Bat (sport)

“ We have traced their natural history from the wanton hitting of one boy by another, through the hole-ball games, in which there are no bases and no sides, and the base-games in which there are two sides standing equal, on two bases, to the numerous bases occupied by one side as a token of victory. We have not yet encountered one of the most important instruments of ball-playing—the bat. This mighty engine of human amusement, whether in the form of a billiard-cue or a croquet-mallet, or what not, brings about radical variations in the game. ”

“ If you have active feet and good shoulders and trunk then you may manage a heavier bat than if you have less active feet and a weaker forearm and wrist. The handle should bend lithely backwards and forwards rather than sideways. It can be made thicker by wash-leather if the hands are moist; and if they are wet, by the rubber covering, which adds over an ounce of weight to the bat and thus helps the blade to rise. The wood of the bat is often found to be cut away from all the bat except just the part with which one hopes to stroke the ball. ”

“ A smooth place on the prairie, or in winter, on a frozen lake or river, is chosen. Each player has a sort of bat, called "Tâ-kée-cha-psé-cha," about thirty-two inches long, with a hoop at the lower end four or five inches in diameter, interlaced with thongs of deer-skin, forming a sort of pocket. With these bats they catch and throw the ball. Stakes are set as bounds at a considerable distance from the center on either side. Two parties are then formed and each chooses a leader or chief. ”

“ The delicious thrill of a good stroke is deadened or even entirely destroyed by a hard jarring bat.
With regard to size, boys are strongly advised to use undersized bats. No one should ever use a bat which he cannot wield quite comfortably. The balance of a bat, too, is a very important point. A bat varies in balance according to the distribution of wood in the blade. By holding a bat by the handle with both hands, and lifting it up and down just as when actually playing, any one can feel for himself whether it comes up well or badly. ”

“ Of course the two ridiculous fur balls were just the bat family. The smaller, more timorous bat, soon followed her mate from behind the web curtain and joined him upon the broad beam. But so clumsy and half awake was she that the very first thing she did was to make a misstep and go pitching off the high beam into space. She landed upon the hay, fortunately, and then began the funniest sight. Did you ever chance to see a bat when it attempted to walk? They seldom use their feet, and when they do it is a droll sight. ”

“ The flight of a bat is strong and tireless, but it is not in straight lines, nor in easy curves or sweeps like that of a bird; it is restless and flitting, with sharp turns and jerky motions.
When the bat alights on the ground, as it but seldom does, it shows itself a genuine quadruped. ”

“ How generous and social is our enjoyment! Every happy moment,—the ball springing from the bat, the sharp catch sounding in the palm, long reach or sudden spring and quick return, the exulting throw, or bails and wicket flying,—these all are joys enhanced by sympathy, purely reflected from each other's eyes. In the cricket-field, as by the cover's side, the sport is in the free and open air and light of heaven. ”

“ Bastion, bast′yun, n. a kind of tower at the angles of a fortification.—adj. Bast′ioned. [Fr.—O. Fr. bastir, to build.]
Bat, bat, n. a heavy stick: a flat club for striking the ball in cricket, a club for base-balls, a batsman: the clown's sword in a pantomime: a piece of brick: (slang) rate of speed, style.—v.i. to use the bat in cricket:—pr.p. bat′ting; pa.p. bat′ted.—ns. Bat′ter, Bats′man, one who wields the bat at cricket, &c.; Bat′ting, the management of a bat in playing games: cotton fibre prepared in sheets. ”

“ A light bat is generally preferred to a heavier one as it meets a swiftly pitched ball with greater promptness. There are nearly as many different modes of handling the bat as there are players. We see some grasping it with the left hand on the handle, and sliding the right swiftly down the bat. Others take the bat near the middle, others swing it with a long sweeping stroke, while still another class hold it as in Cricket, pointing to the ground. ”

“ Over one’s bat comes one’s head: as Abel says, one must get above the ball and smell it. The bat itself, for ground-play, must not be tilted with its blade nearer to the bowler than its handle is, lest a catch be sent up. Its direction from the line when one lifts it before the stroke (see Photo{34}graph II.) , right up to the end of the follow-through (see Photograph VIII.) , must be as straight as possible; like a boxer’s blow straight from the shoulder, and not like the swirling arm of the unskilled navvy, even if both these movements might reach the same goal eventually. ”

“ Two or three ounces more or less do not make much difference to the driving qualities of a bat, but they do make a difference to the ease and comfort with which it may be wielded. The use of heavy bats usually leads not only to mistiming, but to weak strokes, a feeble style, and small scores. ”

“ Miss Wicket, also, carries a curved bat, but it has developed beyond the rustic crooked stick, and more nearly resembles some of the old curved bats at Lord’s, with which a strong man must have hit prodigious skyers. We may doubt if bats were ever such ‘three-man beetles’ as the players in an undated but contemporary picture at Lord’s do fillip withal. The fields, in this curious piece, are all in a line at square-leg, and disappear in a distance unconscious of perspective. ”

“ We were briefing our jockey—a scrawny youth with a pair of oversized ears—on the use of Pat's lightening rod. Being short on gray matter as well as on stature, he wasn't getting it at all.
"You mean," he said for the third or thirty-third time, "you don't want I should hit the nag with this bat?"
"Heavens, no!" gasped Pat, blanching. "It's much too delicate for that."
"Don't fool yourself, mister. Horses can stand a lot of leather."
"Not the horse, stupid," I said. "The bat. This is the only riding crop of its kind in the world. We don't want it damaged. All you have to do is carry it. ”

“ People who are learned in horses, however, inform us that the contrary is the case, and the greater weight of the leg of the cart-horse is more than counterbalanced by the far more rapid and sudden movement of the thoroughbred. The bat wielded by a player with a strong wrist goes through the air like lightning, and comes down on the ball far quicker and harder than a ponder ous stroke from the arms and shoulders of the batsman with no wrist action. ”

