Run (baseball)

“ Of course the object of the batsman who succeeds him would be to send the runner home the best way he can, either by a base hit or a sacrifice hit. In striving to do this, the very worst plan, is to try solely for a home run hit, as it only succeeds once in thirty or forty times, and not that against skilful, strategic pitching. ”

“ The runner has no right to the line of the base when a fielder is occupying it in the effort to catch a fly ball, or to field a batted ball; nor can a base runner make any attempt to hinder or obstruct a fielder from fielding a thrown ball without his being promptly decided out. In all cases the base runner must run off the line of the bases to avoid interfering with a fielder standing on the line of the bases to field a batted ball. ”

“ A good pitcher must be able to pitch a curved ball. This art will only come with constant practice. Until about forty years ago a curve was unknown. In the old days the number of runs scored in a game was very high, it being a common thing for a winning team to make twenty to thirty runs. The rules of baseball are changed frequently and almost every change has been made with a view to restricting the batsman. As a consequence, in modern games the scores are very low and sometimes neither side will score a single run in a tie game of ten or twelve innings. ”

“ This is followed by two steals, sending the runner to third, and a single base hit sends him home, and by the combined play an earned run off the pitching is unjustly earned. Another instance of this kind is shown when the first batsman is given a life by a dropped fly ball; the second is given another life by a muffed ball from an infield hit, and the third man at the bat is given a life by a wild throw to first base ”

“ In the case of a Block, if the person not engaged in the game should retain possession of the ball, or throw or kick it beyond the reach of the Fielders, the Umpire should call "Time," and require each base runner to stop at the last base touched by him until the ball be returned to the Pitcher standing in his position.
THE SCORING OF RUNS. RULE 36. One Run shall be scored every time a Base Runner, after having legally touched the first three bases, shall touch the Home Base before three men are put out. ”

“ 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 crowd cheers and proclaims McGraw a great manager and the stealer a great base runner. Maybe the next batter comes along with a hit, and the runner scores. It wins the game, and mention is made in the newspapers the next morning of the fast base running of the club. A man has covered ninety feet of ground while the ball is travelling from the pitcher to the catcher and back to the fielder who is guarding second base. It is the most important ninety feet in baseball. From second base just one hit scores the runner. ”

“ A runner to first on a base hit or fly to the outfield should always turn first base and lead well down toward second, so that if the ball is fumbled or handled slowly or missed, he may be able to reach second. And by hurrying the out-fielder he increases the probability of an error.
A runner should always run at the top of his speed, except in the single case where he feels himself to be clearly within reach of his base and then slackens up in order to draw the throw. ”

“ A club of base runners will do more to help a pitcher win than a batting order of hard hitters, I believe. Speed is the great thing in the baseball of to-day. By speed I do not mean that good men must be sprinters alone. They must be fast starters, fast runners and fast thinkers. Remember that last one—fast thinkers.
Harry McCormick, formerly the left-fielder on the Giants, when he joined the club before his legs began to go bad, was a sprinter, one of the fastest men who ever broke into the League. Before he took up baseball as a profession, he had been a runner in college. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If the pitcher does not pitch I usually manage to return to the base in safety. Having secured my start, I expect that the batter will hit the ball, if it is a good one, into right-field, in which case I will keep right on to third base; or, if it is a bad ball, the batter will at east hit at it, in order, if possible, to blind the catcher and help me out. In any event I put down my head and run direct for the base, and in no case do I attempt to watch the ball. It is a foolish and often fatal mistake for a runner to keep his head turned toward the catcher while running in another direction. ”

“ 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. ”

“ You must remember that the pitcher is studying your batting methods and you must try just as hard to deceive him as he is trying to deceive you. Many a game has been won by a man who knew how to wait at the bat instead of swinging wildly at everything just for fear of having strikes called.
When you hit the ball there is only one rule—run. You will very soon find out whether the ball is fair or foul or whether there is any chance of making first base. A base runner should never stop trying to make a base until the ball is in the hands of the baseman. ”

“ When there is a runner on first and the ball is hit to the second baseman, he tries for a double play, and there are four ways in which it may be made. First, if he gets the ball before the runner from first reaches him he may touch the runner and then throw to first base before the batter gets there. Second, if the runner from first stops so that he can't be touched, the baseman drives him back toward first as far as possible and throws there in time to put out the batter; the other runner, being then caught between the bases, is run down, completing the double. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The baseball score may show hits and errors against the same member of a winning team. The runner, on the other hand, enters the field alone, fights his brief battle unaided, and either fails his team wholly or makes an individual contribution to its success; he cannot be pushed on to victory by the efforts of another. ”

“ On the other hand, the position requires a very active player, and for this reason, too large a man would not be desirable on account of the large field he has to cover, he must possess the ability to run fast and to start and stop quickly; he must be able to stoop and recover himself while still running, and be able to throw a ball from any position. Not all his throws are of the short order; sometimes he is expected to cut off a runner at third or return the ball to the catcher for the same purpose, and in these cases speed and accuracy are of the utmost importance. ”

“ Know when you have a good lead and then never stop until you have hit the dirt.”
It is up to the pitcher as much as the catcher to stop base stealing, for once a club begins running wild on another, the bats might as well be packed up and the game conceded. Pitchers make a study of the individual runners and their styles of getting starts. In my mind, I know just how much of a lead every base runner in the National League can take on me with impunity. ”

“ Alex solved this by putting in another shortstop and giving me the mask. (In England they have a game called 'Rounders,' in which you are supposed to hit the base runner with the ball to put him out. This is generally a tennis ball and does not hurt very much.) Well, those Tommies had a habit of lamming the baseball with all their might at the unfortunate runner. Many an early practice was broken up this way, because the team would lose interest in baseball when they had a chance to view a fight between a giver and receiver. ”

“ There is a kick against these tactics from the other bench, but the damage has been done. The pitcher passes the batter, forgets what he ought to throw to the next man, and cannot get the ball where he wants it. A base hit follows. Then he is gone. The following batter triples, and, before another pitcher can be warmed up, three or four runs are across the plate, and the game is won. That explains why so many wise managers keep a pitcher warming up when the man in the box is going strong. ”

“ 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. ”

“ BASE RUNNING. It should be borne in mind by the rulemakers of the League, and especially by the magnates who pass upon the work done by the Rules Committee, that base running has come to be as much of an art in the game as is skilful, strategic pitching or team-work in batting. ”

“ 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 ”

“ But should such overthrown ball, in addition to its being stopped or diverted from its course by any outsider, be also kicked aside or picked up and thrown out of reach by a fielder, the umpire must in addition call "Time," in which case runners shall only be entitled to hold such bases as they had touched before the ball had been so kicked or thrown out of reach, the ball, as in the prior case, not being in play until held by the pitcher while in his box. ”

“ At no other time is there anything to be gained by slow running, and often there is much to be lost. In the game spoken of elsewhere in this book, between Providence and Chicago, which virtually decided the championship for 1882, Hines was on first when Joe Start hit what looked like a home-run over the centre-field fence. The wind caught the ball and held it back so that it struck the top of the netting and fell back into the field. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”