball, and they had to have it; they had a chance to have nine balls called before they took a base; they ran the danger of being out on caught foul tips; and the catchers could catch foul flies on the bounce and still have their man out. ”

“ They may say baseball is the same in the minor leagues that it is in the big leagues, but any old ball player or manager knows better. Where the difference comes in, however, is in the greater excellence and unity of the major players, a speed, a daring, a finish that can be acquired only in competition with one another.
I thought of this when I led my party into Morrisey's private box in the grand stand of the Chicago American League grounds. We had come to see the Rube's break into fast company. ”

“ So does a tennis ball thrown by the hand or struck by the racket; though here, indeed, I admit that a spin may be given to the ball which will somewhat detract from the simplicity of its movement. In playing baseball, a large part of the skill of the pitcher consists in throwing the ball in such a way that it shall not move in a parabola, but in some twisting curve by which he hopes to baffle his adversary. Setting aside these exceptions, and such another as the case of a body tossed straight up or271 dropped straight down, we may assert that the path of a projectile is a parabola. ”

“ An interesting game of baseball can be played by two persons with a common pocket knife on a rainy day or in the winter time when the regular game cannot be played outdoors. The knife is opened and loosely stuck into a board, as in Fig. 1, and with a quick upward movement of the forefinger it is thrown into the air to fall and land in one of the positions shown. ”

“ This signal should be known also to the pitcher and by every other fielder who may be interested in the play. The pitcher will now send the catcher the ball wide of the plate and at a height where the catcher can handle it easily. The moment he moves to pitch the baseman starts for his base and the proper fielders get in line to back up the throw, if by accident it should be wild. It is very necessary that the pitcher keep the ball out of the batter's reach, otherwise it may be hit to a part of the field left unguarded by the fielders who have gone to back up the throw ”