This is the position in the field for the most active of the six in-fielders. Of course, like all in-fielders, his duties include the stopping of hot ground-balls, and in throwing the same accurately to the base the striker of the ball happens to be running to, generally the first base. But his principal work is to back up all the in-fielders. He should be on the alert the moment the ball is hit, and if it does not come within his reach, he should be ready to get on a base to receive it, or to back up the fielder it is thrown in to; in fact, the short-stop should be the “general utility” man of the nine, and especially active in saving the pitcher from over work in fielding. The short-stop should be a fearless fielder, and one ready and able to stop a swift ground-ball; and if he can throw swiftly and accurately, it would be as well to be a little deliberate in sending the ball to the first base, as it is better to be sure and just in time, than to risk a wild throw by being in too great a hurry. His position is generally in the centre of the triangle formed by the second and third bases and the pitcher’s position, but he should change it according to his knowledge of the striker’s style of batting. He must be on the alert to take foul balls on the bound, that are missed on the fly by either the third baseman or pitcher, or indeed any other player he can get near enough to be of assistance to in this respect. In doing this, however, he should be careful not to interfere with the fielder who is about catching the ball so as to prevent him doing so. An effective short-stop and a good first base player, especially if they are familiar with each other’s play, will materially contribute to the successful issue of a well-contested game.
THE OUT-FIELDERS.
A great deal depends upon the skill of the three out-fielders of a nine, when the pitching is of medium pace, and plenty of chances for catches are offered off the pitching. The principal qualifications of out-fielders are: the power to throw a ball in well nearly a hundred yards, and the ability to judge high fly balls and to catch surely. The three positions require equally good fielders, though, if the nature of the ground requires one man better than another, the best judge of a ball should be placed in the difficult position. Out-fielders should watch the batsman closely, and either lay out well for the heavy hitters, or get closer in for those who strive to hit “safe” balls just over the heads and out of reach of the in-fielders. After the ball has been either caught or stopped, the out-fielder should promptly return it, either to the base requiring it, or to the pitcher. Out-fielders should never hold the ball a moment longer than is necessary to throw it. Another point of their fielding should be to start the moment the ball is hit, and try their utmost to take it on the fly, and not wait until it is about touching the ground. Bear in mind that it is easier to run forward to take a ball than, by being too eager, to try and take it by running backward; remember, however, that a ball hit high to long field invariably appears to be coming further than it really does.
THE BATSMAN.
The position of the batsman is expressly defined by the rules, which require that the striker, when about to strike the ball, must stand astride the line of the home base. This line is six feet in length, running through the centre of the home base, and parallel with the front line of the pitcher’s position. He can take a step forward, but he is prohibited from taking any backward step. The batsman is known as the “striker,” and so considered in the rules, until he has struck a fair ball, when he immediately becomes “a player running the bases,” and ceases to be the “striker.” When the batsman takes his position at the home base, viz. standing astride the line of the base, and not less than one foot to the left of it, the umpire asks him where he wants a ball, and the batsman responds by saying “knee high,” or “waist high,” or by naming the character of the call he wants pitched to him, the pitcher being required by the rules to deliver to the batsman a ball within the legitimate reach of his bat, and as near the place indicated as he can, and also to pitch over the home base; and if he fails to do this twice, the umpire, after first warning him of the penalty he incurs, is required to call a ball for every unfair ball delivered after the warning has been given, and when three such balls have been called the batsman drops his bat and goes to first base.
In striking at the ball it must be hit fairly to entitle the batsman to run for his first base, and it is only hit “fairly” when sent to the field in front of the lines of the bases reaching from home to first base and home to third base. If the ball from the bat first touches the ground back of these lines, it is considered “foul,” and in that case, though the batsman can be caught out, he cannot run to his base. The moment the batsman hits a fair ball, therefore, he drops his bat and runs to first base, and if he reaches it before the ball is held by the baseman while touching the base, the striker escapes being put out; but if the ball be held by the baseman, while on his base, before the batsman reaches it, the latter is out. The batsman is liable to be put out in the following manner. If the ball he hits “fair” should be caught by any of the fielders before touching the ground; or if a ball he hits “foul” should be caught by any of the fielders either “on the fly” or on the first bound; or if he strikes at the ball three times and fails to hit it each time, and the ball, on the third strike, be held on the bound, or, if not so held, it be held on the first base before the striker reaches it, the batsman is out; and lastly, he is out if he takes a step backward three times when striking at a ball. These are the various ways in which the batsman or striker can be put out. After making his first base, and thereby becoming a “base runner,” he is liable to be put out as follows. If he be touched by any fielder with the ball in hand and in play, when he is off a base, he is out; also, if when running to a base on a foul ball, he fail to get back to the base before the ball, in play, is held by the baseman; or, if in running to a base on a fair fly ball, he be similarly off his base when the ball is held by the base player after being caught; also, if he fail to reach the next base to the one he occupies when a fair ball is hit, and not caught, and the ball be held on the base he is running to before he reaches it, he is out.