“ The long pod and curved form of the bat, as seen in the old paintings, was made only for hitting, and for ground balls too. Length balls were then by no means common; neither would low stumps encourage them: and even upright play was then practised by very few. ”

“ Clean hitting requires a loose aim, the bat held firmly, but not clutched in the hand till the moment of hitting; clumsy gloves are a sad hindrance, the hit is not half so crisp and smart. The bat must be brought forward not only by the free swing of the arm working well from the shoulder, but also by the wrist. ”

“ I am repeatedly asked whose bats are the best, and what maker's I play with. My answer is I play with any good bat I can get hold of, never minding who is the maker, as long as the bat is not too heavy and is well balanced, and suits me as to handle. In the season 1887 I made most of my long scores with a bat made by a maker comparatively unknown. When you get hold of a good bat take care of it, oil it now and then, and when the season is over, put it away in a dry place; during the winter months oil it occasionally, or it may get too dry to drive properly when the next season comes. ”

“ We will now attempt to lay before our readers a more detailed exposition of the principles which ought to govern sound batting, and a careful observance of which is found in the method of every sound player. The first consideration is the choice of a bat, and as to this each individual must determine for himself what is the most suitable. It is probable that a strong man will prefer a heavier bat than a batsman of less muscular calibre. In any case the style of play is an important consideration. ”

“ When it comes to flying, the bat is the swallow of the night. Sometimes it may be confused with a chimney-swift at twilight, but it can always be told by its dodging, lonely flight, while the swifts fly in companies and without zigzagging through the air. It is doubtful whether even the swallow or the swiftest of the hawks, such as the sharp-shinned or the duck hawk, perhaps the fastest bird that flies, can equal the speed of the great hoary bat. ”

“ Of course, it is quite impossible for a beginner to know intuitively the various properties of bat-blades. Nothing but experience can teach him what to choose and what to avoid; so he had better make himself familiar with the points in a good bat as soon as possible. It ought not to take long to find out the kinds of wood and the kinds of grain which are likely to constitute a good driver and a good laster. Too much attention cannot be given to the choice of a bat, inasmuch as whether or not the article used is a good one makes a great deal of difference in the pleasure of playing. ”

“ This membrane is extended from the fingers to the sides of the body, then passes back to the hind legs, and covers them up to the ankles, and so round enclosing the little tail. Thus the bat has an enormous spread of wing for its size. The long forefinger of the hand extends to the tip of the wing, and the middle finger runs close to it, making this part of the wing strong. When the bat closes its wings the bony frame shuts together like the wires of an umbrella, and the skin hangs in folds as the covering of the umbrella hangs in folds between the closed wires. ”

“ When a base ball has been used in wet weather it should be put aside, and the next time the nine wish to practice on a wet day this ball, which will be very hard, should be used. As soon as it is wet it softens again, and it is just as useful as a new one would be after wetting. Constant wetting rots the covers, but a harness-maker will re-cover the balls, and they can be used for practice.
In bats there is more variety. A special bat is said to be made of wagon-tongue, but the more commonly favored is of ash, second growth, thoroughly seasoned. ”

“ The subject to be dealt with in this chapter is the most fascinating and delightful part of cricket. No persuasion will be required on my part to induce any one who has once handled a bat to devote himself heart and soul to the art of batting. A boy or man who needs urging to take a delight in batting is hardly the kind ever to have touched the game at all.
The first thing that strikes one is, that in order to bat well a player must provide himself with a suitable instrument in the shape of a bat. ”

“ No matter how many times he puts the bat in the corner of his tent it has a sneaking way of rolling back again to his feet. Could it speak, it would probably, in a wooden sort of voice, ask what he had brought it along for. No bat with a bit of self-respecting feeling in [44] its wooden heart likes to look new. It feels that its chief charm is to be useful more than ornamental, and if you are at all doubtful about the sympathetic feeling between a baseball bat and a good player, then just go to any one of the good games and watch the batters. ”

“ Almost every stroke he attempts is some form of a pull with a cross bat. Now, the fundamental principle of good safe batting is playing with a straight bat. So that the beginner has to overcome at the outset certain natural tendencies which, though perhaps good in themselves, do not make for good cricket. ”

“ To ring the changes on Cutting with horizontal bat, and forward play with a straight bat, and leg-hitting, which takes a different bat again, this requires more steady practice than most amateurs have either time or perseverance to learn thoroughly. So, one movement is continually interfering with the other. ”

“ Too lame to jump from a moving vehicle, my first emotions of dismay gradually disappeared, however, as I found that our passage was not disturbed even by the most untoward outward events. For a base-ball from the bat of some players in an adjoining field hit the noble animal full in the flank without occasioning any alarm to his gait or divergence from his resolved purpose. ”

“ He is perhaps the best equipped of all of our mammals, for he flies better than any bird, is a strong though unwilling swimmer, and is also fairly active on the ground. In addition, he has such an exquisite sense of feeling, that he is able to fly at full speed in the dark, steering his course and instantly avoiding any obstacle by the mere feel of the air-currents. In fact, the bat’s whole body, including the ribs and edges of its wings, may be said to be full of eyes. ”

“ The ball was now tossed up and the bat was told to catch it, and his expertness in dodging and circling about, keeping the ball constantly in motion and never allowing it to fall to the ground, soon convinced the birds that they had gained a most valuable ally. ”

“ I have my doubts also as to whether the widening of the wicket may not make it impossible or very difficult for the short-in-stature player to play with a straight bat to balls on the off stump, unless he moves his right foot, which is against all the canons of sound batting. ”