BASE-RUNNING.
The moment the striker hits a fair ball he ceases to be the “striker,” and becomes at once “a player running the bases,” and he then becomes liable to be put out in the several ways alluded to under the head of “The Batsman,” viz. by being “forced off” his base; by being “run out;” and by being put out in returning on a fly or foul ball. We will now illustrate more particularly the manner in which the base-runner can be thus put out. When, as above referred to, the striker has made his first base, and become a “base-runner,” and he is occupying the first base when a fair ball is hit, the moment such a ball be struck that moment he ceases to have any right to occupy the first base, he being what is termed “forced off” by the batsman. In such case he must try and make his second base before the ball is held by a fielder on the base. If he fails to do this he is out. When occupying the first base, too, when a fair ball is hit and is held on the fly, he is required to return and touch the base before he can legally run for the next base; but the moment he has touched the base, after the catch has been made, he can then run for the next base. If, however, the ball that is hit be a foul ball, then he must not only return to the base he left when the ball was struck, but he must remain on it until the ball has been settled in the hands of the pitcher before he can again attempt to run to the next base. If at any time, too, when the ball is in play, he be caught off a base, and be touched by the ball in the hands of any fielder, he is also out. If, too, in running round the bases at any time he should fail to touch any of the bases, he must return and touch the base he failed to touch when first running round, and in such case, if the ball be held on the base before he can touch it, he is out; and he must also return to touch the base, in such case, the same way as he ran round, he not being allowed to cross over from home base to second, or from third to first. Base-runners should, however, remember that they have a right to return to the base they have left—except when “forced off” by the batsman—until they touch the next base; and no base-runner, occupying a base, can force another off the next base, unless he himself be forced off by the batsman, or by a base-runner who is forced off by the batsman. That is, a player occupying the second base, when there is no one on the first base, cannot force a base-runner off the third. When all the bases are occupied, and the batsman hits a fair ball which is not caught, then each base-runner is obliged to vacate the base he occupies and run to the next, and in this case all that is necessary to put either base-runner out, is simply for any fielder to hold the ball on the base the base-runner is trying to reach before the latter reaches it. It should be borne in mind that the moment the batsman is put out by a fair fly catch, or put out at first base, that moment the base-runners preceding him cease to be “forced” to leave their bases, and in this case they must be touched by the ball, in the hands of a fielder, before they can be put out. Base-runners, too, when high balls are hit into the outer field, and in such way as to make a catch apparently certain, should stand on their bases in readiness to run to the next base the moment the ball is held by the out-fielder. When a base-runner is on the first base, and a high ball is “popped up,” which looks as if it would surely be caught by the short-stop or pitcher, or indeed by any in-fielder, the base-runner has a double difficulty to escape from, inasmuch as, if the ball is caught on the fly, he has to return to the base he left when the ball was hit; but should the ball, instead, be purposely dropped before being held, he then becomes obliged to run for his second base, and is in such case liable to be easily put out from being forced off his first base. Either horn of the dilemma is bad, but the safest way generally is to anticipate the ball being caught, and to stand ready to get back to first base easily, as the effort to drop the ball for a double play is one not often successful. A base-runner, when on first base at a time when another is on the third, can safely run down to second, except where two hands are out, as the catcher in the former case sacrifices the one base to prevent the player on the third from getting a chance to run home. When two hands are out, however, it does not matter so much, as the catcher can far easier put the third hand out by a throw to second than can the base-runner at the third get home before the third hand be put out. In the position in a game when two hands are out and a base-runner is running home, the run he would otherwise make does not count, if the batsman be put out before he makes his first base; and neither does it count in such case, if the base-runner in question fails to touch the home base before the third hand is put out. Players who desire to become expert as base-runners should not only familiarise themselves with the theory of base-running by attentive study of the rules, but they must realize by practical experience all the points of play above alluded to before they can successfully exemplify their theoretical knowledge, or derive any advantage from it. It is one thing to be thoroughly acquainted with the manner in which any special object in view should be attained, but it is altogether a more difficult matter to practically illustrate your theory; and an afternoon’s experience in running bases against a field of practical experts would soon show you the fallacy of trusting to thorough theoretical knowledge for success.